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Viking Britain- an Exploration

Page 45

by Thomas Williams


  Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, 341

  Magnússon, Eiríkr, 106

  Malcolm, King of Scotland, 290–1

  Malcolm of Strathclyde, 309

  Maldon, battle of (991), 22, 313–18

  Maldon, Essex, 226, 227

  Mallett, Lynda, 220

  Malmesbury, 197

  Malmesbury, William of, 133, 309

  Mandara, Bonaventura (Venge), 36

  Manna, Jarl, 226

  maps: and ‘Danelaw’, 188; early medieval, 20–1, 24; Hereford Mappa Mundi, 21; later medieval, 21; northern world as absent, 24; T-O map, 20–1, 24

  McAlpin, Kenneth (Cinaed son of Alpín), 247, 254

  Mercia, kingdom of, 8, 9, 10, 82, 119, 120–1, 145–8; burhs (defensible settlements), 199; carving up of (877), 166, 189; as earldom of Cnut, 336; Edmund ‘liberates’ north of, 288–9; Edward’s dominance in post-910 period, 225–8; ‘Five Boroughs’, 288–9; rump of (post-877), 166, 189, 191, 223; subservience to Alfred, 189–90; Viking conquest of (873), 148–9, 165

  metal-detectorists, xxii, 200–1

  Micklethwaite, Yorkshire and Cumbria, 230

  Mímir, 115, 263, 264

  monasteries, 12, 24, 52–4, 56–8, 75–6, 79, 85–6, 97, 146

  monsters, demons and diabolical hordes, xx, 21–2, 23, 24, 25, 26–7; dragons, 102–8, 109, 265; serpents, 99–108, 109, 265

  Monty Python and the Holy Grail, 120

  Monymusk reliquary, 60

  Morris, William, xix, 106, 217, 218; The Story of Sigurd the Volsung, 106–7

  Mosley, Oswald, 47

  Mount Badon, 212

  Muiredach Cross, Co. Louth, 251

  Museum of London, 334

  Myhre, Bjørn, 76

  Nasjonal Samling (Norwegian fascist movement), 45, 46–7

  National Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh, 54

  Nazi Germany, 47–8, 49–50

  Nibelungenlied (Old High German epic), 105

  Niðhöggr (‘spite-striker’), 103

  Norfolk, 8, 121–2, 231

  Norman Conquest (1066), 232, 342

  Normandy, Duke Richard of, 324

  Norse mythology, xx, 33, 44, 103–4, 150–3; and Christian world-view, 269–71, 277–8; the einherjar (glorious dead), 299, 300, 301, 302; the end of the world, 263–5, 268–9, 270–1; Gosforth Cross, 267–8, 269, 269, 278; Ragnar Loðbrók tale, 98–102, 108–9, 110; Ragnarök (‘doom of the gods’), 104, 264, 265, 268, 270–1, 299; Ragnarssona þáttr, 110–11; rite of the blood-eagle, 110–11, 112–13, 114–15; Valhöll, ‘the hall of the slain’, 300, 301–2; valkyrjur, the ‘choosers of the slain’, 105, 302; Völsung legend, 104–8, 109

  the North: Anglo-Saxon heritage, 33–4, 43; apparent paradox of, 35; Hitler’s perverting of spirit of, 47–8; and myth of British origins, 42–4; Pictish origins, 34; terrors/diabolical nature of, 23, 24–6, 29, 31; Tolkien and ‘true myth’, 176; Welsh traditions, 34–5; see also pagan peoples of Northern Europe

  North Stoke, Somerset, 16–19

  Northampton, 226, 227

  Northumbria, 6, 7–8, 12, 92, 245; Æthelwold received as king (899), 212; Athelstan intervenes in (927), 281–2, 283; bishops of, 272, 275, 276–7, 290, 297; campaigns against Wessex (909–10), 223–5, 278; as earldom of Cnut, 336; Eric Bloodaxe’s reign, 291, 292–4, 295, 297; King Edmund in (944), 290–1; Olaf Guthfrithsson’s rule (940–1), 288–9; post-Athelstan insecurity (940s), 287, 289, 290–1; settlement and rule (866–920), 272–8, 289–90; Viking conquest of (867), 96–8, 165, 248, 272; Viking settlement in, 161, 229–30

  Norway, 20, 32, 38, 41, 44, 46–7, 60, 67, 325, 338; Borre national park cemetery, 46, 50; Christianity in, 117; eleventh century invasions of Britain, 324; Eric Bloodaxe’s reign, 292; Gulathing law, 153; Hordaland, 14; house at Borg on Vestvågøy, 72–5, 77; myth of Harald Finehair, 242–3; ‘Norwegian Legion’ (Second World War), 49; Quisling’s puppet regime, 45, 46–7, 49–50; Yngling dynasty, 46

  Norwegian Museum of Cultural History, 259–60

  Norwegian sagas and histories, 13

  Nottingham, 227; siege of (868), 119, 120, 128, 197

  Odda, ealdorman of Somerset, 167–8

  Odin, 33, 104, 105, 114–16, 126, 150, 154, 159, 263–5, 267, 299–300

  Odo of Metz, 70

  Oengus, Pictish king, 12

  Offa, King of Mercia, 8, 9, 10

  Offa’s Dyke, 8

  Olaf (‘Amlaíb’), Viking raider, 247–8

  Olaf Guthfrithsson, 283–7, 288–90

  Olaf Sihtricsson, Viking king of Northumbria, 290, 297

  Olaf Tryggvason, 313–14

  Orchard, Andy, 152–3

  Orkney islands, 11, 230, 242, 245, 261–2, 341–2

  Oronsay, 261

  Orwell, George, Animal Farm (1945), 323

  Osberht, King of Northumbria, 97–8, 119

  Osburh, mother of Alfred, 183

  Oscetel, Viking chieftain, 158, 165

  Oseberg ship burial, 32, 257, 258–61, 262

  Osred II, King of Northumbria, 7

  Osric, ealdorman of Dorset, 93

  Oswulf, Earl, 299

  Otford, battle at (1016), 330

  Overton Hill, near Avebury, 306–7

  Owain, king of Gwent, 282

  Owain, king of Strathclyde, 283

  Oxford, 226, 320–2, 324

  Padstow, Cornwall, 313

  pagan peoples of Northern Europe: and Anglo-Saxon heritage, 33–4, 43; Baltic and Slavic tribes, 67, 68–9; burial rites, 158–60, 258–62; Charlemagne’s conquests in Saxony, 67–8, 69, 75–6; hall as home for the dead, 251–2; Irminsul (holy tree or pillar), 68; mid-winter festival (jol/yule), 116–18; Obodrites, 68–9; rite of the blood-eagle, 110–11, 112–13, 114–15; sacrifice rituals, 113–16, 117, 257–8

  Page, R.I., 150

  Parker, Charles Arundel, 233, 267

  Parrett, River, battle at (848), 93

  Peake, Mervyn, 89

  Penselwood, battle at (1016), 330

  personal names, 230, 232–3, 243

  philology, German revolution in, 42

  Picts and Pictavia, 11–12, 53–4, 244, 245; cross-slabs, 54–7, 76; end of kingdom (c.900), 254–5, 341–2; and Gaels, 247; Halfdan’s occupation (874), 273; harassing of by Halfdan, 161; line of Wrguist broken (839), 246–7; Olaf’s raid (865/6), 247–8; origins in ‘Scythia’, 34; ‘Pictish symbols’, 11–12, 54–5; raid on Fortriu (839), 246–7

  Piggott, Stuart, 138

  Pitney, Somerset, 337

  place-names, 7, 161, 162, 219–20, 230–1, 233; Celtic-Old Norse mix, 243; Gaelic elements, 243; hybrid Old Norse-English, 231; and seaways of Britain, 244

  political, social, legal and economic systems, 2–3, 77–8; Anglo-Saxon ‘hundreds’, 221–2, 310; Anglo-Viking models, 187–9; burhs (defensible settlements), 198–200; Carolingian Empire, 67–72, 73, 75–6; and coinage, 185–7; ealdormen, 85; economic growth following Viking arrival, 208; Edgar’s legal reforms, 310, 311–12, 338; and gift-giving in early Middle Ages, 77–8, 184; hundred and shire assembly places, 2, 168, 169, 171, 212, 303–4; reeves, 1, 2–3, 169; role of monarch/warlord, 77–8; things, 217–21; title of earl introduced by Cnut, 336–7; Viking Age political geography, 5–12, 33, 34–5, 82, 87, 244–7, 280; wealth and loyalty, 72; see also ‘Danelaw’

  Porlock, Somerset, 226

  Portland, Dorset, 1, 2, 3, 4–5, 10, 12–13, 14–15, 313

  Portmahomack monastery, Easter Ross, 12, 52–4, 56–8, 76

  Powys, 10

  Price, Neil, 142

  psychology, xx–xxi; impact of Viking raids, 29–30; terrors of the North, 23, 24–6, 29, 31; the world ‘outside’, 21–3

  Pucklechurch, Gloucestershire, 291

  Quisling, Vidkun, 45, 46–7, 49–50

  race and ethnicity, xxi, 38–9, 161, 208, 244, 254, 289, 343; Æthelred orders murder of all ‘Danish’ men (1002), 320–2; and Alfred the Great, 178, 190, 193, 211; British Empire, 42–4; ‘culture-historical paradigm’, 42–4, 238; as indicators of popul
ation movements, 238; Nazi racist nationalism, 47–8

  Rackham, Arthur, 44, 105

  Ragnall, grandson of Ivar, 278, 279–80

  Ragnall Guthfrithsson, 290

  Ragnar Loðbrók, 98–102, 108–9, 110

  Rathlin Island, Co. Antrim, 51

  Ravenna, 70

  Rawnsley, Hardwicke, 238

  Reading, 127–9, 197, 200

  Reddish, Stuart C., 220

  Repton, Derbyshire, 145–7, 148, 149–50, 155–8, 160–1, 200

  Rheged, 7

  Ribblehead, north Yorkshire, 230

  Richard I, the Lionheart, 232–3

  Ripon Minster, 293

  river routes, 145, 147–9

  Robinson, Thomas Heath, 44

  Roger of Wendover, 299, 312

  Roman world, xviii, 5, 11, 43, 76, 207; and Alfred’s building programmes, 197, 198; decline of Roman Empire, 6; maps in, 21

  Rome, 196–7

  Romsey Abbey, 173

  Runcorn, Cheshire, 226

  runestones, xxi, 39, 40, 107–8, 265–7, 326–7, 333–4, 337

  Ruskin, John, 235, 237, 240, 241

  Russia, 38

  sacrifice rituals, 113–16, 117, 126, 257–8

  Salisbury Plain, 170–1

  Sandwich, 313, 316, 323, 330

  Sawyer, Peter, 48

  Saxo Grammaticus (Danish cleric), 99, 101, 111, 112

  Saxons, 32–3

  Scandinavia: burial rites, 160; fashions and style, 296; hybridized Norse–Gaelic culture, 252–4; influences as part of mainstream English culture, 337–8; Islamic silver coins in, 201; legal concepts, 216–17, 218–19, 230; pre-Christian belief, 150–1; and seaways of Britain, 242–4; slave ‘plantations’ in, 63–4; tenth century enhanced political stability, 325–8; things, 217–21, 219; see also Denmark; Norway; Sweden

  Scar boat burial, Orkney, 261–2

  Scotland, xix, 10, 52–7, 242, 245; Athelstan’s war with (934), 282–3; Britons of Strathclyde, 161, 248, 250, 255, 273, 283; hybridized Norse–Gaelic culture, 252–4; lack of detailed historical record, 245–6; raid on Fortriu (839), 246–7; seventeenth-century religious conflict, 55–6; shipyards of the Clyde, 249; Viking Age changes, 254–5; Viking raids in the west (847), 247; see also entries for regions, peoples, kingdoms

  sculpture: Anglo-Scandinavian style, 236–7; Bibury monument, 337; and Collingwood, 235–6; cross-slabs, 54–7, 76, 149, 266; found at Repton, 160; Jelling runestone, 326, 326–7; Gosforth Cross, 267–8, 269, 269, 278; at Govan Old Church, 250, 251, 252; hogbacks, 250–1, 251, 252, 254, 262; Irish/Scandanavian style, 265–7; at Ramsund and Gök, 107–8; Ringerike style, 334, 337; runestones, xxi, 39, 40, 107–8, 265–7, 326–7, 333–4, 337; Stora Hammars picture stone, 114; symbol stones, 11–12, 54–5, 266, 267; ‘Thorwald’s Cross’, Isle of Man, 266–7, 269, 270, 278

  Scyld (legendary progenitor of the Danes), 33

  Sennacherib, Assyrian king, 119

  serpents, 99–108, 109, 265; see also dragons

  settlement, xviii, xix, xxi; Burghal Hidage, 198; burhs (defensible settlements), 198–200; ‘emporia’, 32, 79; English villages, 137–8; first phases of Viking presence, 160–1; first Viking ‘over-wintering’ (850), 92, 93, 200; Halfdan in Northumbria, 161, 167, 273; permanent Viking communities, 200, 207–8, 217; scholarly debate over Vikings, 229–33; Viking development of towns, 207–8; Viking winter camps (from early 850s), 93–4, 200–3, 207; Vikings in France and Low Countries, 185; see also ‘Danelaw’

  sexuality, 152–4

  Shaw, George Bernard, 106–7

  Sherston, battle at (1016), 330, 331

  Shetland islands, 11, 230, 242, 245, 341

  ship burials, xxi, 8–9, 32, 46, 96, 114, 122, 257, 258–62

  Siefred, Viking king of Northumbria, 273, 276

  Sigurd the Völsung, 104–8, 109

  Sihtric Cáech, Viking king of Northumbria, 277, 279, 280, 281, 290

  Silk Road, 63

  Simy Folds, Co. Durham, 230

  Skallagrimsson, Egil, 40

  slavery: and British Empire, 44; inter-kingdom warfare, 64; Old Norse þrælar (‘thralls’), 63–4; Viking trade, 44, 62–5, 79, 201

  Snorri Sturluson, 117–18, 118, 150–1, 159, 264, 265, 268, 292, 300

  Society of Antiquaries, 88

  Somerset, 93, 163, 337

  Southampton, 32, 79, 93, 199, 313

  St Anthony, 26

  St Augustine’s soliloquies, 140

  St Brendan, 25

  St Columba, 245

  St Comgall, 61

  St Cuthbert, 26, 27–8, 167, 273–5

  St George, 125

  St Guthlac, 24, 26–7, 146

  St John’s College, Oxford, 320–2

  St Patrick’s Isle, Co. Dublin, 51

  St Paul, vision of, 23

  St Sebastian, 124

  St Thomas’ Church, Brompton, Yorkshire, 250–1, 251

  St Wystan, Church of, Repton, 146–7, 149–50, 155–8, 160

  Stainmore, 298, 299

  Stamford, Lincolnshire, 227

  standing stones, 11, 107–8, 220, 251, 306–7

  Stiklestad battle-site, Norway, 46–7

  Stockholm Codex Aureus (‘the Golden Book’), 206–7

  Stora Hammars picture stone, Gotland, 114

  Strathclyde Britons, 161, 248, 250, 255, 273, 283

  Suffolk, 8–9, 32, 121–2, 231

  Sussex, 8, 9, 226

  Sutton Hoo ship burial, 8–9, 32, 85, 122, 232

  Svein Estridsson, King of Denmark, 342

  Svein Forkbeard, King of England, xviii, 323–4, 328–9

  Sweden, 9, 32, 40, 41, 67, 325; early eleventh century runestones, 333–4; Gautland (realm of the Geats), 4, 21–2, 33, 99, 102, 172; Hednalagen (‘the heathen law’), 216–17; standing stones at Ramsund and Gök, 107–8; temple at Uppsala, 113, 154; Vendel and Valsgärde cemeteries, 32, 85

  Tamworth, Staffordshire, 199, 288

  Tempsford, Bedfordshire, 226

  Tennyson, Alfred, 286

  Tettenhall (Wednesfield), battle of (910), 224, 225, 278

  Thanet, 207, 312, 313

  Thelwall, Cheshire, 227

  Theoderic the Monk, 292

  Thetford, 199

  Thinghou, Lincolnshire, 219

  Thingoe, Suffolk, 219

  Thingwall, Lancashire, 219

  Thingwall, the Wirral, 219

  Thor, 104, 150–2, 154–5, 264, 265, 270, 277, 278

  Þórðarson, Sigvatr, 111–12

  Thorkell the Tall, 323, 328, 333, 336

  ‘Thorwald’s Cross’, Andreas Church, Isle of Man, 266–7, 269, 270, 278

  Thurcytel, Jarl, 226

  Thurferth, Jarl, 227

  Thynghowe, Sherwood Forest, 219–20

  Tingwall, Orkney, 219

  Tingwall, Shetland, 219, 220

  Tinwald, Dumfries, 219

  Tinwhil, Skye, 219

  Tiongal, Lewis, 219

  Toglos, Jarl, 226

  Tolkien, J. R. R., xix, 22, 47, 104, 105–6, 176, 178, 315

  Torksey, Lincolnshire, 147–8, 200–1, 202–3, 207

  Tottenham Wood, near Edington, 171, 173

  Towcester, Northamptonshire, 226

  Townend, Matthew, 235

  trade, xviii, xix, 6, 31–2, 72, 78–9; bullion economy, 201–2, 208, 244, 253; ‘emporia’, 32, 79; evidence for peaceful trading, 79; and permanent Viking settlement, 208; and Viking raiding parties, 204; Viking trade routes, 44, 63, 64–5, 201; Vikings and local populations, 203–7; weights and measures, 202–3; in York, 295

  tumuli (Bronze Age burial mounds), 2, 306

  Tyninghame, Lothian, 288

  Tynwald, Isle of Man, 219, 220–1

  Ubbe (son of Ragnar Loðbrók), 110, 118, 123, 158, 167–8

  Udal, North Uist, 244

  Uffington, White Horse of, 134, 178

  Ukraine, 38

  Ulster, 12

  United States of America, xx

  Valsgärde, Sweden, 32, 85

 
Vendel, Sweden, 32, 85

  Vidar, son of Odin, 268, 269, 269

  Vikings: abduction for slave trade, 44, 62–5, 79, 201; academic debates of 1970s/80s, 79; army at Cirencester (879–80), 184–5; army moves to France and Low Countries (880), 185; and British myths of origin, 43–4; burials at Repton, 149–50, 155–8, 160; capture of Reading (870), 127–9, 197; capture of York (866–7), 96, 97–9, 109, 111–12, 116–17, 118–19, 272; ceremonies of king-making, 275; classic image of, 43–4, 291–2, 342–3; Collingwood’s specific conclusions, 236; colonization in British Isles, xviii, 161–2, 167, 199, 242–3; concept of wealth, 77–8; conquest of East Anglia (870), 121–5, 248; defeat at Edington (878), 170, 171, 173–5, 176, 177–9, 182, 191–2; direct evidence for violence, 52–4, 56–8; early raids on British Isles, 51, 52–4, 56–62; in eastern Europe (the Rus), 62, 63, 65, 94–5, 159–60, 201–2, 257; ecclesiastical metalwork as plunder, 60–2; evidence for ideological component to raids, 54, 76; exploitation of England’s river routes, 145, 147–9; fascist use of, 47, 49–50; first interactions at Portland, 1, 3, 4–5, 10, 12–13, 14–15; first ‘over-wintering’ (850), 92, 93, 200; ‘free Norse farmers’, 238; geographical origins of, 14–15, 66–7; ‘great heathen horde’ (micel here) (866), 95–9, 109, 119, 120–1, 127–34, 143, 147–50, 155–61, 192, 200–3, 272–3; helmets of, 38, 44, 84–5; hiatus in raids (806–35), 81, 82; increasing volume of raids from 830s, 90–1, 92–3; interconnectedness of maritime world, 242–4; invasion of Wessex (870), 127–31; as Janus-faced figures, 35; longevity in north and west, 341–2; men of British birth in armies of, 192–3; new army in England (879–80), 184–5; new waves of raider armies (890s), 210–11; nineteenth century popularisation of word, 44; as not an ethnic category, 39; payments to go away, 120–1, 143, 147, 148; and politics of Britain, 86–7, 91, 192; post-war reappraisal of, 48; raid on Lindisfarne (793), 26, 28–31, 51; raid on Portmahomack monastery, 52–4, 56–8, 76; ‘raiders’ or ‘traders’ meme, 78–9, 203–7; raids around Britain’s northern shores, 246–8, 253, 254; reasons for earliest raids, 66, 79–80; resumption of raids (830s), 82; semantics (the word ‘Viking’), 38, 39–41, 44, 49; in southern England (980–1016), 303–8, 313–20, 323–4, 328–34; stereotypes, myths, falsehoods, xvii–xviii, xx, 37, 48, 79; strangeness of, 48–9, 343; submission of Wessex (878), 166; transcendental value of self-sacrifice, 115–16, 123–4, 126; tribute paid to by Æthelred, 318–19, 320, 330; ‘unmanly’ behaviour, 152–4; use of word ‘Viking’ during Viking Age, 39–40, 41; Victorian revival, 43–4, 105, 106, 233–4; victory at Overton Hill (1006), 303–8; ‘Viking’ as given/personal name, 39–40; war-bands in northern Britain (early 900s), 280–1; in Wessex (876–7), 165–6; winter camps (from early 850s), 93–4, 200–3, 207

 

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