Beginning as early as the 780s, England was among the first places to be hit by Viking raids.¹ The earliest of these attacks lasted up until around 822, followed by a period of settlement in the 840s and the arrival of the “Great Army” in 865. Unlike with Francia, the Vikings would end up being far more politically threatening for the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. Early on, however, their impact was still unknown.

CONTENTS:
I. The Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms
II. Lindisfarne

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I. THE ANGLO-SAXON KINGDOMS:

At this time, England was far from being a united land. Although there were a few other smaller kingdoms, the major kingdoms at this time were Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex. Northumbria controlled most of northern England and southern Scotland, Mercia held the English Midlands, while Wessex controlled all of the southwest.² 

At this time, the only notable king was Offa of Mercia (r. 757-96).³ However, he spent most of his energy tending to the Welsh kingdoms west of him, which is visible even today with Offa’s Dyke. This dyke was meant to be a “boundary marker or defensive system.”⁴ He even dealt diplomatically with Charlemagne to the south.⁵ In terms of the Vikings, king Offa did strengthen his coastal defenses in 792.⁶ Yet, the Vikings had little lasting effect on Mercia during his reign.

The arrival of the Vikings truly did come to them as a surprise. Also, it is important to know that Lindesfarne wasn’t actually England’s first encounter with the Vikings, despite it being famously deemed the first raid. In Wessex, for example, the Danes first arrived in 789, and a royal official went out to greet them. Here is the account provided by the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

“787 [789]. This year, King Beorhtric of Wessex married Eadburg, Offa’s daughter. And in his days there came for the first time three ships of Northmen, from Hordaland in Norway. Then the Reeve rode to meet them; he intended to have them go to the king’s town because he did not know what they were. They killed him. These were the first Danish ships to attack the land of the English people…”⁷

II. LINDESFARNE:

The monastery of Lindisfarne was actually founded by an Irishman named Saint Aidan, who travelled “from the monastery of Iona to convert the heathens of Northumbria.”⁸ In fact, it was to Ireland that some English students went to learn. Furthermore, “Bede tells us that the Irish welcomed them all kindly and, without asking for any payment, provided them with books and teachers.”⁹

It was on 8th of June, 793 (the date is debated, but this date is currently what has been accepted. As you will see shortly, the Chronicle says January, not June), that the Vikings raided Lindesfarne.¹⁰ Here is the account of this event in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle:

“793. In this year, terrifying omens appeared over Northumbria, and the people were wretchedly afraid. There were huge flashes of lightning and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine followed these signs, and shortly after that, on the sixth day before the Ides of January of the same year, the miserable raiding of the heathens destroyed God’s church on the Isle of Lindesfarne through plundering and murder.”¹¹

A churchman and scholar by the name of Alcuin reacts to this event in an appeal to King Æthelred:

“Lo, it is nearly 350 years that we and our fathers have inhabited this most lovely land, and never before has such a terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race, nor was it thought that such an inroad from the sea could be made. Behold, the church of St. Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled or ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as prey to pagan peoples.”¹²

Not only do these accounts demonstrate the utter shock and surprise of the English, but also the terror. The events that occurred at Lindisfarne sent shock waves across Europe, leaving them to wonder how such a thing could happen. The Vikings truly were something they had never before seen, and many saw them as the very wrath of God himself. Alcuin continues:

“Behold, judgement has begun, with great terror, at the house of God, in which rest such lights of the whole of Britain. What should we expect for other places, when divine judgement has not spared this holy place? I do not think this sin is theirs alone who dwell in that place.”¹³

CONCLUSION:

The Vikings came suddenly, taking England by surprise. At first, they believed that these men were traders, until they began to kill and raid their land. To the people of England, this was the beginning of divine judgement against them. God was angry with them for their multitude of sin. The early attacks, as noted primarily by Lindesfarne, demonstrate this mentality, that of surprise and terror. Yet, this terror was far more than a foreign presence, but rather a terror of God and his power (for the medieval mind). Do not be fooled, though, into believing these men were simpletons for thinking such thoughts. To them, the Vikings truly did seem like God’s fury itself.

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Footnotes

1. John Haywood, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Vikings.(London: Penguin Books, 1995), 54. ↩︎
2. Andrew Jotischky and Caroline Hull, The Penguin Historical Atlas of the Medieval World. (London: Penguin Books 2005), 28. ↩︎
3. Richard Collins, Early Medieval Europe 300-1000, 3rd ed.(Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), 192. ↩︎
4. Ibid., 193. ↩︎
5. Ibid. ↩︎
6. Haywood, 54. ↩︎
7. Angus A. Somerville and R. Andrew McDonald ed., The Viking Age: A Reader, 2nd Edition. (University of Toronto Press, 2014), 184. ↩︎
8. Kathleen Hughes, “The Golden Age of Early Christian Ireland: 7th and 8th centuries,” in The Course of Irish History, 5th ed., edited by T. W. Moody, F. X. Martin, and Dermot Keogh, with Patrick Kiely. (Lanham, MD: Roberts Rhinehart Publishers, 2012), 75. ↩︎
9. Ibid. ↩︎
10. Somerville and McDonald, 181. ↩︎
11. Ibid., 184. ↩︎
12. Ibid., 186. ↩︎
13. Ibid., 187. ↩︎