Summary: Imagine the scene… the weather had been horrendous. Torrential rains had battered the region for days. Penda and his men were tired, far from home... and they were weighted down with whatever gifts they had retained, and their forces were already weakened… and as the war was now over, perhaps some of the warbands were already marching off independently, heading back to wherever they came from. And so Penda’s once great army was shrinking, weary from the weather, and thinking more of home than of the enemy. After all, the fight was over… home was all that mattered. And their march brought them to a river known as the Winwaed. And while it might normally be able to be traversed, the rains had caused the river to swell and flood, blocking the Mercian army’s path. There, with the Mercian army disorganized, blocked by a raging river, and distracted by the weather and their victory… King Oswiu and his Bernicians attacked. The unprepared Mercians were immediately in peril.
