They were both eager for the contest, or, at least, they pretended to be so, but they waited until the morning.

The Danes divided their forces into two bodies.

Two kings commanded one division, and certain chieftains, called _earls_, directed the other.

King Ethelred undertook to meet this order of battle by a corresponding distribution of his own troops, and he gave, accordingly, to Alfred the command of one division, while he himself was to lead the other.

All things being thus arranged, the hum and bustle of the two great encampments subsided at last, at a late hour, as the men sought repose under their rude tents, in preparation for the fatigues and exposures of the coming day.