FAMED linguist David Crystal will be the guest speaker at forthcoming Hyde 900 events next month in Winchester.
King Alfred weekend on October 20-23 marks the annual celebration of the great king who was buried in Winchester.
Prof Crystal will speak on the English spoken during King Alfred's time in the ninth century.
Had Alfred not defended Wessex from the Vikings, English could well have been subsumed by Danish.
The lecture will be on Friday October 21 in St Bartholomew's church, starting at 7.30pm.
The Hyde 900 events also include the 1916-2016 Hyde Soldiers' Commemoration and a performance of the play Venus and Adonis.
There will also be various workshops and exhibitions including the latest research into the timbers of Old Hyde House which the Daily Echo reported last week came from the buildings of Hyde Abbey, Alfred's last known resting place.
A full schedule will be available soon.
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