The element ræd in unræd is the element in Æthelred's name which means "counsel". Thus Æþelræd Unræd is a pun meaning "Noble counsel, No counsel". The nickname has alternatively been taken adjectivally as "ill-advised", "ill-prepared", "indecisive", thus "Æthelred the ill-advised".
The epithet would seem to describe the poor quality of advice which Æthelred received throughout his reign, presumably from those around him, specifically from the royal council, known as the Witan. Though the nickname does not suggest anything particularly respectable about the king himself, its invective is not actually focused on the king but on those around him, who were expected to provide the young king with god ræd (i.e. good counsel).
Must be one of the Canterbury Tales that Geoff missed.
I hear he writes on an unsecured palimpsest.
I assume y'all know https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%86thelred_the_U…
Modern day parallels?
Followeng
Before her time, I know, but it still needz moar Anne Boleyn's Head.
Immigrants should speak Anglo-Saxon or go home!
As for Bede, I still can't read De temporum ratione and the calendrical porn contained therein.