Tag Archives: King Alfred of Wessex

DAS Chronicle

DAS Chronicles – Into The 880s!

Since 2014, DAS has been following the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for the 870s, year-by-year, trying to see how our units would have fitted in to the wars and treacheries of that time. It’s been lots of fun, and we’d like to continue it into the 880s…

But first, a reminder of what’s already happened, as the 870s saw sweeping changes across Britain, with the Vikings and Saxons both suffering terrible losses and celebrating great victories.
In 872 London was sacked by the Vikings, and the Viking units of DAS fell upon the refugees being escorted to safety by the Saxon units.
In 874, a series of events finally saw King Burhred of Mercia driven from his lands, with King Ceolwulf taking his place and inviting Vikings to settle there – an expensively bought peace! However, Ivar Ragnarsson of the Vikings died in the battle winning the peace, leaving the Vikings without a clear leader…
In 875 the Vikings quarrelled over who should rule them. Meanwhile, King Alfred of Wessex stepped up to claim he was the natural leader of all free Englisc, harrying the sea-raiders and looting the looters.
In 876, King Harald Finehair of Norway sought to gain control of the Isles and Northumbria – but was driven out of Northumbria at least by Vikings united under Halfdan Ragnarsson, with the Westmen seizing the Raven Banner of Finehair’s forces. Halfdan said the Vikings should secure the north before pushing to take Wessex; but Guthrum said they should take Wessex whilst they had momentum. The Oestvikinga and Holmbyggjar followed Guthrum to war, whilst the Westmen followed Halfdan north – where they got caught up in some very complex politics and all sorts of treacheries between Britons, Scots, and Picts. Meanwhile, the Cilternsaete fled Ceolwulf’s Mercia and took refuge in Wessex, where they aided Anir Thane’s Sumorsaete in defending Alfred’s borders. Guthrum’s forces took Wareham but were trapped there – and the Saxons took Vikings as hostages in exchange for peace.
In 877 the hostages broke free, and fled with the rest of Guthrum’s forces across Wessex, seeking to join up with a naval force sent to Exeter… But the naval force was destroyed, and the Englisc scattered the fractured Vikings.
In 878 news came of the deaths of the last two Ragnarssons, Ubbe and Halfdan. Guthrum unified the Viking forces, proudly bearing at least one Raven Banner, and pressed Wessex hard. But the Englisc managed to get word from Alfred, who was sheltering in a swamp, and rose up in great fury. Guthrum was defeated, forced to be baptised and become Athelstan. The whole of what is today England was divided into Danelaw and Wessex.
And so, in 879, a great peace fell upon the land. There were occasional border disputes, and trouble makers sometimes sought to re-ignite old wars (although Hauk of the Oestvikingae’s attempt to steal a Saxon Thegn’s helmet to stir up trouble came to naught), but the two forces had time to rebuild and settle.

But no peace lasts forever, and we’re now entering the 880s. Of course, the pandemic has slightly disrupted our plans! But luckily 880 and 881 are both fairly quiet, in England at least:
A.D. 880. This year went the army from Cirencester into East-Anglia, where they settled, and divided the land. The same year went the army over sea, that before sat at Fulham, to Ghent in Frankland, and sat there a year.
A.D. 881. This year went the army higher up into Frankland, and the Franks fought with them; and there was the army horsed after the battle.

As we haven’t had any fighting events for a while, and it might be a while before we get any, it is worth thinking what your character is up to in this time!

Vikings, are you settling and dividing the land of East Anglia (this is probably the time that the Holmbyggjar get settled into Osea Island)? Or are you heading up to Northumbria or the Isles, and looking after lands there (off to Canna, or Mann)? Or are you off pillaging France?

For the Saxons, this is probably the time that Alfred really builds up the network of fortified burhs to defend his borders, the Burghal Hidage. They were possibly started in the late 870s, but this was a chance to turn them into permanent and significant fortifications. It was also quite possibly a time he built up his own fleet of ships – 882 features a Wessex naval victory against the Vikings. How might your characters fit into this time of preparation, what are they doing to help Alfred?

One big storyline that we’re keen to play through once we’re all back together is the fate of Mercia. It is in the late 870s or early 880s that Viking-appeasing King Ceolwulf of Mercia is replaced by Æthelred of Mercia – although Wessex always regards Æthelred as an ealdorman under Alfred, not a king in his own right (and Æthelred only holds West Mercia, as the Vikings keep control of the East). One of Æthelred’s first actions (possibly once he is in charge, or possibly under Ceolwulf) is an invasion of Wales, but he is roundly beaten at the Battle of Conwy in 881. Hauk and Herewulf both have plans for events that could be themed around this storyline and the shifting sands in Mercia, which they’d hoped to run this year but look forward to running when we can.

Looking further forward, the 880s are also characterised by Alfred going on the attack: fighting in London, Rochester, Stourmouth… Plus treachery from the Vikings in East Anglia, and no doubt plenty of border skirmishes! But there are fewer large sweeping changes in political leaders, so it should be a good time to focus more on our personal stories and rivalries and less on “wait, who is king now?”

DAS Chronicle

The Ravens Return 878 A.D. (Earleywood, March 2018)

In spring of 878, the Westmen returned from Ireland bearing the terrible news that Ubbe Ragnarsson fell in late 877 in the skirmish at Loch Cuan between the fair heathens and the dark heathens. Albann, king of the dark heathens fell there also. The Westmen now sought to meet with Ubbe’s forces (meant to be raiding Devon by sea) and Guthrum’s forces (who’d been ravaging much of Wessex by land). They wanted to find also a raven banner previously owned by the son of Jarl Rognvald, lord of the Kingdom of the Isles and Finehair’s right hand man which they won in battle in 876, as they felt it would surely bring victory to the Vikings who bore it.

The Oestvikingae were present at the massacre of Ubbe’s raid, and the few survivors were scattered. Hauk fled with another raven banner, made by Ubbe in jealousy of his brother Halfdan having the Westmen and their raven banner on his side. This banner bore the strange curse that it would bring victory but the bearer would die – Halfdan was winning, when his banner-bearer (a tall but gangling youth, desperate to be known as a great warrior but lacking the ability) fell. Halfdan took up the banner himself, as no-one else would – and took his death wound.

The Holmbyggjar had been with the Viking leader Guthrum, harrassing Alfred. Guthrum, seeing the Northumbrian / Ragnarsson side of the Great Army without a leader, wanted to take the Raven Banner to set himself up as leader of all the Vikings.

The Englisc had with them Jarl Rognvald’s raven banner, which they wanted to deliver to a monastery, a trophy of ealdorman Odda’s victory and evidence of God’s grace and superiority over the heathen devils.

As the day fell out, the Holmbyggjar and Westmen took both banners between them, though there was much confusion as to which was cursed and after much mead of victory was drunk it was also not clear where the banners ended up!

As these events took place, Alfred was in hiding in the Somerset levels, and other Vikings were attempting to keep his Englisc supporters from finding him. Eventually the Englisc found their way to him, guided by locals, and driving off the Vikings who harried them. And at the banquet that night, a monk sent by Alfred brought some tasty cakes for all to share.

DAS Chronicle

Captives and Feuds, 877 A.D. (Earleywood 2017)

An Englisc viewpoint

At Wareham peace was sworn by solemn oaths from the Danes upon their holy ring, and hostages were given to Alfred the king: but the heathen proved forsworn, and fled towards Exeter. So Alfred sent for the hostages to be brought to him for hanging – for what other use is there for a hostage if oaths are not kept?

It fell to the Cilternsaete to escort two captives to the king – a man called Thorhelm and a woman called Fritha. We were also joined by Eadwulf, a Northumbrian who, like us, had come south to seek safety.

It was not long into the journey that we saw that there were small groups of Vikings abroad, seeking to free the hostages. The man Thorhelm used his weasel tongue to befriend young Wulfgar, and promised him great reward for his freedom – a gold arm-ring. So the boy, unwise, let him free, and he fled.

The Danes sought to waylay us, but as they had split into small bands could not stand before us, and we forced a passage along the road. There were several such skirmishes, and although Fritha was lost – freed or slain, I cannot say – we gained other captives, who would decorate a gallows just as well.

Later, we pursued the Viking stragglers as they headed to Exeter, harrying them, but unable to prevent them form seizing the burh.

That evening, a truce was called and Thorhelm offered his ransom to Wulfgar – an arm-ring indeed, bit of brass, not gold. Yet further proof that the heathen cannot be trusted.

This Thorhelm also showed that whilst he might fool a young boy, his tongue could get him into trouble, and not out of it. Drunk, no doubt, he called Guthwald thegn a lowly peasant – which brought the promise of a blood-feud with the Cilternsaete. Thorhelm wriggled and writhed, but was caught like an eel in a fish-trap. At length, realising his folly, and helped by those of greater wisdom, he agreed to buy himself free of the feud by serving as a mercenary (but without pay) for the Cilterseate on two future campaigns, when called upon by Guthwald to do so.

Later, a man entered the hall, wet and unkempt from the sea. He gave his name as Herjolf, Halfdan’s man, and brought news that the Danish fleet had been wrecked. Surely, this was the wrath of God upon the heathen for breaking their oaths.

– Herewulf Thegn

A Dane’s viewpoint

The Englisc were much impressed with Thorhelm’s generosity to their man Wulfgar and during the banquet gave him a large, ornate yet strangely ugly dish made of silver that is spoken of as one of their most sacred treasures, the very Chalice of St Botolph. Unfortunately, greed overcame some of our folk and the dish was first stolen, then broken into parts and some of them hidden. Grimkell of the Westmen agreed that the dish should be brought together again but had great difficulty finding where he had hidden one of the pieces of silver in his drunken state. He claimed somebody else must have moved it .

Later in the evening, Halfdan’s man Herjolf arrived unexpectedly, worn from hard travel and bearing news that the fleet at Swanwich was wrecked. Bosi, Hersir of the Holmbyggjar, welcomed Herjolf and thanked him for bringing his news with all possible speed, dire though that news was. Bosi gave Herjolf drink and bade him rest at the back of the hall.

There was much debate about the meaning of these tidings, and it was felt that Njord must have turned his face against the warriors of the sea-steed. Some spoke of making a sacrifice to Njord to regain his favour, others of sacrificing to a more powerful god such as the Allfather or Thor, to overcome Njord and bring us better fortune. It was suggested that the large silver chalice would make an excellent sacrifice. The wise man Styrkar asked that bones be cast to test the truth of Herjolf’s tidings. Ingibjorg supplied knuckle bones and Fritha and Styrkar read their meaning, concluding that only half the fleet had been lost. This led to much debate as to whether Herjolf was mistaken or whether he had deliberately tried to cause panic. Indeed when we learned that he had disappeared from his resting place, it was felt he might have been a naughty god in disguise, seeking to cause mischief.

Somehow the Chalice ended up back with the Englisc, who clearly repented of their generosity, being mean-spirited people who do not understand true gift-giving. They refused to return it and took great offence at some trivial remark of Thorhelm’s, threatening him with death and blood-feud, and only relenting when under great duress he agreed to fight for them for two campaigns. Still, the Oestvikingae are known to be mercenaries, so perhaps their leader, my father’s son Hauk, will be able to turn this twist of fate to his advantage.

– Ingibjorg Ragnarsdottir

DAS Chronicle

Oaths and Hostages, 876 A.D. (Flaunden, November 2016)

First, a quote from a surviving fragment of the Chronicle of St Albans (sadly lost at the dissolution of the monasteries…)

“AD 874. Here the Great Army came into Mercia and took winter quarters at Repton. And King Burhred lead his fyrd against them, and men from the Abbey lands with them. But Burhred thought himself accursed, and was driven from his kingdom to seek sanctuary in the bosom of our Lord in Rome. And the Danes gave the kingdom to Ceolwulf, who swore oaths to them and gave them hostages. Alas for the times that we live in!
AD 875. Here the Great Army left Repton. Some went with Healfdene to Northumbria and other with Guthrum, Oscytel and Anwend to Cambridge.
AD 876. Here after harvest Abbot Wulfnoth learned that King Ceolwulf sought to do harm to some of his sworn men, for they had been loyal to King Burhred, and so he thought them his enemies. But the Abbot sent word to them secretly, and they fled to seek safety among the West Saxons. And the Abbot sent with them a letter saying that he held their lands for them, for they held bookland from the Abbey, and so King Ceolwulf had no claim on it. Angry as he was, King Ceolwulf could not afford to make an enemy of Holy Mother Church, for fear that ot would make the folk rise against him. But Ceolwulf sent Danes to seek their death. Woe that Christian men should sink so low!”

Late in AD 876, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that “the army stole into Wareham, a fortress of the West Saxons. The king afterwards made peace with them; and they gave him as hostages those who were worthiest in the armt; and swore with oaths on the holy bracelet, which they would not before to any nation, that they would readily go out of his kingdom.”

Now, in most cases “made peace” seems to be an Anglo-Saxon euphemism for “paid them to go away”. But this seems to have been different.

My interpretation of events is that the Danes took control of the burh at Wareham before Alfred could bring up his fyrd, giving rise to a stand-off: the Anglo-Saxons could not get in without heavy losses, but the Danes could not get out- hence their offer to make peace. One of the things we wanted to explore was the giving of hostages and swearing of oaths.
To give us a reason to fight, I also assumed that some Viking stragglers would be harried by the locals before the main fyrd arrived.
The Sumorsaete wanted to drive out the Danes, and see how reliable their new neighbours, the Cilternsaete, would be: the Cilternsaete wanted to demonstrate their reliability to their hosts; the Westmen had been promised much silver by Ceolwulf to find and kill the Cilternsaete; the Holmbyggja envied those with Halfdan who were taking land to settle, and wanted to foil the Westmen to make them less trusted by the leaders of the Great Army: and the Oestvikingae wanted much the same, although their desire was to go on looting and raiding.

Despite the preceding fine autumn weather, the day when the Anglo-Saxons harried the Viking stragglers was miserably wet. Even so, there were many clashes between armed bands, and later in the day, when the confusion of battle had caused normal unit organisation to break down (or, the weedy did not go back out after lunch…) there was a series of ambushes by the Anglo-Saxon hunters and the Viking rearguard- including one spectacularly successful ambush when the Anglo-Saxons sprang from hiding, taking the Danes completely by surprise and slaughtering them all.

Eventually, the remaining Vikings gained the safety of the burh- not before time, for King Alfred shortly after arrived with his fyrd. The Anglo-Saxons did not wish to risk storming the fortress; the Vikings could not get out. So the leaders of the Great Army decided to seek peace, and offer hostages and oaths. They also decided that the Westmen, Holmbyggja, and Oestvikingae should offer hostages- one in three of their number- but could choose who they should be. They also advised them to look for cunning words so that they could swear an oath and keep to the letter of it, while breaking it in spirit.

The Holmbyggja nobly offered their kinfolk among the Oestvikimngae, Thorhelm and Fritha, as their hostages (which for some unfathomable reason they agreed to!). The Westmen offerd Hallgerd: Grimkell seemed very keen to marry her off (perhaps to save himself?) but none of the Cilternsaete were keen to marry a pagan. Wulfruna wisely suggested a marriage between hostages- Hallgerd and Thorkhelm- but neither Thorhelm nor his wife Fritha thought that a good idea! An alternative hostage was suggested, but eventually a copromise was reached- for Hallgerd to marry Wulfgar when he comes of age.
Dubious oaths were also sworn, giving the Danes enough wriggle-room to preserve some semblance of honour when they are broken (as the surely will be….). Of course, that will mean that the hostages will be hanged, so it looks as if Wulfgar is off the hook!
The astute will notice that 3 hostages from 18 Vikings is not one in three- clearly the Vikings are not very good at arithmetic….

So after glory in battle, glee in the hall. Food was eaten, mead drunk, songs sung, and riddles told. Men must revel when they may; for wyrd is wondrous fickle. Who can say what next year may bring?

– Herewulf Thegn

DAS Chronicle

The Scot(ish) Day, 876 A.D. (Horley Scout Camp, June 2016)

Now proudly bearing the Raven Banner, the Westmen marched even futher north to continue to fight the Norwegian invaders, and to reclaim their homes on the isles off the coast of the lands of the Scots (especially Halgerd’s home on Canna). There they encountered local politics…

Map of Scotlandtree

King Causantin of Alba, ruler of the combined thrones of Dál Riata and Pictavia, had called a meeting of all of the northern Kingdoms, inviting representatives from the Britons of Alt Clud, the Scots of Dál Riata, the Picts of Pictavia, and the exiled Vikings who refused to serve the Norwegian King. In the woods on the way to the meeting, the small bands of royal representatives clashed and tempers ran high. Secrets were uncovered about the past activities of all of the delegates, letters from years ago were looted and read, and a wandering monk made strange and terrible predictions about kingship.

The Britons of Alt Clud

Alt Clud, sometimes known as Strathclyde, was the last great British / Welsh northern kingdom. Their capital was the great fortress of Alt Clud, Dumbarton Castle, which was sacked by Ivar Ragnarsson 6 years before this meeting, in 870. Their king, Arthgal, died 4 years ago in 872, in somewhat mysterious circumstances: it might have been illness, but it might have been poison… Alt Clud was now ruled by his son Rhun, married to the king of Dál Riata & Alba’s sister, Flann.

Young Prince Eochaid, son of King Rhun of Alt Clud, nephew of King Causantin of Dál Riata and Alba, was the representative of the Britons sent to the meeting. With him travelled his father’s household warrior Beath map Beath and his mother’s close friend Anneth. When they encountered the mysterious monk, the monk predicted “Your Father Shall Be The Last King Of Strathclyde” and “Cinead United Two Kingdoms Through Murder. Murder Will Be Required Again To Unite All Three.” The letters the Alt Clud delegation carried said:

Eochaid map Rhun map Arthgal,
My son, I am proud of you. You have grown strong and healthy, and will one day be a worthy successor to me. You also have a strong fire of ambition inside you: I believe that you may well be an even greater king than I.
However, you have not yet proven yourself in battle, and you must do that before the people will follow you. I send you now to be trained by my most loyal advisor and friend, the man who made me what I am today. Listen to his advice, and he will guide you well.
Your father and king,
Rhun map Arthgal map Dumnagual, King of Alt Clud
Year Of Our Lord 874


Beath map Beath,
Without you, I would have nothing; it is you who made me into the man and king I am today. You have been a reliable figure by my side through the years, training and guiding me, as well as a strong warrior when needed. Without you, I would not have survived the burning of Alt Clud, and I would not sit on the throne. I thank you for your many years of good service, and I beg one more favour of you.
I am too busy to supervise the training of my son Eochaid. He is a bold and ambitious lad, and I pray will one day replace me. But to do so he must first prove himself in the field of battle. He has often practiced and fought in play, but I ask you to train him to fight as a true warrior, to get him bloodied and achieve his first kill. Only then will the people accept him.
Your friend and king,
Rhun map Arthgal map Dumnagual, King of Alt Clud
Year Of Our Lord 874


Anneth,
Thank you for your many years of service. You came with me to Alt Clud from Dál Riata all those years ago, when I came to marry Rhun map Arthgal, and you have been a loyal friend to me. You have been my shield, protecting me from those who would harm me, and my most trusted friend and ally. Together we have steered our husbands, pushing them to be the best that they could be and to gain power and glory.
Please do the same for my son, Eochaid. Help him to fan his ambition and drive for power, and he could achieve true greatness, greater even than my husband.
Your friend and queen,
Flann, daughter of Cináed mac Ailpín
Year Of Our Lord 876

The Scots of Dál Riata

The Kingdom of Dál Riata on the west coast originally included most of the islands. The Scots came here from the sea: they were driven out of Ireland by fierce inter-family strife some 400 years ago. They brought with them Christianity, and it had vigorously spread out from such centres as Iona. They were ruled by Causantin mac Cináed, eldest son of Cináed mac Ailpín, brother to the queen of Alt Clud Flann and Aed (his current heir).

King Causantin was hosting the meeting, and as such he had already arrived before everyone else. His son Domnall (protected by the mighty warrior Éremón), currently too young to be king or his father’s heir, made his own way to the gathering and on the way clashed with the other delegates. Whilst Domnall was trying to travel in diguise, the wandering monk recognised him and predicted “You Shall Be King Of All Three Kingdoms” and later “You Will Not Be King When Your Father Dies, Picts And Britons Will Rule Before You.” The letters the Scottish warband carried said:

Domnall mac Causantin,
You are my son, and one day will rule all of these kingdoms. But you are not yet old enough. So you must be careful, and avoid being captured by those who might do you harm. Don’t let anyone except for your guards know who you are, call yourself “Gormgus” and travel secretly. Trust your bodyguard Éremón and your nurse Orlaith to protect you, and take their advice, but remember that you are a prince. You are in command, not them.
We must travel to the meeting by separate paths: it would be too dangerous for us to both go together, if we were ambushed we might both be killed. I will see you at the meeting. Good luck.
Your father and king,
Causantin mac Cináed, King of Alba
Year Of Our Lord 876


Éremón,
I am dying. You are one of the last who still remember the full story of my conquest, the terrible things we did to secure my throne. The feast where we ambushed the Pictish nobles, killing them all whilst they were guests under my roof…
I worry: will God punish me for what we did, or will he see that we did what we had to, to provide strong leadership to these lands? The Picts and the Scots and Britons were too fragmentary, too divided in the face of Englisc and Viking: they needed a strong hand to hold them together. My only regret is that I failed to command the Britons of Alt Clud.
You and your troops have helped me be that strong hand, and have become some of my most trusted weapons. You are the youngest of my household troops, so to you I ask that you look after my descendants. One day one of them shall pull all of our peoples together, to repel the Englisc and the raiders. Guide my children, and guide my children’s children. Protect them, and help them to achieve their potential.
Your friend and king,
Cináed mac Ailpín, King of Alba
Year Of Our Lord 858


Éremón,
You were always a loyal protector to me, my brothers, and my sisters. I ask you now to visit my sister Flann in Alt Clud. After that terrible raid they had recently, they are experiencing a time of hardship. Make sure that she is being well treated.
If you encounter any of the Pictish trouble-makers there, make sure that Arthgal sees where his loyalties should lie.
Your friend and king,
Causantin mac Cináed
Year Of Our Lord 872

The Picts of Pictavia

Pictavia is a broad term for the patchwork of independent ancient kingdoms on the east coast. The Picts were the original inhabitants of the whole area: before the Welsh or Scots arrived, there were Picts. But their time had passed, and their power was in decline. 30 years ago Cináed mac Ailpín, the Scottish king with a Pictish mother, killed most of the rest of the Pictish nobility and took the crown. He combined the Picts and the Scots into one nation, “Alba”, now ruled by his son Causantin.

But some Picts were disaffected, and had rallied behind the last surviving nobles: Lathir and her husband Giric. Lathir and Giric journeyed to the meeting, cautiously seeking allies to overthrow the hated Scots… The monk told Giric that “Though You Are Not Of Royal Blood, You Shall Rule Alba” and told Lathir “To Defeat The Scots, You Must Embrace The Britons.” Lathir also had several letters, from a Pictish resistance group:

Lathir,
As you know, Cináed mac Ailpín only conquered the Picts through a horrific ambush. He lured all of our nobility to a grand feast, and then had his warrior Éremón slaughter them whilst they were guests under his roof.
The brutality has not stopped there. Our people are ground under the yoke of the Scot oppressors. We lost our nobility to mac Ailpín’s treason, and are now ruled by his murderous son Causantin, with his father’s thug Éremón at his side. We must unite in order to regain our freedom.
You and your husband Giric are the greatest amongst us. Your parents and Giric’s were cut down by mac Ailpín’s treachery, but you both survived. If you stand tall, and say that you seek freedom, many will listen and follow.
The True Picts
Year Of Our Lord 865


Lathir,
We were sad to hear that your trip to get an alliance with the Britons of King Arthgal of Alt Clud was unsuccessful, as the butcher Éremón was also at court and argued against you. We must have allies in order to overthrow the Scots! Perhaps Arthgal’s successor will be more amenable? Or perhaps we could even make alliances with the Northumbrians, or the Vikings, or the Norwegians? We will follow where you lead.
The True Picts
Year Of Our Lord 872

The Vikings

Vikings had been slowly settling on the islands off the coast of the land for the past 100 or so years, sometimes peacefully with agreed rents (like Hallgerd holding Canna) and sometimes more violently. In the past year, the Norwegian King Harald Fairhair (Hallgerd’s cousin) had swept through the islands, claiming them all as part of Norway and forced everyone to bend the knee or to be exiled. Whilst his advances on the mainland had been stopped, and he had left the rule to his servant Jarl Sigurd, Sigurd still ruled all of the Isles from Shetland to Mann with an iron fist.

There were two groups of Vikings travelled to the meeting: the Westmen were exiles from the isles, seeking to reclaim their homes, whilst the Oestvikingae were just looking to hire themselves as mercenaries. The wandering monk told Hallgerd of the Westmen that “Your Cousin Has United Norway, But His Sons Will Tear It Apart” and “Norway Will Only Be Forever United When Ruled By A Christian.” He told Hauk of the Oestvikingae that “You Will Serve Great Kings” and “You Will Serve Two Christian Kings.” The Westmen carried these letters:

Grimkell, Hersir of the Westmen.
I thank you for your aid in raiding Alt Clud. If you and your warriors ever want to march under my banner again, you will be most welcome. We put the fear of the true gods into those lily-livered White-Christ worshippers!
I hope the raid was successful for you, and your ships left laden with silver?
Ivar Ragnarsson
870


Hallgerd,
I am sorry to hear that Arthgal didn’t listen to your “little talk” about recruiting him as an ally against Dal Riata, so you wouldn’t have to pay rent any more for Canna. The pride of the man, to resist us even after we burnt his fort! I am sure you gave him a piece of your mind.
Perhaps his successor will be more persuadable? If not, maybe we need to return to raid Alt Clud again, once we’ve finished conquering the Englisc…
Halfdan Ragnarsson
872

The Englisc of Wessex

Whilst no Saxons were invited to the meeting, a lone ambassador from Alfred’s court had travelled up to the North to fetch information for his ever-watchful king. He bore this letter:

Cynric,
Your Welsh cousins in the North are having problems with Harald Finehair’s invasion. They seem divided and more interested in fighting each other than the Norwegians or the Vikings.
What I would like is for them to be united, under a single powerful ruler, who will fight the Vikings and Norwegians but not the Northumbrians. Meanwhile I shall unite the south, and we will divide the country between the two of us.
Do what you can to help them achieve this? Try to sort out what is going on in their in-fighting, and give support to whoever can unite them?
Alfred, King of the Englisc and the South
Year of our Lord 876

The Feast

On the way to the meeting the Britons and Scots became united in friendship, based on their shared devotion to God, respect for kings, and the fact that both of their princes were grandsons of Cináed mac Ailpín; whilst the Picts and Vikings ended up as loose allies, united in disapproval of centralising rulers like Cináed or Harald. The factions only laid down their arms and forgot about their animosity when the two young princes, Eochaid of Alt Clud and Domnall of Dál Riata, proved their diplomatic skills by reminding everyone that the larger and more immediate target was the Norwegians, Jarl Sigurd and his King Harald Fine-Hair.

Over a fabulous evening banquet, King Causantin of Dál Riata and Pictavia persuaded everyone to work together to fight that common foe. King Causantin’s servant asked if Prince Eochaid wanted Causantin to stand judge over the alleged murder of  King Arthgal of Alt Clud 4 years ago, now that the letters had been discovered which might prove who did the terrible deed. The letters (reproduced above) showed that King Arthgal’s court at Alt Clud was being visited at the time of his death by Lathir of the Picts, Hallgerd of the Westmen, and Éremón of Dál Riata, and might even suggest internal stresses inside his court… However, Prince Eochaid said that he did not want to seek a judgement at this time, that keeping the alliance united against the threat of the Norwegians was more important. Outside any formal legal proceedings many people speculated that Hallgerd was the probable killer, which she strenuously denied.

Beath map Beath claimed that Causantin’s servant was just stirring up trouble by seeking to discuss long-forgotten grievances, and that Causantin should watch out for him. Beath map Beath was actually right about Causantin’s servant, who by this point had reported to Lathir that he was a True Pict, revealing the tattoes of loyalty that decorated his torso. He had been working for her cause all these years, becoming trusted by Causantin, and now saw the time to strike if she gave him her blessing…

Meanwhile, as a show of friendship, the Westmen returned a holy relic, thought lost in the burning of Alt Clud 6 years before, back to the visitors from Alt Clud, only demanding a very small fee for the years of protection they had given the relic.

Among other discussions, King Causantin was persuaded to send his young son Domnall off to be fostered by the great Viking Styrkar, a famed foster-father who would return Domnall when he had come of age, with fighting experience and ready to rule.

Course followed course, and people got rowdy. Causantin’s servant got the nod from Lathir, and fetched his master a bowl of the latest course, with ‘added mushrooms’… Causantin devoured it eagerly, even whilst Beath map Beath tried one last time to warn him about his servant. Causantin mocked the warnings, saying that his servant had been faithful to him for many years. At this his servant finally snapped, shouting that he was a Loyal Pict and had only worked for Causantin to gain his trust, after his parents were murdered during Cináed mac Ailpín’s treason, but that he hated the Scottish oppressors. Causantin rose up to shout back, but then clutched his throat, falling, retching and frothing, to the floor. The king was dead. The Butcher Éremón apprehended his servant, and dealt out swift and vicious justice, killing his lord’s murderer just seconds after his lord died…

In the weeks that followed, Causantin’s brother Aed took control of the throne, despite some people claiming that Domnall or even Eochaid should be the ruler. But the lands of the north were still torn, with the list of unavenged murdered kings growing ever longer; the Picts still seeking their freedom; the followers of Domnall and Eochaid both pushing their claims to the thrones; the Norwegians still triumphantly holding the isles; and the monk’s prophecies not yet fulfilled. Clearly there are more stories to be told in the north, more adventures and excitement to come!

Historical Note – Scotland in the late 9th century

Exactly what was going on in Scotland at this time is a bit unclear, and the reports are contradictory. Our version of history sticks to some of the sources, but obviously can’t follow them all. Historically, Cináed mac Ailpín might have just been a Pict, and “MacAlpin’s Treason” is probably just a later medieval legend. But it was just too cool not to include, and who doesn’t love some simmering racial tension? Similarly how and when Arthgal and Causantin died is disputed but none of the sources match the deaths we gave them, some king lists omit people that we included, and we invented all of the bodyguards and gave names to unnamed figures (particularly the women, who aren’t included in the king lists that give us so much of our contemporary knowledge). The importance of the mad monk with prophecies was meant to reflect the Witches of the Scottish Play (which is actually set 200 years later) and the medieval epic poem known as the “Prophecy of Berchán”.

treeafter

King Aed of Alba probably only ruled a year, before being murdered by Giric of the Picts. Giric and Eochaid son of Rhun possibly united the three kingdoms and ruled together, until both being defeated by Domnall son of Causantin in 889 – there are no other known kings of Alt Clud / Strathclyde until a few decades later. After Domnall’s death, rule of Alba alternates between descendents of Causantin and Aed.

DAS Chronicle

The Raven Banner Falls, 876 A.D. (Earleywood, March 2016)

In 875 news arrived that King Harald Finehair of Norway’s fearsome warlord Jarl Rognvald had conquered the islands off the north coast of Britain, from the Orkneys to the Hebrides to Mann: the lands that many of the Westmen call home. His army had also landed in Northumbria, attempting to bring all the Vikings in Britain under his rule. Meanwhile, the Northumbrians had risen up, wanting freedom from any foreign ruler.

The Westmen, Oestvikingae, and Holmbyggjar weren’t having that, and so marched North to fight King Harald off, under Halfdan Ragnarsson’s leadership. Sadly, due to being shipwrecked and then ambushed, they arrived too late for the big battle: by the time they arrived, Halfdan’s men had broken the invading Norwegian army. The Vikings of DAS were sent to look for Jarl Rognvald’s son, Ivar, who rumour had it had been killed in a Northumbrian ambush. With him had fallen his standard, the Raven Banner.

Looking for the Raven Banner, many warbands descended on the area where Ivar was rumoured to have died. The Vikings wanted to get it to rally all of the raiders in England to their cause and to demoralise Rognvald and Halfdan; the Englisc wanted to stop any of the foreign kings achieving pre-eminence, to keep the Vikings fighting each other; and some dangerous elite lone wolves from the Norwegian army were hoping to grab the banner and take it back to their forces. After an initially fruitless search, the banner was uncovered by Thorhelm of the Oestvikingae. The Oestvikingae were then attacked by a Norwegian, who was being aided by a Saxon mercanary, Athelstan of the Sumorsaete. As they fled, they ran into the Holmbyggjar, who smashed aside both groups to take the banner for themselves. Halla then took the banner and went into hiding, protecting it to return it to King Guthrum.

A lone Norwegian

Everyone in the area began searching for Halla, who utilised all of her skills to remain unseen. Finally the Holmbyggjar found her, and teamed up with the Oestvikingae to break out past the encircling forces: a Norwegian, Athelstan, and the Cilternsaete refugees who had fled from Mercia into Northumbria. The Englisc won, only for Athelstan to turn on the Norwegian, stabbing him in the back and proudly winning the banner…

The chase

After a break for lunch, the hunt for the banner continued. With the Norwegians driven out of the area, the Vikings turned on the Englisc in earnest. The Westmen soon overpowered them and captured the banner. Then the Oestvikingae stole the banner from their hiding place, and the chase was on! The woods descended into madness as people fought for the banner, desperate chases down paths with ended in bogs and holly bushes. At the end of the day, despite a particularly successful stint by Wulfgar of the Cilternsaete as the banner bearer, the Westmen were triumphant and proudly bore the banner out of the woods.

The victors

That evening, the Holmbyggjar held a great feast. Two mysterious visitors joined the hall. One was from Jarl Rognvald and King Harald Finehair. He said that King Harald acknowledged the victory against him, was retreating to Norway with Jarl Rognvald, and that they revoked all claim to the Kingdom of Northumbria: at which the hall rejoiced. However, he then added that Jarl Rognvald’s brother, Jarl Sigurd, would remain in control of the Kingdom of the Isles, from Mann to the Hebrides to the Orkneys. This distressed the hall, particularly those of the Westmen who called those isles their home. The second visitor was Herjolf Asgrimsson, huskarlar of King Halfdan Ragnarsson. He passed on messages from Halfdan. To the Westmen, successful bearers of the Raven Banner, he said that he entirely supported their claim to the isles which they called home. He would not allow any of his followers to take the isles from them, and would support them in reclaiming the isles from the Norwegian Sigurd. To the Oestvikingae and the Holmbyggjar he offered land. He said that attacking Wessex before we have properly secured our conquests is rash, and that we must completely subdue the North before marching South.

The Holmbyggjar disagreed, saying that they followed King Guthrum not Halfdan, King Guthrum who had offered them (and all who supported him in taking Wessex) land in East Anglia. The time to consolidate our victories is once they are complete, once there is no free Englisc kingdom. And to do that, Wessex must fall.

The Oestvikingae were torn. They wanted to attack fresh lands, lands rich in money. But they had previously been loyal to the Ragnarssons, and switching allegiance to Guthrum felt like a betrayal.

The Westmen, however, were clear. Following Guthrum and taking Wessex seemed like the best choice, the most strategic. But the Westment never followed the sensible option. And so they would be marching North, to retake their homes, before returning South.

Meanwhile, the Englisc sat and listened, biding their time and preparing to carry word of the plans south to Alfred, the last free Englisc king. Whatever was coming, he would prepared… Herewulf Thegn proudly told the story of how Athelstan tricked the lone Norwegian wolf to claim the Raven Banner by pretending to be a mercenary, and his implication was clear: Alfred of Wessex was cleverer than any Viking king, and the Englisc would outfox any invaders just like Athelstan had.

Historical Note – The Raven Banner
The Raven Banner is one of those things that much has been written about, a lot of it rubbish. Historically the first appearance of it is in 878, 2 years after our current period, when Ubbe Ragnarsson invades Wessex and took with him “the war-flag (guðfani), which they called Raven”. Later it is also used by the Kings of Northumbria and Norse-occupied Ireland, the Jarls of Orkney, King Knut, King Haraldr at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, and banners with ravens on appear in the Bayeaux Tapestry. In several sources it is magical or cursed: the army that carry it always wins but the banner bearer always dies, or the image changes depending on if they’re going to win or lose, or so on.

The only Viking source that depicts something that might be the Raven banner is the coins minted by the last descendant of the Ragnarssons to rule Northumbria, in the 940s. Two of his coins depict banners or ravens, and Hauk combined them to make our version. If you want to read more, the Viking Answer Lady has a very good article.

RavenBanner

 

9th Century History, DAS Chronicle

DAS in 2016 / Britain in 876

In 2014 we followed the events of 874, building up to King Burhred being driven out of Mercia by a coalition of Viking leaders and Ceolwulf ascending to the throne of Mercia as a Viking puppet king. However, in exchange the Vikings lost their unifying leader, Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson.
In 2015 we looked at 875, with the Viking leaders setting out in different directions after the feast at Earleywood: Halfdan Ragnarsson marching north to try to pacify the rebellious Northumbrians and drive off the invading Norwegian King Harald Finehair, whilst Guthrum went to Cambridge to keep the East Anglians under tight control. Meanwhile, the Vikings of DAS found their longships attacked by King Alfred of Wessex’s navy, were driven ashore, and hiked cross-country from Cadbury to the borders of East Anglia. The Englisc spent the year ambushing and chasing them, forcing them to fight for every step they took across the country.

In 876, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that:
This year Rolla penetrated Normandy with his army; and he reigned fifty winters. And this year the army stole into Wareham, a fort of the West-Saxons. The king afterwards made peace with them; and they gave him as hostages those who were worthiest in the army; and swore with oaths on the holy bracelet, which they would not before to any nation, that they would readily go out of his kingdom. Then, under colour of this, their cavalry stole by night into Exeter. The same year Healfden divided the land of the Northumbrians; so that they became afterwards their harrowers and plowers.

This gives us some good clear plotlines to follow. We have the resolution of Halfdan’s fight against the Northumbrians and Harald Finehair’s Norwegians, followed by the division of Northumbria. This will take place at Earleywood, acting as a bridge between 875 and 876 and a resolution of the plot from last Earleywood‘s banquet. Further small clashes in Northumbria as the boundaries are drawn up could easily also occur, if people are looking for plots to run later in the year.

Then we have the shenanigans as Guthrum’s Viking forces seize Wareham, give hostages to Alfred, and then sneakily break their oaths to seize Exeter. This could easily provide plot for several events: there’s the march across Wessex to get to Wareham, the attack on the town, the siege of the Vikings (perhaps with foraging parties creeping out to try to fetch more food), making the peace, and then the breaking of the peace and the mad dash to Exeter. This action also spills over into 877, when Alfred tries to retake Exeter.
The oath-taking and hostage swapping should provide good banquet entertainment: who will be chosen as hostages?
For those that watched the (terribly costumed and only very loosely historical) Last Kingdom series, the attack on Wareham is Episode 4: it’s the city where Uhtred is given as a hostage to Guthrum and only survives Guthrum murdering the hostages thanks to Young Ragnar.

And, of course, we have a raid on Normandy, led by Ganger-Hrólf / Rolla / Rollo. This first attack on Rouen proved successful for Hrolf, who stayed around in northern France and eventually ended up founding his own semi-separate state of Normandy there by 918. His great-great-great grandson was William the Conqueror. The early life of Hrolf is somewhat obscure, but some sources say that he was the son of Rognvald, Harald Finehair’s general who was in charge of the attack on the Scottish Isles. So we can perhaps tie this Normandy raid into the events of our continuous calendar?

DAS Chronicle

Shipwrecked, 875 A.D. (Cadbury, October 2015)

Leave a comment

This summer King Alfred went out to sea with an armed fleet, and fought with seven ship-rovers, one of whom he took, and dispersed the others.

With the Vikings leaderless and facing rebellions in their holdings in Northumbria and East Anglia, King Alfred of Wessex spent 875 building up his forces. This included developing a navy, creating a force that could protect Wessex’s long sea-coast. They zealously patrolled the English Channel, and soon found success, managing to defeat a Viking fleet of seven longships.

With the Viking fleet dispersed and part-destroyed, a small group of Viking raiders found themselves washed up on the coast of Dorset. They struck north, trying to get to Viking-controlled Mercia. However, Anir Thane of the Sumersaete heard rumours of these armed troops crossing Wessex and decided to hunt them down, with aid from the visiting Cilternsaete. Pushing north from Sherborne, they saw smoke rising from raided farmsteads. Knowing that the Vikings would be looking for a defensive position to break their journey in, they advanced rapidly to occupy the great hillfort of Cadbury, said to have once been the seat of King Arthur.

The Viking forces were bitterly arguing among themselves, clashing over which direction they should be heading and whose fault it was that their ship was ruined. The Holmbyggjar had raided a church, and fetched a precious relic: the shoulder blade of a holy sheep, once owned by a local saint. They planned to use it to buy safe passage, if cornered by the Englisc.

Ambush
The Oestvikingae had got their own plan for buying their way to freedom: taking a prominent local hostage. They were chasing one suitable person, a rich but unarmed man named Ælf, who headed into the hillfort of Cadbury. The Vikings followed, little realising that Anir Thane’s forces were waiting there for them… But Ælf was too fast, and the Oestvikingae were slowed by injuries from their recent fights. They chased him over the top of the hillfort, only to find that he had vanished, to be replaced by the Englisc forces. The Oestvikingae tried to negotiate, promising to flee straight out of Wessex, but the Englisc had come to fight not talk, and charged down the slope. Thorhelm and Visna fell wounded, and Hauk fled. He managed to meet up with the Westmen, but the Englisc fell on them again, and defeated them again.

Holmbyggjar vs Englisc
The victorious Englisc pushed on, seeking more Vikings to kill. They came across the Holmbyggjar, who attempted to use cunning to escape with their lives: “We’re not Vikings! We’re members of Alfred’s navy, chasing those naughty Vikings.” “What’s your favourite cheese?” “Jarlsburg – no, I mean Cheddar!” With their disguise penetrated, the Englisc attacked the Holmbyggjar, overcoming them and rescuing the holy sheep’s shoulder blade. The Englisc then continued to patrol the area, driving off or destroying all the Vikings they could find.

Arguing
Meanwhile the Westmen regrouped, and “helped save Ælf from falling off the ramparts”. With the hostage secured, they moved to escape the hillfort… Only to be set upon first by the Holmbyggjar (who they defeated) and then by the Englisc (who defeated them, before crushing the Oestvikingae as well as they tried to slip past).

Feast
Later, the Englisc met with the remaining defeated Vikings seeking to negotiate their passage. The Holmbyggjar provided a magnificent feast, booze flowed freely, and every unit providing entertainment: poems, songs, and tales of past glories. The Englisc were triumphant but also magnanimous: boasting of their successes to make it clear that any Vikings who stood against them or raided the area would face destruction, but granting the Vikings their lives, and passage out of Wessex.

Herewulf’s Boast
The wise man boasts of what he has done, not what he dreams of doing. What did we three do?

We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Oestvikingae.
We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Westmen.
We were three. We met a group of warriors. They were three, we slew them. They were the Holmbyggjar.

At the end of the days fight, we three held both the relic and the hostage.

The Vikings vowed to leave directly, to head East or North, to deal with the uprisings in East Anglia and Northumbria and the encroaching fleet of King Harald Fair-Hair. However the next morning, as the Englisc awoke, shook off their hangovers, and saw that the Vikings had decamped, they realised that their sacred relic, the shoulder blade of the holy sheep which belonged to a saint, was missing…

9th Century History, DAS Chronicle

DAS in 2015 / Britain in 875

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 875 records that:

This year went the Great Army from Repton; and Halfdan advanced with some of the army against the Northumbrians, and fixed his winter-quarters by the river Tine. The army then subdued that land, and oft invaded the Picts and the Strathclydwallians. Meanwhile the three kings, Guthrum, Oskytel, and Anwind, went from Repton to Cambridge with a vast army, and sat there one year. This summer King Alfred went out to sea with an armed fleet, and fought with seven ship-rovers, one of whom he took, and dispersed the others.

Meanwhile at around this time the Heimskringla says that:

King Harald of Norway heard that the vikings, who were in the West sea in winter, plundered far and wide in the middle part of Norway; and therefore every summer he made an expedition to search the isles and out-skerries on the coast. Wheresoever the vikings heard of him they all took to flight, and most of them out into the open ocean. At last the king grew weary of this work, and therefore one summer he sailed with his fleet right out into the West sea. First he came to Hjaltland (Shetland), and he slew all the vikings who could not save themselves by flight. Then King Harald sailed southwards, to the Orkney Islands, and cleared them all of vikings. Thereafter he proceeded to the Sudreys (Hebrides), plundered there, and slew many vikings who formerly had had men-at-arms under them. Many a battle was fought, and King Harald was always victorious. He then plundered far and wide in Scotland itself, and had a battle there. When he was come westward as far as the Isle of Man, the report of his exploits on the land had gone before him; for all the inhabitants had fled over to Scotland, and the island was left entirely bare both of people and goods, so that King Harald and his men made no booty when they landed. …
King Harald gave Ragnvald, Earl of More, the Orkney and Shetland isles, when he sailed from the West; but Ragnvald immediately gave both these countries to his brother Sigurd, who remained behind them; and King Harald, before sailing eastward, gave Sigurd the earldom of them.

In 874/2014 Mercia lost her last independent king and the Vikings lost their unifying leader. The overarching themes of 875/2015 will be dealing with these losses:

  • The Viking Great Army has lost Ivar and so splits into two parts, with Ivar’s brother Halfdan Ragnarsson marching north to fight Northumbrians, Picts, and Strathclydwallians; and the other army under Guthrum and pals marching South-East to East Anglia. How will all our Viking units react to this? Which part of the army will they follow? Will they strike out on their own? Presumably the Holmbyggjar will head towards East Anglia, hoping to find homes there? How about the Westmen, will they accept Halfdan as King of Northumbria, ruling so near to their homes? Who will the Oestvikingae follow (and will anyone accept their blood-soaked ways)?
  • How will the Westmen react to the King Harald of Norway trying to claim their homes in the islands off Scotland for himself? Will Halfdan send them aid?
  • What will happen to the Mercians without Burhred? The Beorcsciringas have already found a temporary home in Wessex, but the Cilternsaete are now faced with the choice between joining Wessex, living in Mercia under a Viking puppet-king, or trying to gather allies to forge a revolt against Viking rule.
  • Alfred is now the last free Englisc king. Maybe this is the time that he begins to think himself as the King of the Englisc, not just of Wessex? The people who live in Wessex, the Sumorsaete and the Beorcsciringas, may well become his diplomats as well as his warriors.

Some possible plots that spring to mind include:

  • Fights in the far north, between the Vikings who live there (e.g. the Westmen), Halfdan’s half of the Great Army, Harald’s Norwegians, the downtrodden Northumbrian Englisc, and the local Strathclyde Welsh and Picts (break out the woad!)
  • The Battle for Cambridge, as Guthrum’s host marches out of Mercia and into East Anglia. They could well be skirting past Cilternsaete lands to get there?
  • Alfred’s Sea Battle. Maybe a crashed Viking ship is driven ashore, and the survivors try to fight their way free and across Wessex? Unless anyone can find us a fleet of longships…
  • Other smaller local skirmishes: with Ivar dead the Great Army has broken apart, and whilst the bulk of the Vikings are in the two big hosts, maybe there are also smaller groups raiding across Britain? You could fit pretty much any plot into this broad heading!

Whilst 874 was fairly focussed on Mercia, so it made sense for all our characters to be at all of the battles, this year is more spread out. All of our units do have reasons why they might be travelling further afield from their home territories and get caught up in the fighting- they might be being diplomats, or traders, or raiders. But equally it is possible that for an event set in the north some of the Englisc or the Holmbyggjar might want to make one-off characters to represent the Picts, or Strathclyde Welsh, or even the Norwegians (Herewulf of the Cilternsaete may play Herjolf instead, perhaps?) And for an event set in the south some of the Westmen or Oestvikingae might want to be make one-off characters as East Anglian Englisc, or monks, or similar.
However, the whole point of the Continuous Calendar is to allow us to develop our characters, so people should definitely have a chance to play their own characters as well as playing other roles! Luckily, with story happening all over the British Isles, everyone should be able to find plot that is local and relevant to them…

Our first event of 875/2015 is The Hunt For Ivar’s Treasure, at which the leaderless Vikings are attempting to recover gold that Ivar hid after looting Medhampstead Abbey 5 years ago (and the Englisc are trying to stop them!)
Our second fighting event of 875/2015 was Shipwrecked! To quote the A-S Chronicle: “This summer King Alfred went out to sea with an armed fleet, and fought with seven ship-rovers, one of whom he took, and dispersed the others.”

DAS Chronicle

The Doom of Burhred, 874 A.D. (Flaunden, October 2014)

At which the Vikings and Englisc fought a terrible battle, King Burhred of Mercia fled, the Vikings declared Ceolwulf King of Mercia, and the Heathen Host fractured as King Ivar died and they were torn apart by arguments.

The red hand of war gripped Mercia. The Great Army seized and fortified Repton – a direct challenge to king Burhred, the place where his ancestors lay. All asked if the Mercians would offer tribute, or seek battle?

Burhred knew that he was under a heathen curse. His luck was gone. Reluctant to bring his doom upon himself, he was at first unwilling to face the Danes, but the demands of his ealdormen and thegns that he do something, and Ceolwulf’s proposal that the Mercians should buy peace, forced his hand. He summoned the fyrd, and marched on Repton.

The Mercians tried to bottle the Danes up inside the fortification, but the Vikings managed to force their way out. In the ensuing confusion both armies ended up loose and skirmishing, seeking to regroup and reform their battle lines. Then the shield walls finally clashed, and the Vikings managed to break the Saxon flank. Burhred, knowing that he is doomed, lost his nerve, broke and ran. The Vikings pursued him into the woods, and a long hunt ensued with Saxons and Vikings seeking to find the missing King. At one point the Vikings captured some of his court, the captors argued amongst themselves about what to do with their prisoners, to free them, ransome them or sacrifice them? In the end the King and Queen managed to get clear of the woods, although not all the members of their court survived the encounter with the heathens, and at least one was left dangling from Odin’s tree, sacrificed by the Oestvikingae…

Some days later, once Ceolwulf claimed Mercia and made peace with the Danes, the Cilternsaete hosted a feast. Tempers ran high, and blows were narrowly averted. Both sides were divided, with Somersaete and Beorcsciringas arguing, and condemnation raining down on the Oestvikingae‘s treatment of hostages from all directions, Saxon and Viking. Mercia had lost her King, and was unsure of her future; the Viking puppet King Ceolwulf of Mercia had precious little support; the Vikings had also lost their King, as news arrived at the banquet that King Ivar the Boneless was slain, killed by his own sword, the cursed blade Kingslayer. Any unity that once existed between the Vikings under Ivar has gone, with the Holmbyggjar seeking to settle and own land under Guthrum and the Westmen returning with their riches to their island homes off Scotland’s coast. And, in Wessex, King Alfred is the last surviving independent Englisc King…

The Chilternsaetae’s View
We received a message from Abbot Wulfnoth- King Burhred had summoned the fyrd. So, true to our duty to fulfil fyrd service for the abbey of St Alban, we rode north, joining the muster before advancing on Repton. Besides Mercians, there were some West Saxons present too, sent by King Alfred to support his sister’s husband.
The heathen army had seized the royal tun, and built a fortification there, defiling the church of St Wigstan, using it as the gate. The rampart curled around to meet the river Trent at either end. So we settled down to lay siege, as at Nottingham some years before.
When we heard the king address his fyrd, his heart did not seem to be in it. I spoke with Eowa, a member of the king’s hearth-troop, and he told me that the King had been in a fey, strange mood for some while, following something that happened at his favourite hunting lodge. He seemed to me to be a man who had seen his own wyrd. If that is what it does, then God save me from foreknowledge.
Eowa also told me that Ceolwulf, who claims descent from a older line of Mercian kings, had been making much of how, if he was King, he would seek peace with the Danes. So it seems that maybe Burhred felt he had to act, whether he wished to or not.
Poor Eowa- I will never speak with him again. He fell, there at Repton. I would have fallen too, but for Godwin.
We heard that there was sickness amongst the Danes. Maybe so, and that decided them perhaps. For whatever reason, they gathered their force and sought to break out through the church. We gathered a band at the gate to hold them within, but their numbers and desperation told, and we were forced back. The Vikings streamed out, and we fell back- both sides becoming scattered in the confusion of battle. Christian and heathen alike had to re-order their troops and form a shield-wall.
After a while, the linesformed and clashed, and we fought hard on the Mercian left, but were outflanked. I heard after that our centre broke- indeed, that King Burhred himself had fled, causing a rout.
Ealdormen Aethelred called for us to form a rearguard- a good man, Aethelred: I pray that he lived through the carnage.
The rest of that day is jumbled in my memory- many small fights in the woods as those of us that lived tried to break free, many dead lying open-eyed, awaiting the wolf and the raven. Eventually we made our way clear, and headed for home.
While we recovered, we hosted some of the West Saxons who had also fought clear in our hall at Redbourn, and drank the grave-ale for those who had fallen. They were still with us some days later, when a messenger came from Ceolwulf- he now claimed the kingship, and a band of Danes were travelling around Mercia not as raiders, but as emissaries seeking peace. So we hosted them too.
So soon after we had been in battle against each other, it is not surprising that harsh words were spoken, from both sides of the hall. But the peace of the hall held- not least because others, on both sides, spoke for calm to prevail.
It seems that Burhred has fled his kingdom- no one knows where, although some say that he has gone to seek sanctuary in Rome. I do not know if that is true.
So now we Cilternsaete must choose- do we stay true to Burhred, wherever he is? Do we accept Ceolwulf as king, and peace with the Danes? Or maybe there will be some other choice. I must seek Abbot Wulfnoth’s wisdom.
We live in troubled times.
Herewulf thegn

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
Under King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson’s leadership, the Great Heathen Host erected a mighty fortified bank around their camp at Repton. When Burhred’s army arrived, they tried to pen the Vikings inside this camp. As disease began to spread in the camp, King Ivar saw the need for us to break out and fight in open group – the Oestvikingae were among the leaders of the breaching force. It was a hard fight, with the Englisc intent on not giving the Host the space to use their superior numbers, but eventually the Mercians were driven back. Hauk was greatly impressed by the courage of the fallen Mercian thegn who led the battleline, and died with his sword in his hand. Hauk took his penis as a talisman, and later Guðrún buried the body with a boar’s tusk between its legs and a Thor’s Hammer around his neck, to ensure that he went to Valhalla, and was whole there.

The Oestvikingae then fought through the streets and woods surrounding Repton, as the Host fought to get to open ground where they could reform the battleline. The vǫlva Guðrún instructed Hauk that in order to ensure the battle ahead would go well, he must sacrifice an infant, quartering them into a bloody mess, and this was done, using a young Viking boy that they encountered and brawled with. This earnt Hauk his sister Ingibjorg’s grave disapproval.

The Great Heathen Host succeeded in getting through to clear ground, fighting past many Englisc and suffering some terrible losses in the process. They then reformed the shieldwall, and charged Burhred’s forces, seeking to capture and kill the King. As his battleline broke, Burhred fled, and hid in the nearby woods. The Vikings split up to search for him, clashing with Mercians seeking to find and protect their lord.

The Oestvikingae succeeded in capturing several ladies of Burhred’s court, and Hauk sought to threaten them to draw out Burhred and talk to him. In order to do this, Hauk sent one of their hostages to get Burhred and told her to return within a certain count or else the others would die. This strategy drew the ire of other Vikings, with Guðrún and Thorhelm the Cruel not wanting to set a captive free, the Holmbyggjar saying that slaying unarmed women was cowardly and wrong, whilst the Westmen wanted to continue the pursuit not engage in politics. As the count was completed, Burhred had not emerged – either because he was too cowardly to come forward to save his people, or because he was too far away to hear the demands – and so the Oestvikingae killed their captive, impaling her on Odin’s Tree.

The search for Burhred continued, and the Oestvikingae clashed with Englisc and Viking alike as they continued to carve a bloody path through any hostages they caught. However the search proved inconclusive, and the Oestvikingae returned to Repton to bury the dead.

A while later, they feasted at a hall of the Cilternsaete. There much news was shared: King Burhred was missing, presumed fled; Ceolwulf had declared himself King of Mercia; and King Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson, the man who held the Great Summer Army and the Great Heathen Host together, was dead. Tempers were high, and Englisc and Viking alike turned their ire on the Oestvikingae for the sacrifices they had performed, especially the killing of the unarmed hostages. Hauk remained defiant: the sacrifices were neccessary in order to gain the victory, and the threat to the hostages could have been averted by Burhred if he was a true king and cared about his people, if he had just stepped forwards. With King Ivar dead, there was no leader to bind the Vikings together, and deep fractures appeared between the groups… The peace held, but only just.

The Death of Ivar
After the Battle of Repton, Hauk wrote this song about King Ivar’s death:

The saddest song, I shall now sing;
Of how the Kingslayer, killed a king.
Ivar the Boneless, big and brave;
Reaved British lands, for Ragnar’s revenge.

His Heathen Host, harried the Englisc,
Kings were killed, and kingdoms vanquished.
When fighting Wessex, we suffered woe,
King Bagsecg killed, by Kingslayer’s blow.

The sword was saved, stored in Christ’s house,
Symbol of our slain, giving Saxons strength.
So we were sent, to steal sword for seiðr,
As witches wove words, wyrd’s web drew near:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Monks were mauled, monastery attacked,
To get the king-slayer, seiðr for spá-wives.
A nithing-pole erected, a night for norns,
King Burhred cursed, with deep-cut runes.

The blade was brought, to Ivar the Boneless,
King Ivar cursed Burhred, Kingslayer would kill.
At Repton’s battle, Burhred was beaten,
Shield-wall smashed, and fyrdsmen slain.

As Burhred’s battleline, began to flee,
Ivar sprang forward, shouting his glee.
The Viking king, drew Kingslaying blade,
Predicted by witches, who prophecies made:

Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

From Englisc flight a thegn stepped forth,
Boldly blocked Boneless, to save Burhred his lord.
Both rained blows, blood flowed bright,
Ivar’s blade bounced; bit him, took life.

The battle was won, Burhred’s battleline fled,
But the Viking king, was cut, killed, dead.
Where to now, will the wanderers Vike?
The heathen host, has lost it’s head.

The witches’ words, were twisted and wicked,
The bearer betrayed, was Boneless not Burhred.
Mercia retreats, but Ragnarsson is rift,
Saxons gain strength, as Ivar is slain.

Kingslaying blade betrayed its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace was drowned in blood.

Historical Note – Human Sacrifice & Odd Burials from Repton

Did the Vikings really do human sacrifice? Probably…

The Arab travellers, Ibn Fadlan and Ibn Rustah, both describe women being buried with the dead in Rus funerals. Sacrifice to the gods is also attested by Adam of Bremen, writing about Old Uppsala in Sweden:

There is a festival at Uppsala every nine years […] The sacrifice is as follows; of every kind of male creature, nine victims are offered. By the blood of these creatures it is the custom to appease the gods. Their bodies, moreover, are hanged in a grove which is adjacent to the temple. This grove is so sacred to the people that the separate trees in it are believed to be holy because of the death or putrefaction of the sacrificial victims. There even dogs and horses hang beside human beings.

Which is also echoed in the Gutsaga:

Men believed in holt and howe (grove and grave-mound), sanctuaries and sacred sites, and in the heathen gods. They made offerings of their sons and daughters and cattle, with food and ale. They did that in their error. The chief sacrifice was the one for the whole land, with people; otherwise each Third had its own sacrifice. The smaller assemblies had lesser sacrifices with cattle, food and ale. They were called suth-nautar (Brethren of the Boiling, Cooking Companions), because they cooked [the sacrificial feast] together.
Gutasaga

And then there’s the Saga of Ragnar’s Sons, where Ivar the Boneless kills Aelle of York using the Blood Eagle (hacking open his back, pulling his ribs open, and waving the lungs about). Although that’s possibly not so much a sacrifice as just a brutal murder…

Of course, those accounts are Muslims & Christians writing about their pagan neighbours/ancestors, and the human sacrifice could have been added to make it more obvious that Islam/Christianity was a better religion. So archeological evidence is better, if less clear.

Several of the Danish peat bog bodies were hung, which is suggestive of sacrifice mirroring Odin hanging on Yggdrasil? But it could have been capital punishment instead.

In Repton, we find several possible sacrifices. There is a burial mound containing 264 skeletons (with no obvious wounds) arrayed around a stone crypt/coffin that originally contained a giant skeleton. Possibly Ivar the Boneless is the central skeleton, whilst the chaps around the outside could be bodies dug up from the graveyard and then reburied; or Vikings who’d died of disease whilst overwintering at Repton; or sacrifices along the lines of those described by Ibn Fadlan and Ibn Rustah?

There are also quartered corpses of children from Repton. These are hard to read as capital punishment, and so human sacrifice does seem a likely interpretation. Children seem to be popular sacrificial victims, as 4 children found in wells at Trelleborg that have also been interpreted as sacrifices.

Finally there are several bodies, in their own personal graves, who had battle-wounds. One, Grave 511, was clearly quite a hero. He suffered a head-wound, was killed by a blow to his left femur (cutting his penis off?), and was buried with a silver Thor’s hammer & two glass beads, a leather belt with a decorated copper-alloy buckle, and an iron sword in a fleece-lined wooden scabbard covered with leather. He also had two knives, an iron key, the tusk of a wild boar between his thighs, and lower down, perhaps originally in a bag or box, the humerus of a jackdaw. He might not have been a sacrifice, but he was certainly killed and buried in a very ritualised way – in our story he became the Mercian battle leader, killed by Hauk cutting off his penis and then buried by the vǫlva Guðrún.

Repton demonstates to us one other key point: Viking culture was not neccessarily uniform. The sheer diversity of Viking funerary customs displayed is amazing – the mass grave around the giant, the individual warriors in graves, and also nearby a collection of barrows containing cremations (the Heath Wood barrow cemetary). These cultural differences were expressed in our story by the differing reactions to human sacrifice by the Oestvikingae and the Holmbyggjar…

DAS Chronicle

Before the Battle, 874 A.D. (Murton Park, August 2014)

At which the Vikings and Englisc both prepared for the battle to seal the fate of Mercia, and an introspective Viking leader, Ivar the Boneless, asked the assembled forces exactly what they wanted.

Before the battle

The war season, 874. The Viking Great Army gathered at Repton in Mercia, home to the burial crypt of the Mercian kings. Meanwhile King Burhred of Mercia, having listened to Alfred’s advice, assembled his forces, called the fyrd, prepared for a counter-attack to seal his fate and the fate of his kingdom. And Ceolwulf, claiming to be the rightful king of Mercia, descendant of the King Ceolwulf who fled Mercia 50 years ago, said that if he were King he would bring peace with the Vikings by paying them to leave.

In a hall near Repton some of the Vikings gathered to prepare for the coming battle – working on their equipment in the forge, fletching arrows, repairing their tunics for possibly the last time. They were visited by envoys and friends from among the Mercians. At the start of the feast, Hersir Hauk of the Oestvikingae spoke. He said that with King Burhred of Mercia gathering his forces, there would soon be war – but for now there was peace, and we should dine well as it may be one of our last meals.

As the guests were tucking into their rich beef stew, the hall was visited by an exceptionally tall and gaunt figure: Ivar ‘the Boneless’ Ragnarsson, eldest of the sons of Ragnar, pre-eminent leader of the Great Army. He was unstable on his feet, leaning on his daneaxe and the hall’s pillars to stand. He said that he was ill, and old. He had been harrying the Englisc for 10 years, ever since his father Ragnar Loðbrók had been killed in Jorvic, leading the Great Army to seek revenge and wealth. He had killed his father’s killer, brought the Northumbrian kingdom centered on Jorvic to its knees, and also crushed the East Anglians. But now, seeing his death approaching, he wanted to make sure that he had done right according to his followers, so asked them what they wanted.

Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar spoke of her desire to find a land to live in. She had come to the Englisc lands in the Great Summer Army led by Guthrum, 3 years ago, seeking a quick victory of Wessex and Mercia in order to win herself a place to live. She saw the need to crush Mercia, to take and secure her land with blood, to fulfill the curse placed by the volvas on King Burhred, but ultimately wanted to settle – ideally in East Anglia, with trade-routes to Denmark.

She asked too for clarity on the succession – who would lead the Vikings if Ivar died? Ivar said that the strongest leader would rule, and whoever he nominated did not matter.

Wulf of the Westmen said that he was a mercenary, and spoke of his desire for money. He saw the best route as a bloody path, conquering the Englisc lands and forcing the Englisc to pay rent. However he agreed with Ingibjorg: the land must be won with blood.

Hallgerd of the Westmen agreed – like Wulf, she simply wanted money, won with blood. She has land on the isle of Canna off the land of the Scots, and has no interest in settling on the mainland or who rules here.

Young Cnut of the Oestvikingae, cousin of Hauk, also wanted money – and wanted to grow up a warrior, earning his money with a sword; not a farmer, living in peace.

Wulfruna of the Cilternsaete said that she, possibly unlike her lord Herewulf, ultimately desired peace. But a peace of equals, not the peace of the servant.

Wulfgar of the Cilternsaete, her son, was more direct and violent. He saw that only blood, and the sword, would decide the matter – and threatened to stab King Ivar himself!

Ivar coughed, a terrible fit. He acknowledged that since all wished it so and none could see a peaceful route, there could be no peace without war first, and that the blood must flow. He then withdrew, to visit the other halls where his followers gathered, and talk to them too before battle came. Because it was now certain that battle would come, and the fate of Mercia would be decided with blood…

Feast before we die

Ingibjorg’s lament
Ivar Ragnarsson (‘the Boneless’) asked the Viking war-leaders for their counsel – should they treat with the Englisc or fight? In reply, had she thought of them at the time, Ingibjorg Ragnarsdottir (no relation) would certainly have spoken these lines.

I do not crave the blood-speech of the battle tongues;
I would weave weapons’ woe.
I rode across Njord’s pasture,
My steed thundering over the world worm’s burrow,
In search of green pastures of my own.

My parents live in the hall of the daughter
Of the thunder-god’s companion.
My husband and my son are Freyja’s guests.
Our lands feed the milk-givers of our foes
And I have no weaving-frame to offer
To my dear daughter Dagrun.

The father-god of the shield trees
Vowed that those trees and their saplings
Would thrust their roots into the west-land valleys.

How then shall I cry craven?
No sword-swinger I – barely can I thrust a spear,
Yet if any home I have, it lies here.

Historical Note – Ivar ‘the Boneless’
Ivar the Boneless is, like many of the Viking leaders, a shadowy figure, straddling legend and history. It is possible that he might be the same figure as the King Ímar of Irish sources, founder of the Uí Ímair dynasty who ruled Dublin, parts of Scotland, and the Hebrides. It is recorded that Ímar died in 873 in Britain. Some accounts don’t say how he die, others say that it is due to an illness. In the Saga of Ragnar’s Sons, he is reported to die childless, of old age – although the Irish King Ímar, in contrast, had several children when he founded his dynasty.
It is not known what Ivar’s ‘the Boneless’ nickname refers to. Some have suggested that it might be a muscular condition meaning he couldn’t use his limbs (although that is contradicted by saga descriptions of him as tall and powerful); others that it could refer to erectile issues (hence the childlessness).
One possible solution to the riddle was uncovered by a farm labourer, Thomas Walker, in Repton in 1686. He dug up a burial mound, uncovering a stone coffin containing ‘a Skeleton of a Humane Body Nine Foot long’, buried with over 100 skeletons arrayed around him. This was clearly an important person, buried with great ritual. Could the (now lost) skeletal giant be that of Ivar ‘the Boneless’, the nick-name an ironic one much like ‘Little’ John? If so, this would tally with the Irish sources giving 873 as his year of death (as it was in 873 & 874 that the Vikings were in Repton). So that’s the theory we’ve gone with!

DAS Chronicle

The Kingslayer, early 874 a.d. (Earleywood, March 2014)

At which a small group of Vikings raided a monastery on the edge of Wessex, and stole the Kingslayer (the sword that killed the Viking King Bagsecg in one of the few battles where Englisc beat the Vikings), to weaken Mercian resolve and enable a prophecy.

Early 874. Over the previous decade, the Vikings had relentlessly pillaged the Englisc kingdoms, sacking cities (such as the sack of London in Autumn 872), burning monasteries and killing kings – King Edmund of East Anglia, and Osbriht and Aelle of Northumbria. Then reports suggested that the heathens were looking towards Mercia, the land of King Burhred.

Mercia was divided, torn. King Burhred dithered, unsure what to do, with his forces weakened by the years of fighting. A king’s thane called Ceolwulf, who claimed to be of the ancient royal line of the Iclingas, a descendant of the King Ceolwulf of Mercia who was deposed 50 years ago, said that Mercia’s best hope was to accept the Vikings, to pay them not to attack and to try and integrate with them rather than remaining in opposition. The heathens were merchants as well as fighters; why not trade with them rather than be raided by them?

But Alfred of Wessex, Burhred’s brother-in-law, believed that the Englisc should oppose the Vikings if they invade. When the Vikings invaded Wessex in 870, Alfred’s forces fought them and won several great victories (as well as some defeats, but it’s the victories that matter). Those victories became symbols of hope for many Englisc, particularly those of now-threatened Mercia.

Earleywood Monastery was founded at the site of one of those victories, and one of its greatest possessions was the Kingslayer, the sword that slew the Viking King Bagsecg at the nearby Battle of Ashdown. Once a year, on the anniversary of the battle, the sword was proudly displayed and processed around the battlefield, a great symbol of hope that stiffened the resolve of those who have to fight the heathens. If it fell into heathen hands it would be an ill omen, both because it would sow doubt amongst the Englisc by removing a powerful symbol and because the vǫlvas of the Viking had predicted that:

The Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Thus, representatives of Wessex and Mercia (the Cilternsaete, Beorcsciringas and Sumorsaete) gathered to protect the procession of the Kingslayer, and managed to repulse attacks by the heathens (the Oestvikingae, Holmbyggjar and Westmen) who tried to seize control of the weapon; aided by divisions that sprung up between the Vikings as to who should own the sword, and what their eventual aim should be.

Vikings clash

However, once the Kingslayer was returned to its rightful place in the monastery, the Vikings fell upon the monastery with great force. The Englisc defenders were outnumbered, and did not manage to save the sword or the famed Scrolls of St. Swithun – although they did managed to protect some of the monastery’s relics and altar decorations.

Later, the Vikings and Englisc met at a great banquet, presided over by Glora of the Holmbyggjar.
There the Mercian Thegn Herewulf of the Cilternsaete asked the gathered folk their opinion of the future of Mercia, and Ceolwulf’s idea of peace (or, as some would say, surrender).

  • Glora of the Holmbyggjar talked of the friendship she had for some of the Englisc, the bonds that united the two peoples, and peaceful co-existence. As a sign of friendship she returned to Thegns Ceolred and Herewulf the Scrolls of St. Swithun.
  • Ceolred Monger, Thegn of the Beorcsciringas, talked of his experience as a refugee from war-torn Mercia, who had found a home in Wessex. He said he wanted to see an actual end to the fighting, a victory for the Englisc. He wanted to return home to Mercia, but a free Mercia, not one threatened by war and by land-stealing heathens. Ceolwulf would not truely get rid of the Vikings, only appease them at great cost, and so Ceolred would not support him.
  • Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar talked not of land-stealing but of peaceful settlement, of intermarriage and intermingling, and said that though she would not convert to following the White Christ, she believed that her future children, born in Britain, would be Christians.
  • Hersir Hauk of the Oestvikingae‘s view was more bloodthirsty. He emphasised the historical similarities between the Englisc and the Vikings, how the Angles and Saxons were once pagan invaders fighting settled Christians. But he also gave a stark warning – if the Englisc did not follow Ceolwulf and seek peace with the Vikings, they would be wiped out, with Burhred and Alfred going the way of Arthur, and the Englisc being confined to the wilds, just as the Welsh were by the Englisc. He talked of blood, and fire, and war; the death of kings and the elimination of peoples if they did not follow Ceolwulf.

Hauk’s words stirred Herewulf to great anger, and bloodshed was only avoided by the intervention of Glora. It is clear that the people of Mercia will not have an easy decision to make, and that dark times lie ahead – they have lost the Kingslayer, so their morale has taken a blow (although not as bad as if it had been taken from the procession itself), and Ceolwulf continues to speak out against King Burhred & in favour of peace.

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
In 874, the Oestvikingae fell again upon Mercia. Mercia had been weakened by the many raids, and their leaders were divided between those seeking peace and those who would still fight. The vǫlva Guðrún told Hauk that the Kingslayer, the sword that slew King Bagsecg at Æscesdūn, was held at a monastery named Earleywood, and foresaw that:

The Kingslaying blade will betray its bearer,
Defeat’s disgrace will be drowned in blood.

Hauk swore that he would get the Kingslayer for Guðrún, and traveled south to find it. However it was well-defended, and so Hauk made an agreement with his father’s daughter Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar – she would give him the Kingslayer if it fell into her hands, and he would give her land to settle upon if any fell into his hands. Hauk cared not for the settled life, he was a raider and nothing else, and unlike the Holmbyggjar he had no wish to possess land for he sought only war. Seeing this, Kappi Bosison, younger son of Styrsman Bosi who led the Holmbyggjar, left the Holmbyggjar and joined the Oestvikingae to seek his fame and fortune.
Later that day, the Holmbyggjar managed to seize the Kingslayer. When the Oestvikingae re-joined them, however, they refused to hand it over and treacherously turned on Hauk’s forces. They struck Hauk, Fritha and Kappi down, and forced Thorhelm to surrender. But Thorhelm was cunning, and as soon as they were distracted he seized the Kingslayer, and fled back to the Oestvikingae. Sadly at this moment the Englisc arrived, attacked the divided Vikings, and took the Kingslayer. The Oestvikingae fell into berserking, and Kappi earned himself the name Spear-Splitter, but they did not recover the Kingslayer.
The Englisc took Kingslayer back the Earleywood Monastery, and so Hauk led the Oestvikingae there. The Englisc were few, and could not stand against the greater numbers of the Vikings, and thus the Vikings forced entry into the monastery and took the Kingslayer and other relics. Thorhelm, using his customary speed, escaped with the Kingslayer. However when he returned to the monastery he was ambushed by some nuns, who tormented him and placed a strange Christian curse upon his shield.
Later, at banquet, there were great discussions about whether Mercia should seek peace or war from the Vikings. Ingibjorg spoke in favour of co-operation and settlement, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose peace; Hauk spoke of killing all who stood against him, showing the Englisc what could happen if they chose war – which led to Hauk almost coming to blows with Herewulf of Mercia. Hauk returned to Guðrún bearing Kingslayer.

Historical Note – The Battles of 870/871
871 is one of the larger entries in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, and as it was such a key year we wanted to include it in our plot. Even though we are starting after it, running plots based from 872 onwards, it still loomed large. Here’s the full quote:

This year came the army to Reading in Wessex; and in the course of three nights after rode two earls up, who were met by Alderman Ethelwulf at Englefield; where he fought with them, and obtained the victory. There one of them was slain, whose name was Sidrac. About four nights after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother led their main army to Reading, where they fought with the enemy; and there was much slaughter on either hand, Alderman Ethelwulf being among the skain; but the Danes kept possession of the field. And about four nights after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with all the army on Ashdown, and the Danes were overcome. They had two heathen kings, Bagsac and Healfden, and many earls; and they were in two divisions; in one of which were Bagsac and Healfden, the heathen kings, and in the other were the earls. King Ethered therefore fought with the troops of the kings, and there was King Bagsac slain; and Alfred his brother fought with the troops of the earls, and there were slain Earl Sidrac the elder, Earl Sidrac the younger, Earl Osbern, Earl Frene, and Earl Harold. They put both the troops to flight; there were many thousands of the slain, and they continued fighting till night. Within a fortnight of this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with the army at Basing; and there the Danes had the victory. About two months after this, King Ethered and Alfred his brother fought with the army at Marden. They were in two divisions; and they put them both to flight, enjoying the victory for some time during the day; and there was much slaughter on either hand; but the Danes became masters of the field; and there was slain Bishop Heahmund, with many other good men. After this fight came a vast army in the summer to Reading. And after the Easter of this year died King Ethered. He reigned five years, and his body lies at Winburn-minster. Then Alfred, his brother, the son of Ethelwulf, took to the kingdom of Wessex. And within a month of this, King Alfred fought against all the Army with a small force at Wilton, and long pursued them during the day; but the Danes got possession of the field. This year were nine general battles fought with the army in the kingdom south of the Thames; besides those skirmishes, in which Alfred the king’s brother, and every single alderman, and the thanes of the king, oft rode against them; which were accounted nothing. This year also were slain nine earls, and one king; and the same year the West-Saxons made peace with the army.

‘Make peace with the army’ probably means paying danegeld to get rid of the Vikings, so ultimately the year was probably a Viking victory. But it’s still a key time, as these are the first victories against the Vikings recorded in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. The Kingslayer is our invention, as is Earleywood Monastery.

DAS Chronicle

The Sack of London, Autumn 872 A.D. (Flaunden, October 2013)

Leave a comment

At which the Vikings harried refugees from the sack of London, as they fled up Watling Street towards the Abbey of St. Albans.

Autumn 872. The great Mercian town of London had been taken by the Great Army, causing many Christian folk to flee the city.

King Burhred of Mercia and King Alfred of Wessex each sent fyrdsmen to find and succour the fleeing Christians and escort them to safety. Besides that, each fyrd was tasked to try and find out what the Great army intended to do next – and, in the case of the West Saxons, also what the Mercians’ intentions were.

Having fought their way through bands of Viking plunderers, the Mercians and West Saxons found the fleeing Christians and escorted them north up Watling Street to seek sanctuary at the Abbey of St Albans. That was not without incident – the prospect of taking slaves and booty drew Viking raiders to the convoy, harrying it incessantly. The members of the refugee column were thus often scattered, but the Christians did eventually succeed in re-forming the convoy and continuing north. In a last attempt to stop them, the Vikings drew up across Watling Street to block the road.

The fyrdsmen charged them, and although there were many slain on both sides, the Christians fleeing London managed to reach the Abbey, and safety.

Some weeks later the Mercians made peace with the Great Army, and a banquet was held to celebrate that – and to try and find out what might happen next.

Because so many had fallen in battle, Abbot Wulfnoth of St Albans wished to make good his losses and bolster his local defences, and so Guthwald of the Cilternsaete was granted five hides of land at Sandridge and made a thegn, provided he fulfilled the three common dues of bridge work, fortress work, and fyrd service, and was presented on behalf of the Abbot with a mail byrnie. His wergeld was increased to 1200 shillings.

During the banquet, it emerged that the Vikings would next raid Northumbria – but what after that?

An excerpt from Hauk Ragnarsson’s Saga
The next year the Great Heathen Host descended upon London. As the Englisc fled their burning city, the Oestvikingae fell upon them, under the orders of the vǫlva Guðrún to gather living creatures for sacrifice at blót. The Englisc attempted to travel in a convoy, escorting refugees to St Albans, but the Oestvikingae harried them, chasing through the woodlands, howling like wolves and striking where they were weakest. The Englisc convoy collapsed, and Hauk unleashed Thorhelm the Cruel, who chased down the unarmed civilians and children like a fearsome beast. However, the Oestvikingae over-extended themselves, advancing ahead of the other Vikings, and were driven off by the re-grouped Englisc, who marched on to St. Albans. Guðrún was displeased not to have her offering, and the Oestvikingae swore to do better next time… Whilst the plunder from London was being divided, Fritha of the Oestvikingae, wife of Thorhelm, claimed for herself the Chalice of King Edwin of Northumbria, a precious vessel that once bore the sainted King’s head.