The Vikings
793 - 954 AD
START: 793 AD is the date of the first Viking raid on Britain.
END: In 954 AD the death of Eric Bloodaxe, King of Northumbria ended the Viking Age.
Note: I use the word 'Vikings' throughout, though these people from the Scandinavian countries of Denmark, Norway and Sweden are often called Northmen or Danes.
See also Vikings in Nottinghamshire and The End of the Viking Era. See also Placenames.
The first Viking raid - 793 AD
The Vikings are well-known for their raids on Anglo-Saxon villages, churches and monasteries on the coasts of the British Isles. The first of these is recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:
"The year 793 - Terrible portents came about over the land of Northumbria, and frightened the wretched people. There were immense flashes of lightning and fiery dragons were seen flying in the sky. This was immediately followed by a great famine. Soon after that on 8 January there was a raid by wretched heathen men who devastated God's church in Lindisfarne island by looting and murder."
This was the first of many attacks which continued for 50 years all around the country. Viking raids came as a total surprise to their Anglo-Saxon victims. Villages and monasteries on the coast were easy targets, but the Vikings also rowed their ships up rivers to attack villages inland.
The Vikings seemed to come out of nowhere and stormed ashore ready to attack. They were well-practised and had better weapons than the village people. They simply stole anything they wanted, including people as slaves. Then they returned to their ships with the loot and sailed away.
The Great Heathen Army
- a change of tactics
865 - Instead of just raiding, the Vikings landed an army of thousands in East Anglia in the year 865 AD, with the intention of conquering the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.
This time they planned to stay in England.
Led by the brothers Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan Ragnarsson, Viking warriors from Denmark, Norway and Sweden came together in one great force described by the Anglo-Saxons as
the Great Heathen Army.
The Viking army spent the winter of 865 and 866 AD in East Anglia, stealing food from the farms round about.
And when the harvest was gathered the following autumn, they stole that too.
Finally, after accepting large amounts of gold and silver and horses from the East Anglian king, the Great Heathen Army set off north along the old Roman road, Ermine Street. They were headed for York, the capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria.
Their route would take them through Nottinghamshire.
866 - Nobody knows exactly which way the Great Heathen Army went as it travelled north. But on their way the thousands of fighting men pillaged and plundered and robbed and stole and murdered, taking food and possessions from the defenceless people in the farming villages of Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire.
The Vikings reached York on 1st November 866. They burned the town and took control of the Anglo-Saxon Kingdom of Northumbria.
867 - The next year, the Anglo-Saxon King Osbehrt of Northumbria tried to take York back, but he was killed in battle and his Anglo-Saxon army was defeated.
On to Nottingham - 868
The following text was written by a Christian monk called Asser in his 'Life of Alfred, King of the Anglo-Saxons'.
“In the year 868 the Viking army left Northumbria, came to Mercia and reached Nottingham in the Kingdom of Mercia where they spent the winter.
Immediately upon their arrival there, Burgred, King of the Mercians sent messages to Ethelred, King of the West Saxons, and to his brother Alfred, humbly requesting that they help them, so that they would be able to fight against the Viking army.
The brothers Ethelred the King and Alfred promptly fulfilled their promise and gathered an immense army from every part of their kingdom. They went to Mercia and arrived at Nottingham, single-mindedly seeking battle.
But the Vikings, protected by the defences of the stronghold at Nottingham, refused to give battle, and since the Christians were unable to breach the wall, peace was established between the King of Mercians and the Vikings. And so the two brothers, Ethelred and Alfred, returned home to Wessex with their forces.”
(Translated from Latin)
Nottinghamshire was now in Viking hands.
The map shows how the Viking army stormed round England for 20 years fighting battles with the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, taking control of Northumbria, east Mercia, East Anglia and Essex.
Peace - of a kind - 878
In 878 the Anglo-Saxon King Alfred the Great defeated the Vikings in battle at Edington in Wiltshire and an agreement was made which led to 50 years of peace - more or less.
Weblinks
The Story of Britain from the BBC -
The Vikings
An exploration of life in Viking Britain through the eyes of a typical family.
The weblink takes you out of this website.
Old Norse
Old Norse was the language spoken by the Vikings. By the year 900 many Viking settlers in England had become Christians. Click the image below for The Lord's Prayer in Old Norse.
The link to YouTube takes you out of this website.
The Lord's Prayer
The title text ᚠᚫᚦᛁᚱ ᚢᚫᚱ reads Faþer wár
(Our Father) written in Viking runes.
Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread.
Forgive us our sins
as we forgive those who sin against us.
Lead us not into temptation
but deliver us from evil.
Amen
It's interesting compare Old Norse with Old English. They are not the same, but there are similarities. There were certainly words that both Vikings and Anglo-Saxons understood in each other's languages.
(Below: þ is th as in the; ð is th as in thin; æ is a as in cat.)
Old Norse
Faþer wár es ert í himenríki,
verði nafn þitt hæilagt.
Til kome ríke þitt,
værði vili þin
swa a iarðu sem í himnum.
Gef oss í dag brauð vort dagligt,
Ok fyr gefþu oss synþer órar,
sem vér fyr gefom þeim er viþoss hafa misgert.
Leiðd oss eigi í freistni,
heldr leys þw oss frá ollu illu.
Amen
Old English
Fæder ure þu þe eart on heofonum;
Si þin nama gehalgod
To becume þin rice
gewurþe ðin willa
on eorðan swa swa on heofonum.
Urne gedæghwamlican hlaf syle us todæg
and forgyf us ure gyltas
swa swa we forgyfað urum gyltendum
and ne gelæd þu us on costnunge
ac alys us of yfele soþlice