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Since you asked, Bruce… here’s a few out of my collection, although they aren’t personal finds. But first, a little history.
Who Were the Vikings?
There are several plausible origins for the word “Viking” but, in England, the term was synonymous with “pirate” and first appears in the Anglo-Saxon poem “Widsmith” as “wiking” around the 9th Century and later as “vikingr”. Neither term refers to any particular people or culture and was used generally to describe the tribes of (principally) Denmark, Norway and Sweden who conducted raids on British settlements from the 8th Century onwards.
In Germany, they were known as the “Ascomanni” (literally “ashmen”, derived from their use of ashwood boats); in Ireland as the “Lochlannach”; in England as the “Dene”; further east as the “Rus’” or “Rhōs” (a term related to “rowing”) and also as the “Varangians” (meaning “sworn men”).
Viking expansion into continental Europe from their heartlands in Scandinavia was limited by the military strength of the cultures to the south (principally the Saxons), but they established dominance of the Baltic region to the east and into northwestern Asia. Although the “Viking Age” is generally regarded in Britain as the period from the late 8th Century to the Norman conquest culminating in the “Battle of Hastings” in 1066, the term Varangian remained in use in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century. Those later settlements were still “Viking” culture but by then were largely disconnected from their Scandinavian roots.
The Viking Raiders
From the late 8th Century onwards, Britain experienced a number of pillaging raids by the Vikings, starting on the NE coast (although the first raid may have been at Portland in the south), spreading south to East Anglia and the southern coast and west to the Irish Sea, largely targeting centres of wealth such as monasteries. The raids were terrifying, but small, and the raiders didn’t stay around until AD 850 when they over-wintered in Britain for the first time. Not all contacts were aggressive and the Vikings also visited various areas for trading purposes.
There was then a change in tactics, with a focus on expansion and conquest. The driver for the expansion is unclear, but it may have been motivated by a combination of the Saxons to the south flexing their muscles, retaliation in response to the encroachment on Viking tribal lands by Christian missionaries, trade inequities and shortage of viable farmland. Also, the Franks (Germanic tribes occupying northern France, Belgium and the southern Netherlands) had been fortifying their towns and moving their religious communities further inland. The Vikings found it increasingly difficult to reap the rich pickings they were accustomed to, and switched their attention to England.
The Viking Invasion of England
In AD 865 the “Great Heathen Army” led by the brothers “Ivar the Boneless”, “Halfdan” and “Ubba”, together with “Guthrum”, arrived in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England in a campaign that was to last for 14 years. The size of the army is uncertain, but most modern estimates put the numbers somewhere between a thousand and the low thousands. They relied to a large extent on ruthless marauding “hit and run” tactics rather than numerical superiority in open battle.
The army was a coalition of independent bands of Norse warriors under a unified command known as “liðs” who came largely from Denmark, to a lesser extent from Norway, but probably also from Sweden and perhaps from some non-Scandinavian origins. Viking leaders would often join forces with others for mutual benefit and then dissolve the partnership once they had achieved their objective. The Anglo-Saxon historian Æthelweard was very specific in his chronicle that “the fleets of the viking tyrant Hingwar landed in England from the north” which suggests that the initial invasion came in more than a single wave.
Not everyone chose to resist. The king of East Anglia negotiated for peace in return for supplying the Vikings with horses and provisions. In some areas, they settled peaceably as farmers or craftsmen and established trading centres.
The army then penetrated deep into Mercia where it met with fierce opposition from joint forces of the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. Unable to repel the invasion, the king of Mercia agreed peace terms with the Vikings who then partially withdrew. The Vikings then returned to East Anglia, conquered it and killed the king. They then moved on to the kingdom of Wessex where King Alfred (“Alfred the Great”) “bought them off”. They left, and ultimately returned to Mercia, this time conquering it. They also took Northumbria and installed the Englishman “Ecgberht”, as a puppet king.
[Routes taken by the Great Heathen Army from 865 to 878, based on “England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878)” from “The Atlas of European History: Earle W Dowe, pub. G Bell & Sons, London 1910. Graphic by “Hel-hama” – Creative Commons License.]
Around AD 870, the Great Heathen Army was reinforced by the arrival of the “Great Summer Army” led by “Bagsecg” and his “Five Earls.” Towards the end of AD 875 the combined armies commenced the second invasion of Wessex with Alfred defeating them between 6th and 12th May AD 878 at the “Battle of Ethandun” (near Edington, Wiltshire), pushing them back from his borders. The post-battle treaty left the Vikings in control of much of northern and eastern England but Alfred had pushed them back far enough to re-take Jorvik (modern York), although “Erik Bloodaxe” took it back again when another wave of Vikings appeared in AD 947.
[Viking rule (Danelaw) in England AD 878, based on Stenton’s “Anglo-Saxon England” chapter 8 and Hill’s “An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England” p40-1. Graphic by “Hel-hama” – Creative Commons License.]
The End of the Viking Period in England
In AD 1003 the Danish king “Sweyn Forkbeard” commenced a further series of raids against England, culminating in a full-scale invasion that led to him being crowned King of England in AD 1013. The throne of England passed to “Edmund Ironside” (Edmund II) of Wessex after Sweyn's death in 1014 and was then taken in battle by Sweyn’s son “Cnut the Great” (Canute) in AD 1016, ultimately establishing him as King of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Cnut died in 1035 and the throne of England passed to “Harold Harefoot” (Harold I), bringing an end to the Viking rule of England before it was taken by “William the Conqueror” (William I) some thirty years later. William was Duke of Normandy in NE France and was himself a descendant of Viking raiders. Viking raids on Britain continued to at least AD 1152 when “Eystein II” of Norway led a series of plundering raids down the east coast.
Who Were the Vikings?
There are several plausible origins for the word “Viking” but, in England, the term was synonymous with “pirate” and first appears in the Anglo-Saxon poem “Widsmith” as “wiking” around the 9th Century and later as “vikingr”. Neither term refers to any particular people or culture and was used generally to describe the tribes of (principally) Denmark, Norway and Sweden who conducted raids on British settlements from the 8th Century onwards.
In Germany, they were known as the “Ascomanni” (literally “ashmen”, derived from their use of ashwood boats); in Ireland as the “Lochlannach”; in England as the “Dene”; further east as the “Rus’” or “Rhōs” (a term related to “rowing”) and also as the “Varangians” (meaning “sworn men”).
Viking expansion into continental Europe from their heartlands in Scandinavia was limited by the military strength of the cultures to the south (principally the Saxons), but they established dominance of the Baltic region to the east and into northwestern Asia. Although the “Viking Age” is generally regarded in Britain as the period from the late 8th Century to the Norman conquest culminating in the “Battle of Hastings” in 1066, the term Varangian remained in use in the Byzantine Empire until the 13th century. Those later settlements were still “Viking” culture but by then were largely disconnected from their Scandinavian roots.
The Viking Raiders
From the late 8th Century onwards, Britain experienced a number of pillaging raids by the Vikings, starting on the NE coast (although the first raid may have been at Portland in the south), spreading south to East Anglia and the southern coast and west to the Irish Sea, largely targeting centres of wealth such as monasteries. The raids were terrifying, but small, and the raiders didn’t stay around until AD 850 when they over-wintered in Britain for the first time. Not all contacts were aggressive and the Vikings also visited various areas for trading purposes.
There was then a change in tactics, with a focus on expansion and conquest. The driver for the expansion is unclear, but it may have been motivated by a combination of the Saxons to the south flexing their muscles, retaliation in response to the encroachment on Viking tribal lands by Christian missionaries, trade inequities and shortage of viable farmland. Also, the Franks (Germanic tribes occupying northern France, Belgium and the southern Netherlands) had been fortifying their towns and moving their religious communities further inland. The Vikings found it increasingly difficult to reap the rich pickings they were accustomed to, and switched their attention to England.
The Viking Invasion of England
In AD 865 the “Great Heathen Army” led by the brothers “Ivar the Boneless”, “Halfdan” and “Ubba”, together with “Guthrum”, arrived in East Anglia with the intent of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England in a campaign that was to last for 14 years. The size of the army is uncertain, but most modern estimates put the numbers somewhere between a thousand and the low thousands. They relied to a large extent on ruthless marauding “hit and run” tactics rather than numerical superiority in open battle.
The army was a coalition of independent bands of Norse warriors under a unified command known as “liðs” who came largely from Denmark, to a lesser extent from Norway, but probably also from Sweden and perhaps from some non-Scandinavian origins. Viking leaders would often join forces with others for mutual benefit and then dissolve the partnership once they had achieved their objective. The Anglo-Saxon historian Æthelweard was very specific in his chronicle that “the fleets of the viking tyrant Hingwar landed in England from the north” which suggests that the initial invasion came in more than a single wave.
Not everyone chose to resist. The king of East Anglia negotiated for peace in return for supplying the Vikings with horses and provisions. In some areas, they settled peaceably as farmers or craftsmen and established trading centres.
The army then penetrated deep into Mercia where it met with fierce opposition from joint forces of the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. Unable to repel the invasion, the king of Mercia agreed peace terms with the Vikings who then partially withdrew. The Vikings then returned to East Anglia, conquered it and killed the king. They then moved on to the kingdom of Wessex where King Alfred (“Alfred the Great”) “bought them off”. They left, and ultimately returned to Mercia, this time conquering it. They also took Northumbria and installed the Englishman “Ecgberht”, as a puppet king.
[Routes taken by the Great Heathen Army from 865 to 878, based on “England and Wales at the time of the Treaty of Chippenham (AD 878)” from “The Atlas of European History: Earle W Dowe, pub. G Bell & Sons, London 1910. Graphic by “Hel-hama” – Creative Commons License.]
Around AD 870, the Great Heathen Army was reinforced by the arrival of the “Great Summer Army” led by “Bagsecg” and his “Five Earls.” Towards the end of AD 875 the combined armies commenced the second invasion of Wessex with Alfred defeating them between 6th and 12th May AD 878 at the “Battle of Ethandun” (near Edington, Wiltshire), pushing them back from his borders. The post-battle treaty left the Vikings in control of much of northern and eastern England but Alfred had pushed them back far enough to re-take Jorvik (modern York), although “Erik Bloodaxe” took it back again when another wave of Vikings appeared in AD 947.
[Viking rule (Danelaw) in England AD 878, based on Stenton’s “Anglo-Saxon England” chapter 8 and Hill’s “An Atlas of Anglo-Saxon England” p40-1. Graphic by “Hel-hama” – Creative Commons License.]
The End of the Viking Period in England
In AD 1003 the Danish king “Sweyn Forkbeard” commenced a further series of raids against England, culminating in a full-scale invasion that led to him being crowned King of England in AD 1013. The throne of England passed to “Edmund Ironside” (Edmund II) of Wessex after Sweyn's death in 1014 and was then taken in battle by Sweyn’s son “Cnut the Great” (Canute) in AD 1016, ultimately establishing him as King of Denmark, England, Norway, and parts of Sweden. Cnut died in 1035 and the throne of England passed to “Harold Harefoot” (Harold I), bringing an end to the Viking rule of England before it was taken by “William the Conqueror” (William I) some thirty years later. William was Duke of Normandy in NE France and was himself a descendant of Viking raiders. Viking raids on Britain continued to at least AD 1152 when “Eystein II” of Norway led a series of plundering raids down the east coast.
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