A History of the Vikings in the British Isles

The first signs of the Viking threat

Viking attacks in Britain are thought to have begun in 793 A.D. with the plunder of St. Cuthbert’s monastery on the island of Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland in northern England. In this unprovoked raid, peaceful and unarmed monks were brutally killed or enslaved and their treasures stolen.

News spread of this heinous act, which was seen as an assault not only on the people of the British Isles, but also on their faith and values. Several other monasteries fell in the time that followed, giving the Norse a reputation as savage pagans and heathens. It wasn’t long before settlements and small cities along the coast were also targeted.

The first raids were small in scale but well planned. No matter how many times the Norse were fought off, they always returned by ship. Around 850 A.D., these men from the North overwintered on British soil and started building settlements. They soon gained control of the Shetland and Orkney Islands, the Hebrides, and much of mainland Scotland. They also founded Ireland’s first trading towns: Dublin, Waterford, and Wexford, using them as a base to launch attacks further inland.

The Great Heathen Army

In 865 A.D., an army led by the Viking Guthrum, Ivar the Boneless, and his brothers, Halvdan and Ubba, arrived in East Anglia. They crossed into Northumbria, where they captured York and established a Viking community in Jorvik. From there, they raided the nearby kingdoms that could not withstand the Viking army. In 867, Northumbria became the northern kingdom of Danelaw.

Their plan was to invade Wessex. However, King Alfred of Wessex and his men managed to fight the Vikings off and force them back to the north. A treaty between Guthrum and Alfred was signed in 886 defining the boundaries of their territories and agreements on peaceful trade. This treaty brought on a period in which the Vikings and the English lived rather peacefully, causing the emergence of Anglo-Norse dialects in many parts of the British Isles.

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Photo: Shutterstock , Kjell Ove Storkvik and Shutterstock

A second Viking Age

Despite the truce between the English and the Vikings, the relationship wasn’t going well. The English fought to get their land back and the Vikings continued occasional raiding. When Viking attacks became even more frequent in 980 A.D., the English government paid the Vikings protection money to prevent further attacks.

However, the Vikings were not satisfied with the amount and the raiding continued. As a result, the English people demanded a more hostile approach against the Vikings. In 1002, King Æthelred of Wessex proclaimed that all Danes living in England would be executed. This would later be known as the St. Brice’s Day massacre.

When King Sweyn Forkbeard of Denmark heard of this, he initiated a full-scale invasion against England, and he raided until King Æthelred fled. This allowed Sweyn to take the English throne himself in 1013, which marked the beginning of several decades of Danish rule in England. Forkbeard was succeeded by his son, Cnut the Great. Harold Harefoot followed on behalf of Harthacnut, before Harthacnut himself took the throne. Last in line was Edward the Confessor, who reigned until his death in 1066.

The end of the Viking Age

When King Edward died, a dispute arose regarding who should succeed him. Harald Hardrada, also known as Harald of Norway, led an invasion of England that same year, attempting to seize the throne. The invasion was fended off in the Battle of Stamford Bridge, where Hardrada was killed along with most of his men. This defeat is described as the end of the Viking Age in Britain.

More than 1,000 years have passed since the Viking Age ended in England and the British Isles. Their acts of terror and bloodshed are now memorialized in history books, and remnants of their lives, culture, and language can still be found across the land, giving us a glimpse of what life was like here so many centuries ago.