The Viking Invasions 793-911
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The First Viking raid on England is reported to have occurred in 793 at the Lindisfarne monastery. 
In the subsequent 250 years the Danes (as the Vikings who invaded England are generally called), 
continued their raids, but at the same time, gradually turned from rampaging pirates to fellow 
Christians and citizens. Some wrought only destruction, but others, like the Saxons before them, 
eventually settled down and became civilized. 


Lindisfarne 793
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Outside the coast of Northumbria (Nordimbraland) in Northern England is a flat island, Lindisfarne, 
which is only reached by low tide from a causeway. It is really a peninsula, and is known by the 
name of Holy Island. On the only hill on the island a castle was built in medieval times, Lindisfarne 
Castle. The coastline is dominated by low sandbanks - ideal landing places for the slim Viking ships. 

When this harmonious monastic society was suddenly ruthlessly disturbed on a day in June 793 AD, it 
created a commotion far beyond the shores of Britain, and the pious clergymen were soon to link the 
incident up to biblical foreseeings. 

The incident is dramatically recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicles in 793 AD (Anno Dominus DCCXCIII):

	In this year dire forewarnings came over the land of the Northumbrians, 
	and miserably terrified the people: these were extraordinary whirlwinds 
	and lightnings, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great 
	famine soon followed these omens; and soon after that, in the same year, 
	on the sixth of the ides of Ianr, the havoc of heathen men miserably 
	destroyed God's church on Lindisfarne, through rapine and slaughter.

A slightly more useful detailed description is recorded in "History of the Church of Durham" by the 
monk Simeon:

	On the seventh of the ides of June, they reached the church of Lindisfarne, 
	and there they miserably ravaged and pillaged everything; they trod the holy 
	things under their polluted feet, they dug down the altars, and plundered 
	all the treasures of the church. Some of the brethren they slew, some they 
	carried off with them in chains, the greater number they stripped naked, 
	insulted, and cast out of doors, and some they drowned in the sea.

At Charlemagne's court in Aachen, the scholarly monk Alkuin received the news of the attack. Alkuin 
was personally acquainted with some of the monks in the Lindisfarne monastery, and he corresponded 
regularly with one of the brethren there by the name of Biutta. The attack made such an impression 
on him that he wrote at least five letters to England, also one to king Aethelred himself, in which 
he expresses his abomination and despair. His wrath was however directed against the Anglo-Saxons 
themselves, and not against the Vikings. They only got what they deserved after many years of sinful 
behaviour. This was a punishment from God. 

The Vikings soon took over Northumbria, East Anglia and parts of Mercia. In 866 they captured modern 
York (Viking name: Jorvik) and made it their capital. They continued to press south and west. The 
kings of Mercia and Wessex resisted as best they could, but with little success until the time of 
Alfred of Wessex, the only king of England to be called 'the Great'. 


Alfred the Great
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The first wave of Viking attacks on England was the most devastating to Saxon civilization. Prior to 
the Viking attacks, the Angle and Saxon kingdoms were not unified, and had no means of common defense. 
Shortly after the first Viking attack, the kingdom of Wessex was founded under Egbert the Saxon, when 
he united the kingdom of Mercia and Anglia under the headship of the Western Saxons. Part of the 
motivation for this was to provide a common defense against the Vikings, but the Saxons seldom had an 
opportunity to fight a pitched battle against the Vikings since they typically attacked at night and 
were gone before an army could be raised against them. 

By 870 however, a great wave of Danish invaders wintered in England and began to set up permanent 
colonies. The Saxons opposed them and won a few battles, but after successive invasions they were 
utterly dispersed. By the time Alfred the Great came to the throne, his whole kingdom was in chaos. 

In spite of great difficulties, he unified the Saxons, rallied his forces, and won a great victory 
over the Danes at Edington. As a result of this victory, Guthrum the Danish leader agreed to become 
Christian and settle peaceably within Alfred's realm. Eventually the region of Northumbria, which had 
been settled mainly by Angles, became heavily populated by Danes. Several more battles occurred 
between the Saxons and Anglo-Danish realms, but the worst of the Viking raids was past.

Another important development during this same period was the unification of most of the minor Viking 
tribes under Harold Fairhair in Norway. The original Vikings had been petty sea-kings, each without 
any overlord, but henceforth, Viking armies were sometimes sent in service to their king rather than 
acting entirely independently.

During the same time that Danish Vikings attacked northern England, Norwegian Vikings sailed to north 
western Scotland, and conquered land for their farms both around the coast and islands. They also sailed 
and settled as far as in the Isle of Man and some parts of Wales. Vikings joined together to invade 
countries such as Britain, Germany, France and Spain. Eventually, some Vikings invaded and decided to 
stay in the area they had conquered. Over time, the settled Vikings began to trade, marry and became 
part of the population of that country.




Sources:
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
"History of the Church of Durham" by Simeon
www.topicpod.com
www.heritage-history.com
www.history.org.uk