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THESE ISLES: Alfred, king of Wessex, who lived 849-99, is renowned as an English national hero for resisting the Vikings’ advance and for promoting learning and literacy. He gained the epithet ‘the Great’ as early as the 13th century, popularised from the 16th. 1/6

The question of "who are natives in a land" is such a complex one. The conflict of the English (Anglo-Saxons) v Danes sounds so stark, until one remembers that the Angles were themselves from Denmark. So was it really a conflict between 5th/6thC Danes and 9thC Danes? /1

And anyway what DID happen when the Angles and Saxons came to Britain after the Romans? Did they drive out the Britons they didn't kill? Or intermarry with them? Or just entice them with their stylish ways? Implausibly, the third one seems to be the hot ticket atm based on DNA sampling. /2