What kind of ruler does Alfred become?

For such a war-obsessed time, Alfred was something of a pacifier within Northern Europe. He made a treaty with the Vikings that carved out an area for them in the North of England that was named Danelaw, and he also helped the Viking leader Guthrum convert to Catholicism, becoming his godfather. The Treaty was instrumental in bringing about longterm peace, and it also began to dissipate the hold that paganism had over the Danelands.

Alfred was so respected that the epithet "The Great" was bestowed upon him, an honor shared with only one other monarch. Alfred was at heart a merciful man and this is what inspired peace treaties rather than bloodthirsty strategizing. He was also one of the first proponents of English as a key language independent of Latin, showing an independence from the Roman Empire that was really ahead of his time, and setting the groundwork for the later Medieval monarchs who continued to pull away from Rome These qualities are shown in this work, in that he is constantly offering the Vikings the opportunity to withdraw from Wessex lands if they take over Northern lands. Chesterton clearly reveres this King, and although his description of the events has a certain degree of poetic license, it is the events rather than the character of the King himself that is to be taken with a grain of historical salt.