Originally Posted by
monty_rhodes
So far as I know there are no local references to the battle in the Rotherham area. The site has been disputed for many years and dozens of locations in England and Scotland have been suggested. The main advocate of a South Yorkshire location is the TV presenter and historian Michael Wood who suggested Brinsworth in his TV series, In Search of the Dark Ages and also in an academic article in 1983. Subsequently he has revised his opinion slightly and now favours a spot near the river Went. There is quite a bit of support for a site on the Wirral near Bromborough and the local council has used the name in street names and I think there are plaques etc. Other recent scholarship has suggested Burnswark Hill in Dumfreisshire and the river Browney near Lanchester.
You are quite right to mention the problem of locating the enemy. Occasionally armies missed each other and one or both went home. Sometimes a battle was pre-arranged and on other occasions an army would adopt a defensive postion and wait for the other to find it. For Brunanburh the problem was slightly eased because we know that the anti-English coalition comprising armies from the Strathclyde Britons, the Scots of the kingdom of Alba and the Vikings from Dublin met up prior to the battle and raided widely in English territory.