[5] The Life of Oswald of Worcester written by Abbot Byrhtferth of Ramsey refers to Ælfhere by the impressive title princeps merciorum gentis—prince of the Mercian people, last used in the days of Æthelflæd and Ælfwynn—and as a witness to Oswald's charters he is called "ealdorman of the Mercians.
"[6] His brother Ælfheah disappears from the record c. 972, and it may be that Ælfhere then became ealdorman of Hampshire or central Wessex.
A campaign in 983 by Ælfhere against Brycheiniog and Morgannwg, with the aid of the Welsh king Hywel ap Ieuaf, is recorded by the Annales Cambriae.
A late source describes Ælfhere as a friend of Ælfthryth, to whom Ælfheah had left lands in his will.
[9] As Edward was about fifteen years of age, and Æthelred only six or seven, the disputes from 975 to 978 were not between two rival kings, but between two factions among the notables of the kingdom.
Ælfhere was portrayed by medieval writers, who were typically monks, as a leader in this movement, which saw the seizure of monastic lands by the magnates.
In Ælfhere's case, this appears to have centred on the lands attached to monasteries founded by Oswald of Worcester, which had been greatly enlarged with the assistance of the sons of Æthelstan Half-King.
Edward was initially buried at Wareham, but in 979 or 980 Ælfhere and Archbishop Dunstan had the remains of the king reburied at Shaftesbury Abbey.