Ethelfl�d or �thelfl�d c.870-918
Anglo-Saxon ruler of Mercia

She was the daughter of Alfred, the Great, and sister of Edward, the Elder, of Wessex. She married Ethelred (�thelred), the alderman of Mercia (c.886), and fought alongside him to repel the Danish invaders, their battle culminating in a decisive victory near Tettenhall in 910. She succeeded her husband (911) and built fortified strongholds throughout Mercia, including Tamworth and Stafford, and planned and led Mercian counterattacks on the Danes. In 917, with her brother Edward, she captured Derby, and took Leicester in 918. She also kept up Mercian pressure on the Welsh. She died when poised to invade Danish-held Northumbria.