 Eadric Streona had previously defected to Cnut when he landed in England but after Cnut's defeat at the Battle of Otford he came back to the English, but this was a trick as he would betray them at Assandun.The battle is mentioned briefly in "Knýtlinga saga" which quotes a verse of skaldic poetry by Óttarr svarti, one of Canute's court poets.During the course of the battle, Eadnoth the Younger, Bishop of Dorchester, was killed by Cnut's men whilst in the act of saying mass on behalf of Edmund Ironside's men.