The Irish Annals give details of how Æthelflæd protected the city when in 907 the Wirral Vikings joined with Danish troops and attacked Chester. She ‘gathered a large army about her from the adjoining regions’. After an initial battle Æthelflæd sent messengers to the enemy troops. She stated she was ‘queen who holds all authority over the Saxons’. Through requests of loyalty and the promise of rewards, she convinced the Wirral Vikings she had treated so generously to switch their allegiances and join her forces and together they pushed back their attackers.
