Trying to tell the story of AEthelflaed is like trying to study gravity. We know her indirectly, by the impressions she left and the political shifts that happen around her. We can see the impact she left both on her lands, and in the devotion of her subjects.
And so in many respects, we know AEthelflaed through the shadow she left in her wake. And the size and strength of these political and military feats seem to far outstrip the picture of AEthelflaed that is painted in the Chronicle - particularly the picture painted in the copy made in Wessex during the reign of her brother Edward… which essentially paints no picture at all.
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