Category: Viking History
Behold! My first attempt at a blog-style history course has been preserved in this sub-category! I’ve always preferred my history served like snacks. They might be a bit stale now, but perhaps you like that sort of thing? I won’t judge.
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Vikings in the East: Rús and Slavs
THE TALE OF VIKINGS IN THE EAST is dominated by the Swedes, who took to their sails with a slightly difference tune than their brethren in the West. Before we saw plunder, settlement, and breaths of conquest in the West with the Danes and the Norwegians, but here we shall see ‘Vikings’ primarily trading and providing…
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Vikings in Wales
AS WALES FOUGHT to defend themselves against Anglo-Saxon incursions from the East, a threat existing since the fall of the Roman Empire, the Vikings raided their coasts from the West. Although the Vikings infiltrated Wales between the ninth and eleventh centuries, they were never as great of a threat to Welsh sovereignty as the Anglo-Saxons were.…
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Vikings in Scotland: the Power of Orkney
In the previous lesson, we briefly explored the history of Scotland leading up to Viking involvement, which included a small introduction to the Picts and the Dál Riata, the Irishmen who settled parts of Scotland as early as 500 CE. Now we will enter into the realm of Viking involvement, with particular emphasis on the relatively…
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Vikings in Scotland: Picts and the Dál Riata
If you thought we had finally gotten away from crazy Irish people, you were sadly mistaken. Yet, although the Irish did nose their way into Scotland, there were indeed other people that were there before them, and they were called the Picts. Thus, we once again have the makings for a wonderfully chaotic concoction of identities…
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Vikings in Ireland: Fighting for Kingship with Brian Boru
BY THE TENTH CENTURY CE, the situation in Ireland had grown in complexity as ‘Viking’ identity hazed into further obscurity while the original settlers of Dublin began to integrate with the Irish. Furthermore, powerful Viking chieftains from abroad sought political dominance over a town that was gradually becoming a kingdom of its very own: Dublin. Yet,…
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Vikings in Ireland: Dublin, Conflict, and Integration
Although it may seem rather strange, raiding does not suitably describe the history of a ‘Viking Age’ Ireland, but rather it has been their settlements and their then emerging new role within Irish society that has brought forth the most curiosity. In fact, it is perhaps their behavior in Ireland that beckons us to question…
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Vikings in Ireland: Arrival and Initial Impact
Rising out of the sea, a storm of serpents approached Ireland in 795 CE that would cast a complex shadow across the land of Éiru (Ireland) over the following centuries. The ‘Vikings’, in their storm of fury, allegedly came to pillage and destroyed the Golden Age of ecclesiastical learning in Ireland. The Vikings, however, did not…
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Vikings in Ireland: Tribal, Rural, Hierarchal, and Familiar
IRELAND WAS A RATHER UNIQUE PART of the medieval world. Interestingly enough, however, the Irish world was much more like the ‘Viking’ world than many others were at this time, particularly in their political situation and the power of kinship in medieval Irish society. Thus, this lesson will delve into the background of Irish society prior to…
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Vikings in England: Knutr and Hastings
During the reign of Æthelred the Unready, England was at the mercy of renewed Viking aggression. This time, however, there was no King Alfred to save the day. The Viking leader Sveinn Forkbeard conquered England in 1013, but died shortly after. Svein’s power quickly dissolves, but eventually a Viking named Knútr regains power over England,…
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Vikings in England: the Danelaw and the Unready
Despite King Alfred’s best attempts, he did not rid England of the Vikings permanently. Although he gave them a fight, pushing their ‘Great Army’ away from England, there were still many Danes who settled northeast England, primarily in the kingdom of Northumbria. The story after King Alfred then unfolds as king after king addresses this problem,…
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Vikings in England: the Great Army vs King Alfred
THE ARRIVAL of the ‘Great Army’ in England marked a turning point, “transitioning from seasonal raiding to a more permanent Viking presence in England.” ‘Great Army’ is a term that has been translated from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which uses the term micel here. The leaders of this Danish army were the legendary sons of Ragnarr Loðbrók: Ívarr hinn Beinlausi (the Boneless) and Halfdán Ragnarsson. CONTENTS:I.…
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Vikings in England: Early Raids
Beginning as early as the 780s, England was among the first places to be hit by Viking raids. 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…
