The Vikings in England: 9th—10th centuries

After the initial Viking attacks on England at the end of the 8th century there followed a period of relative calm, which was finally shattered some 40 years later when, in 835, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that 'heathen men ravaged Sheppey'. Thereafter, for the rest of the century, hardly a year goes by without the Chronicle recording a Viking incursion somewhere in the country. At first these expeditions were no more than predatory raids launched during the summer months in search of booty and slaves, with no attempt being made at permanent settlement. In 850/851, however, there were signs of a change in strategy: the Chronicle reports under that year that 'for the first time, the heathen stayed through the winter', on the Isle of Thanet. In 855/856 a Viking host again 'stayed for the entire winter', this time on the Isle of Sheppey; in 864/865 Vikings again wintered on Thanet; and finally, in 865/866, a 'great fleet of pagans', having arrived from the Continent, wintered in East Anglia. This time the Vikings had come to stay.

The 'great fleet' that arrived in 865 included amongst its leaders several sons of the celebrated Danish king Ragnar Lodbrok ('Hairy-breeches'), who was regarded in the North as the very epitome of a true Viking. The sons in question were Ivar the Boneless, Halfdan, and Ubbi or Hubba, and Ragnar's Saga would have it that their attack was launched purely to avenge the alleged death in the 850s of their father at the hands of King Aella of Northumbria, who was supposed to have had him cast into a snake-pit after capturing him in battle. Despite the fact that Aella had only come to power in 866 and Ragnar had in reality probably been killed by a Norse king in Ireland, it is undeniable that, after they had spent a year looting and gathering reinforcements in East Anglia, Ragnar's sons attacked and took York at the end of 867; and the next year captured and ritually executed Aella, subsequently overrunning much of Northumbria and eastern Mercia (868). In 869 Ivar led part of the host back to East Anglia, where he defeated and captured King Edmund who, like Aella, was executed. (Though Edmund was also seemingly shot through with arrows, both kings were actually killed by being subjected to the gruesome 'blood-eagle' torture[1]). Ivar subsequently disappears from the story (he seems to have removed to Ireland and conquered Dublin, where he probably died in 873); and Halfdan became the host's chief leader in his stead, being the foremost of the seven Viking commanders recorded at the Battle of Ashdown in 871, of whom the other six (a king and five jarls) were all killed in this celebrated Saxon victory. The English success was shortlived, however: a series of defeats followed at Basing, Meretun, Reading and Wilton, by the end of which King Alfred of Wessex was obliged to sue for peace, not least because a new army of Vikings, referred to as the 'summer army', had now arrived from the Continent to reinforce Halfdan, and had participated in the Saxon defeat at Wilton.

For the next few years the Vikings concentrated on securing their conquests in eastern and northern England. They briefly set up puppet kings in both Northumbria and Mercia (the last Saxon king of the latter fled in 874) before distributing these kingdoms among themselves in 876 and 877 respectively. Halfdan then followed in the footsteps of his brother Ivar, sailing to Ireland in a bid to secure for himself the kingdom of Dublin, only to be defeated and killed by Norwegian Vikings in the Battle of Strangford Lough (877).

This resulted in a certain Guthrum—who, with two other kings named Oskytel and Anwend, had commanded the 'summer army' of 871 (now based in Cambridge)—becoming the chief captain of the Danish host in England. In 878 Guthrum came within an ace of extinguishing the last independent Saxon kingdom: the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle reports how 'the host went secretly in midwinter . . . and rode over Wessex and occupied it, and drove a great part of its inhabitants overseas, and reduced the greater part of the rest to submission, except Alfred the king; and he with a small company moved under difficulties through woods and into in­accessible places in marshes.' With Alfred still free, however, there was no chance for permanent Viking occupation. He struck out at the Viking invaders from a fortress he had established at Athelney—'surrounded by swampy, impassable and extensive marshland and groundwater on every side' and inaccessible except by boat—and soon afterwards, rallying the men of Somerset, Wiltshire and Hampshire, routed Guthrum at the Battle of Edington (Ethandun). As a result of this defeat Guthrum and the other Viking leaders were obliged to hand over hostages, embrace Chris­tianity and leave Wessex.

A somewhat later peace treaty drawn up between Alfred and Guthrum in 886 effectively established the area of Danish occupation that was later (by the 11th century) to become known as the Danelaw, comprising East Anglia and the 'Five Boroughs' of Derby, Leicester, Lincoln, Not­tingham and Stamford. Evidence of the extent of Scandinavian settlement in this area can still be seen today in the number of place-names ending in -thorpe ('village'), -thwaite ('meadow') and -by ('farmstead').

The very same year another Viking host descended on England, but after wintering at Fulham understandably withdrew to the Con­tinent, where they carved a trail of mayhem and destruction for more than a decade. In 892, however, following a defeat the previous year at the hands of Arnulf, king of Eastern Francia, this 'Great Army' returned to England, bringing with it from Boulogne its own horses. Several years of spasmodic fighting ensued throughout the length and breadth of Alfred's kingdom; but in the summer of 896 'the Viking army dispersed, some into East Anglia, some into Northumbria, and those who were without property got ships for themselves and went south across the sea to the Seine'. The fact that the last group sailed in just five ships, and therefore numbered no more than 350-400 men at most, would tend to confirm the view of various modern authorities that this so-called 'Great Army' may have consisted of no more than 1,000 men in all; some even believe it may have comprised just 500 men. (For myself, I cannot believe that it originally numbered less than 2,000—3,000.)

Even after the 'Great Army' had disbanded, the resident Vikings of East Anglia and Northumbria continued to harass Wessex by both land and sea. However, King Alfred, who died in 899, had left to his successors a strong, well-organised military establishment both on land and at sea with which Edward the Elder (899-925) and Athelstan (925-940) were able to reconquer the Danelaw. Northumbria held out somewhat longer, partly due to the influx of a new wave of Viking invaders—this time Norsemen from Ireland, who captured York from the Danes in 919, and established their own dynasties there which were accepted by Scandi­navian settlers and Northumbrian Saxons alike. At one time or another, they also ruled over the Norse settlements of Ireland, the Western Isles and the Orkneys, as well as the Five Boroughs. Nevertheless, King Rognvald of York acknowledged South Saxon suzerainty as early as 920, as did King Sihtric in 926; and in 927 Athelstan marched on York and evicted Sihtric's son and successor Olaf, and his brother, Olaf's mentor and regent, Guthfrith. However, the latter's own son, another Olaf, recaptured York before the end of 939 and the very next year received the Five Boroughs by treaty. He was succeeded as king of York by his less vigorous cousin Olaf Sihtricsson (who had been thrown out in 927), from whom the South Saxons were able to retake the Five Boroughs in a single decisive campaign in 942, Olaf himself being expelled in 944.

Olaf made at least one comeback, in 949—952,but the dubious distinction of being the last Viking king of York undoubtedly belongs to a son of King Harald Fairhair of Norway, the celebrated Eric Bloodaxe, who has been described as 'the most famous Viking of them all'. He reigned in Northumbria twice, in 947-948 and 952-954. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states simply that in 954 'the Northumbrians drove Eric out' and that King Eadred of England thereby succeeded to the kingdom; but later Icelandic sagas, deriving their information from a lost 10th century Northumbrian chronicle, give a fuller account. According to them Eric was confronted at a place called Stainmore by 'King Olaf, a tributary king of King Edmund [sic]' who had 'gathered an innumerable mass of people, with whom he marched against King Eric. A dreadful battle ensued, in which many Englishmen fell; but for each one that fell there came three in his place from the country round about, and when evening came on the loss of men turned against the Northmen and many were killed. Towards the end of the day, King Eric and five kings with him fell. Three of them were Guttorm, Ivar and Harek [the last-named being one of his sons]; the others being Sigurd and Ragnvald [the latter one of his brothers] and with them died the two sons of Turf-Einar [the Earl of Orkney], Arnkel and Erlend.'

A much later English chronicle, probably working from the same lost account, would have it that Eric was in fact defeated and killed by a certain Maccus (Magnus), son of Olaf, rather than by Olaf himself, and it is likely—since his army comprised Englishmen—that the sagas' 'Olaf’ is in fact an error for Oswulf, who was the Saxon earl of Bamburgh.

Either way, Eric was dead and the Viking kingdom of York at an end. 'From that time to the present,' wrote John of Wallingford, 'Northumbria has been grieving for want of a king of its own, and for the liberty they once enjoyed.'

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 833