SLHS: Migrations Into Britain4: Vikings

The raids on Britton continued for 78 years (see map right)

The Merciless Start Of Raiding

Wikipedia puts it this way:

1. “During the reign of the English King Beorhtric of Wessex (786–802), three ships of Northmen landed at Portland Bay (on the south coast of now Dorset). The local Reeve (an appointed trade administrator) mistook these Vikings for merchants and directed them to the nearby royal estate. However the visitors killed him and his men.
   

Lindisfarne Abandoned

1. On 8 June 793, "the ravages of heathen men miserably desecrated God's church on Lindisfarne, with plunder and slaughter". According to the 12th-century Anglo-Norman chronicler Symeon of Durham, the raiders killed the resident monks or threw them into the sea to drown. They then left carrying away some as slaves along with the church treasures.
   

2. In 875, after enduring eight decades of repeated Viking raids, the monks fled Lindisfarne, carrying the relics of Saint Cuthbert with them.”
   

The respected monasteries at Monkwearmouth, near Jarrow, Sheppey, Canterbury, London and Winchester suffered similar destructions.

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The battles of The Middle Ages:   787 - 1066

Effects On Language & Place Names

Let’s take our usual look at the subsequent effects of: Vikings.

The Danelaw imposed many changes to the culture and language of the north many of which are retained to this day.

Examples of Danish words that entered our language are:

Leđr

Deyja

Lagu

Kasta

Egg

examples of suffixes of town names are..

-by

-thorpe

-borough

-wich

-kirk

-ness

The eventual extent of the Viking empire

Too often does British history view the massacre of the Christians on Lindisfarne in isolation. The fact is that they just hit the Brittons first (first landing on the South coast) but their’s was a much wider series of attacks going even beyond the then known world.

Opinions are conflicting as to why the Norsemen started raiding outside of their own land. Certainly Norse Kings were polygynous and took many wives so there’s a claim that their society could’ve been short of women. However to me a more plausible reason was that they founded their society on the value of silver yet they themselves had been plundered several times by factions in Europe so once word got about that the islands of Britain were wealthy and ordered, yet undefended, it seemed that this was an opportunity too good to miss. The map (below) shows how far their marauding got.

Viking raids on Britton

   (click map to see Viking raids on Europe.  

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The Imposition Of Danelaw Throughout The North And East Of Britton

I’m not going to go into the next stage deeply. It’s the stuff of legende and that’s why.

In 865 King Guthrum (or Guthorm) amassed a very large army and attacked East Anglia. The Angles weren’t ready and easily succumbed to the Viking ferocity. Further invasions continued further north (again map above right). Having consolidated their gains brothers Ivar the Boneless, Ubba and Halfdan Ragnarssonthen moved on Mercia (central Saxon kingdom) and in the next thirteen years ceded more territory almost as far as Wessex. They imposed their strict taxation, penalties and Danelaw throughout.

F. Marauding Viking Invaders From Across The North Sea

G. The Fall And Rise Of The New Brittons

But Not So Fast: King Ælfred To The Rescue

It was obvious that Guthrum was going to come south and King Alfred Of Wessex was determined to be ready. In 818, in the Vale Of The White Horse, at the Battle Of Ethandon (now Etington, between Trowbridge and Warminster in Wiltshire), the Vikings were finally stopped in their tracks. Both sides had heavy losses and a stone marks the spot. There was no truce they just couldn’t win any more battles any further south.

Alfred The Great

Skirmishes continued for fifty years (see Further Information below) but the charismatic Alfred kept the people roused as this was to be their last chance of the freedom that they’d worked so hard for. They agreed attack was the best form of defence so famously (legende again) chased them all over the country -and for some reason even his burning of his cakes is remembered ! Despite lies, tricks and bribery the Vikings could not get their way. In 878 Alfred’s men emptied a town called Wedmore of provisions and channelled Guthrum and his army into it. Alfred only had to wait two weeks and the starving Vikings sacked for peace. Alfred’s terms were to be clear.

Firstly the Treaty Of Alfred & Guthrum was signed. This defined all the boundaries that the two Kingdoms were going to take. However Alfred was a Christian King and he knew the cruel Viking ways. He insisted that Guthrum start a new life of peace. He asked him to be baptised and keep to his promise. Thus a second document was signed, The Treaty Of Wedmore, and to mark his conversion (as depicted left) Guthrum became Athelstan. He promised to leave and never come back. There were 12 days of celebration and then they departed.

The First King Of England & First British Navy

Alfred was a wise king. He married Ealhswith of Mercia, which solved another simmering area of conflict, and had several sons. With himself the head of the last remaining part of the Anglo-Saxons he declared himself the first King Of England and looked at reforming a united Angleland as there had once been. He divided the people into two: those who were to farm and support everyone and those who were to train and fight. As they were of Frisian descent they knew how to build ships and so amassed the first British Navy.

Edward The Elder

Alfred died in 899. His eldest son, Edward (874-924), became King and decided to carry out his fathers wishes. This was going to be a long, hard campaign but the Vikings had become soft. However he faced a rebellion led by his Wessex cousin, Æthelwold, who believed that he had a better claim to the throne as he was the son of Athelred I, the older brother and predecessor of Edward's father. Edward successfully defeated Æthelwold and his army in 902.

After that, Edward continued to rule England effectively. His sister, Ethelflaeda, was also well liked and so their men slowly battled back most of the lost kingdoms. He had three wives and all his off-spring were powerful. He was succeeded by his oldest child, Æthelstan, who continued his father's plan to unify England which he successfully did by 927. This was a tremendous achievement but not without set backs.

Unfortunately, for instance, King Erik “Bloodaxe” Haraldsson of Norway returned with a fearsome force and, in a huge battle, took York back ! In 954 Boodaxe was killed in the Battle Of Stainmore and Northumbria was again back in Anglo-Saxon hands.

Edward died in 924 and his son Æthelstan was recognized as the rightful king of all England.

Alfred The Great

There are many statues in England eg Wantage. This one in Winchester.

eg Derby, Corby

eg Scunthorpe, Ailsthorpe.

eg Peterborough, Harborough

eg Northwich

eg Ormskirk, Kirkstead

eg Sharpness

Edward I   By John Cassell

meaning leather

meaning die

meaning law

meaning cast

meaning egg