Alfred then considered that it would be well to have the king of this country as an ally; he and his settled people would soon be as hostile to further incursions of the Northmen as were the Saxons themselves, and their interests and those of Wessex would be identical.
Did he, on the other hand, carry out a general massacre of the Danes now in his power he might have brought upon England a fresh invasion of Northmen, who, next to plunder, loved revenge, and who might come over in great hosts to avenge the slaughter of their countrymen.

Moved, then, by motives of policy as well as by compassion, he granted the terms they asked, and hostages having been sent in from the camp he ordered provisions to be supplied to the Danes.
The same night a messenger of rank came in from Guthorn saying that he intended to embrace Christianity.

The news filled Alfred and the Saxons with joy.

The king, a sincere and devoted Christian, had fought as much for his religion as for his kingdom, and his joy at the prospect of Guthorn's conversion, which would as a matter of course be followed by that of his subjects, was deep and sincere.
To the Saxons generally the temporal consequence of the conversion had no doubt greater weight than the spiritual.

The conversion of Guthorn and the Danes would be a pledge far more binding than any oaths of alliance between the two kingdoms.