Some modern historians conclude that he had succeeded his father (in preference to, or dividing the realm with, his older half-brother Athelstan) only to die, but others view Athelstan as the only heir to his father.
Some modern historians conclude that he had succeeded his father (in preference to his older half-brother Athelstan), or perhaps, since it is then reported that Athelstan was accepted as king by the Mercians, that the two divided the realm. Alternatively, some view Athelstan as the only heir to his father.