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Character Stories

Dagrun’s Story

My name is Dagrun, the daughter of Ingibjorg and Halldor. I was born on my father’s lands in Jutland, neighouring the land held by my mother’s family. I lived there for many years until I was married to my dear husband Ørn whose lands were not so far from where I had grown up. The marriage was a promising one and I was pleased with the match, although I did not get on well with his family. Ørn was very good to me but very stubborn in his affairs with others. I always feared that this would be his downfall.

One spring my mother’s father Ragnar was killed in an ambush. From then on the year was ill-fated; their livestock was stolen and the animosity between my family and their neighbours escalated. My mother’s uncle Ulrik had lands in England and offered my parents a new life there. My older brother Arinbjorn was as yet unmarried as were my younger siblings, so they went to England along with my parent’s few relatives and slaves. I was saddened to see them go but understood that they could not stay where they were, and I in turn could not leave Ørn and the life and children I hoped to have with him.

My family left and for too short a time life was good, although I missed them terribly and longed for news. My husband’s family were civil to me but it always seemed as though they thought their son could have married better. I worked harder to try to gain their favour, and became a fine worker of cloth and yarn, though I missed the guidance of my mother in these matters, whose weavings were the finest of any in the land.

The following yule Ørn had a drunken row with Sigarr, a local man whom I had never liked. I thought the row trivial but Ørn felt slighted and brooded over it for weeks. One day he announced he was going to settle matters with Sigarr. I begged him not to go but his stubbornness won out: that was the last time I saw him alive. My dreams of a happy marriage shattered, I tried my best to get on with his family but they blamed me for Ørn’s death, saying I should have stopped him from going to see Sigarr. I longed for my own family and became more and more unhappy as the months wore on.

Then at the height of summer, my mother’s cousin Valgard came to Jutland. I had never seen such a wonderful sight! Though it pained him to do so Valgard told me the news of my brother and father’s deaths. He had heard of Ørn’s death and knowing of the emnity between his family and me had come to offer me passage to England. I did not even stop to think and was soon on my way to a new land to be with what remained of my beloved family, knowing my mother would appreciate help to run the household. The passage to England was strange for me having never been at sea, but I was excited to see new places and to be back amongst my own people.

Now I live here at Hólmr, helping my mother with the running of the farm and learning to improve my weaving from her skilled hands. Many visitors pass this way and we always show them the greatest hospitality. It is thanks to one of these visitors that I have my son, Finn, although his father did not settle here amongst us. I have no doubt that he will grow up to be a fine, strong lad, and we will raise him with the stories of the old gods and the new.

Character Stories

Lands of the Holmbyggjar

Ranrike – Ulrik’s Homeland

Ranrike, or Ránríki in Old Norse, corresponds to the northern half of the traditional Swedish province of Bohuslän. Bohuslän is on the western coast of Sweden, bordering Skagerrak and Norway, and is approximately the area described as Alfheim in Scandinavian mythology. Ranrike forms part of Viken, which is a broad term for the huge bay formed by southern Norway and the northern part of Sweden’s west coast.

It is sometimes claimed that the word “Viking” is derived from Viken, although the word “wicing” appears in the 6th or 7th century Anglo-Saxon poem Widsith which predates its appearance in Icelandic Sagas and Scandinavian rune stones. The word is used to refer to pirates generally and not Scandinavians in particular: the Old English word wíc means “trading city” or “camp”. If this derivation is correct, the word may have come to mean Nordic pirates specifically when the Danes and Norwegians started raiding in the 8th century, and the term was eventually adopted by the raiders themselves.

Osea Island – Ulrik’s Land in England

Osea Island is part of the Hundred of Thurstable, a name which probably derives from the pagan deity Thunor. This is the Anglo-Saxon name for Thor. The neighbouring island, Northey, was in a different hundred, probably because the causeways to the two islands lead to opposite shores of the Blackwater estuary. The Domesday Book gives the following information about Thurstable, Osea and Northey islands:

“Hundred of Thurstable: Richard holds (Great) Totham from Hamo, which Thorbert held as one manor, for 5 hides before 1066. Then 10 villagers, now 9: always 16 smallholders. Then 12 slaves, now 13. Then 4 ploughs in lordship, now 3. Always 5 men’s ploughs.

Woodland: 100 pigs; meadows, 16 acres; 2 salt-houses. Always 20 cattle; 40 pigs. Then 5 cobs, now 2; then 100 sheep; now 150; always 40 goats. Value then and later 100s; now £6.

The Blackwater Estuary (modern times)

In the same (totham) 8 free men held 1 1/2 hides which Richard also holds. Always 2 ploughs. Meadow, 3 acres. Value 20s.

He also holds Osea (Island), which Thorbert held before 1066 as a manor, for 4 hides. Then 1 smallholder, now none; always 3 slaves. 1 fishery; pasture, 60 sheep. Value 60s.

Hundred of Wibertsherne: Richard holds Northey Island from Hamo (a steward) which Thorbern, a free man, held before 1066 as a manor, for 4 hids and 40 acres.

Then 2 villagers, now 3. Always 4 slaves; 2 ploughs in lordship; 1 men’s plough. Pasture, 60 sheep. Value then 60s, now £4.”

Osea and Northey Islands, as they are today. The sea was about a metre lower in the 9th century, so the islands would have been larger. [1]

The Future of the Hólmbyggjar

We don’t really know the scale of Viking settlements in Southern England. It’s hard to identify buildings as specifically Scandinavian, and although in the North of England there is genetic evidence for a Norwegian legacy, the settlers in the South were mainly Danish, and too close in origin to the Anglo-Saxons for a clear distinction to be easily made.

Finds of Scandinavian oval brooches, swords and other items have confirmed that Vikings definitely came to England. The distribution of the finds suggests however that only first or second generation settlers maintained the Scandinavian style of dress. It seems that there were not repeated waves of settlers as in Iceland to build up a Norse community: Iceland was unoccupied and land was there for the taking, unlike England which was already fully occupied. Instead, single settlement events seem to have occurred and then fairly soon afterwards the settlers disappeared from our sight. Possible explanations include:

  • The settlers were relatively few in number, and rapidly adopted English styles and burial practices [2].
  • The settlers were killed or driven out within a generation or two.
  • There were very few Viking women settlers: the jewellery we’ve found was given by Viking men to English women.

The Hólmbyggja settled on Osea Island in Essex around the year 880, when Guthrum allocated land in East Anglia to his followers. Again, we don’t know whether there was major population replacement, minor settlement or merely a takeover of the aristocracy – it may also have varied from region to region. The story of the Hólmbyggja assumes that relatively small numbers of Viking warriors and their families settled in lands which were inhabited by the Anglo-Saxons but temporarily under Danish rule. Most of the neighbours would have been English, and there would have been pressure to learn the language and adopt Christianity: according to Icelandic sagas, when a Christian king defeated pagans, they could buy their freedom by being baptised.

There was no room for further immigrants and the descendents of the original settlers were more concerned with establishing a position within English society. It’s likely that by 920, Essex was under English rule again, at which time some of the original settlers may still have been alive. Certainly English rule was fully re-established by the time of the Battle of Maldon in 991, which was part of the fresh wave of Viking invasions.

On St Brice’s Day 1002, Aethelred ordered that all the Danes living in England be killed. It’s not known whether this order applied to settlers of long standing within the Danelaw, or only to the newcomers who were extorting Danegeld and terrorising the coasts. It was not a good time to be seen as a Dane, and if the Hólmbyggja had not been sufficiently Anglicised they may have fallen victims.

Osea Island is close to Northey Island, the site of the Battle of Maldon. According to the Domesday Book, in 1066 Osea Island was owned by Thorbert, and Northey Island by Thorbern. These names are Anglicised versions of Old Norse names, and it’s possible that these men were descendants of ninth century settlers.

Notes

  1. A metre is just over a yard in old money. [back]
  2. Pagans were usually buried with grave goods. Christians were not. This showed a lack of consideration towards archaeologists on the part of the Christians. [back]
Character Stories

Ingibjorg’s Story

Ingibjorg of the Holmbyggjar

My name is Ingibjorg. My mother was Gudrun, daughter of Gunni and Sinfjotli, and sister to Ulrik of Ranrike. She died when I was young. My father was Ragnar, who held land in Jutland, near Fyrkat. Ragnar was always on bad terms with our neighbours because they argued about the rights to the best pasturelands.

My father arranged for me to marry his friend, Halldor, who held land adjacent to my father’s. We lived there well enough for some years. Our first son was called Arinbjorn, and was a promising lad. We also had a daughter Dagrun, who is a fine weaver and a delight to me.

But the feud between the landholders escalated. One spring, my father was ambushed and killed on the way to the shieling, and later that year much of our livestock was stolen. It was clear that we had little chance of getting compensation for any of these injuries, because our neighbours had given fine presents to all the powerful men in the region. We lacked their wealth and could not match their gifts. My uncle Ulrik had lands in England, and he invited us to settle there with him, being near kinfolk and without allies in our own land. I consulted with Hraefna, who can see the fates of men, and she announced that we would be lucky in England, so we determined to leave our own lands and venture abroad.

We crossed the ocean in Ulrik’s ship, the Black Pig. We took our remaining followers (a few slaves and relatives) and our children. We settled with Ulrik at Hólmr, on the Island of Osea near to Maeldune. [1]

The land at Osea was rich, and Ulrik had learned enough of English ways that he was on good terms with the Anglo-Saxon people who dwelt thereabouts. I was sorry when he and Sigrid returned to Ranrike, but enjoyed being mistress of the household in their absence.

The settlement prospered, and my husband soon decided he could leave us for a while and sail to the new lands in Iceland seeking walrus ivory, cloth and furs. I counselled against this because Hraefna had said that our luck lay in England. He disregarded my advice and took Arinbjorn with him to seek greater wealth and reputation than he could easily gain as an English farmer. Ulrik did not favour this venture, and he and Valgard Ulriksonnr took the Black Pig up the Baltic, so Ragnar and Arinbjorn sailed on a ship owned by a Norwegian named Thorolf, who I considered to be ill-favoured.

I was devastated but not surprised when word came that my son and husband had perished at sea. I could not show my grief because a woman of strong character must organise the household and continue to talk cheerfully, to offer hospitality and to maintain the connections with her kinfolk.

Our family’s luck in England continued to be good. What with Valgard’s frequent journeys to trade eastwards, and travellers like Alf Silversmith passing through, the settlement at Hólmr sees many visitors and it is always a pleasure to make them welcome and hear the latest news. It is my desire now to be known as a skilled woman and a generous hostess, and to ensure that the farm prospers for our remaining children. It is of the greatest importance to me to foster good relations with our neighbours, as I do not know how long the Danelaw may persist here, so close to Wessex. Our children must be marked with the cross in due course, though I hope that they will respect my wishes enough to bury me in the traditional fashion with my finest clothing and ornaments, so that I will be fitly attired when I go to Freyja’s hall, Folkvang. If they will spare me in addition a horse and wagon I will be well contented.

Notes

  1. Maldon, in the Blackwater estuary, Essex. [back]