The Great Heathen Army: Ivar the Boneless and the Viking Invasion of Britain

by MR Benjamin James Baillie
The Great Heathen Army: Ivar the Boneless and the Viking Invasion of Britain
Author: MR Benjamin James Baillie
Publisher: Benjamin James Baillie
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2015-05-21
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780993045516
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In 865 AD a huge Viking army appeared out of the mists of the North Sea from Scandinavia and landed on the East Anglian coast. Their objective was nothing less than the total conquest of Anglo-Saxon England and the whole of the British Isles. Numbering some 10,000 to 15,000 men the "Great Heathen Army" was the largest invasion force since Roman Legions had landed on the shores of Britannia back in 43 AD. During a 14 year reign of terror they left a brutal trail of destruction in their wake. At its head the army was led by the vengeful sons of the Viking adventurer, Ragnar Lodbrok "Hairy breeches." The mastermind behind the invasion became one of the most feared and cruel warlords of the Viking age, Ivar "the Boneless." His shadow cast a dark cloud over the British Isles that ultimately led to the unification and creation of the nation state of England.

The Viking Great Army and the Making of England

by Dawn Hadley
The Viking Great Army and the Making of England
Author: Dawn Hadley
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Total Pages: 391
Release: 2021-06-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 0500776369
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Featuring the latest scientific techniques and findings, this book is the definitive account of the Viking Great Army’s journey and how their presence forever changed England. When the Viking Great Army swept through England between 865 and 878 CE, the course of English history was forever changed. The people of the British Isles had become accustomed to raids for silver and prisoners, but 865 CE saw a fundamental shift as the Norsemen stayed through winter and became immersed in the heart of the nation. The Viking army was here to stay. This critical period for English history led to revolutionary changes in the fabric of society, creating the growth of towns and industry, transforming power politics, and ultimately leading to the rise of Alfred the Great and Wessex as the preeminent kingdom of Anglo-Saxon England. Authors Dawn Hadley and Julian Richards, specialists in Anglo-Saxon and Viking Age archaeology, draw on the most up-to-date scientific techniques and excavations, including their recent research at the Great Army’s camp at Torksey. Together they unravel the movements of the Great Army across England like a detective story, while piecing together a new picture of the Vikings in unimaginable detail. Hadley and Richards unearth the swords and jewelry the Vikings manufactured, examine how they buried their great warriors, and which everyday objects they discarded. These discoveries revolutionized what is known of the size, complexity, and social make-up of the army. Like all good stories, this one has plenty of heroes and villains, and features a wide array of vivid illustrations, including site views, plans, weapons, and hoards. This exciting volume tells the definitive account of a vital period in Norse and British history and is a must-have for history and archaeology lovers.

The Great Heathen Army

by H a Culley
The Great Heathen Army
Author: H a Culley
Publisher:
Total Pages: 252
Release: 2020-02-29
Genre:
ISBN:
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The Viking horde known as the Great Heathen Army invade Cent in the autumn of 865 AD and defeat the local Saxon fyrd at the Battle of Salteode. A youth called Alric is captured and his brother, thirteen year old Jørren, decides to undertake the seemingly impossible task of rescuing him. Accompanied only by a slave not much older than he is, Jørren sets out to find Alric. His quest takes him into war-torn East Anglia and up through Northumbria as far as Hadrian's Wall. On the way he gathers a rag-tag collection of orphans and welds them into a small, tightly-knit, warband. They play a small, but important, part in the struggle against the Vikings before eventually reaching Wessex, where Alfred has just become king. Now older and an experienced warrior, Jørren joins him and over subsequent years rises in status to become one of Wessex's ealdormen. However, the Vikings are determined to defeat Alfred and complete their conquest of England. By 871 AD it is doubtful whether Jørren or Wessex itself can survive their onslaught.This first novel in the Saga of Wessex series will enthral all readers who have come to love H A Culley's previous books set in early medieval Northumbria.

The Pagan Lords: The Forgotten Viking Campaigns of the Great Heathen Army in France and Spain 840 ? 982 Ad

by MR Benjamin James Baillie
The Pagan Lords: The Forgotten Viking Campaigns of the Great Heathen Army in France and Spain 840 ? 982 Ad
Author: MR Benjamin James Baillie
Publisher: Benjamin James Baillie
Total Pages: 62
Release: 2016-06-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780993045547
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The Viking age exploded like a thunderbolt out of the blue onto the international stage during the latter part of the 8th century. By the middle of the next century, the piratical raids for booty and plunder gave way to outright conquest and colonisation. In the West, the British Isles bore the brunt of this aggression in the form of the campaigns of the "Great Heathen Army" which not only dismantled the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of England, but also the Pictish and Briton dominions of modern day Scotland and the Celtic Principalities of Ireland. On the continent of mainland Europe Viking armies challenged the great Empire of Charlemagne. Ragnar Lodbrok's sack of Paris in 845 AD showed that no city or Kingdom was safe from the fury of the North-men. His sons and other Viking warlords embarked on a reign of terror that would bring Western civilisation to its very knees, eventually resulting in the creation of the Duchy of Normandy at the Treaty of St Clair Sur Epte in 911 AD. However Viking campaigns to create a second Normandy in Brittany, Aquitaine and Spain have been shrouded in mystery until now.

Vikings at War

by Kim Hjardar
Vikings at War
Author: Kim Hjardar
Publisher: Casemate Publishers
Total Pages: 401
Release: 2016-11-22
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612004547
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An illustrated guide to Viking warfare from strategy and weapons to culture and tradition: “a very excellent introduction to the Viking age as a whole” (Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings). From the time when sailing was first introduced to Scandinavia, Vikings reached virtually every corner of Europe and even America with their raids and conquests. Wherever Viking ships roamed, enormous suffering followed in their wake, but the encounters between cultures also brought immense change to both European and Nordic societies. In Vikings at War, historian Kim Hjardar presents a comprehensive overview of Viking weapons technology, military traditions and tactics, offensive and defensive strategies, fortifications, ships, and command structure. The most crucial element of the Viking’s success was their strategy of arriving by sea, attacking with great force, and withdrawing quickly. In their militarized society, honor was everything, and ruining one’s posthumous reputation was considered worse than death itself. Vikings at War features more than 380 color illustrations, including beautiful reconstruction drawings, maps, cross-section drawings of ships, line-drawings of fortifications, battle plan reconstructions, and photos of surviving artifacts, including weapons and jewelry. Winner of Norway’s Saga Prize, Vikings at War is now available in English with this new translation. “A magnificent piece of work [that] I’d recommend to anyone with an interest in the Viking period.” —Justin Pollard, historical consultant for the Amazon television series Vikings

Vikings and the Danelaw

by James Graham-Campbell
Vikings and the Danelaw
Author: James Graham-Campbell
Publisher: Oxbow Books
Total Pages: 657
Release: 2016-11-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1785704532
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A selection of papers from the 13th Viking Congress focusing on the northern, central, and eastern regions of Anglo-Saxon England colonised by invading Danish armies in the late 9th century, known as the Danelaw. This volume contributes to many of the unresolved scholarly debates surrounding the concept, and extent of the Danelaw.

Alfred the Great

by Eleanor Shipley Duckett
Alfred the Great
Author: Eleanor Shipley Duckett
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2014-12-10
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 022622919X
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From the author of The Gateway to the Middle Ages, “a fascinating portrait of an enlightened monarch against a background of darkness and ignorance” (Kirkus Reviews). Filled with drama and action, here is the story of the ninth-century life and times of Alfred—warrior, conqueror, lawmaker, scholar, and the only king whom England has ever called “The Great.” Based on up-to-date information on ninth-century history, geography, philosophy, literature, and social life, it vividly presents exciting views of Alfred in every stage of his long career and leaves the reader with a sharply etched picture of the world of the Middle Ages.

River Kings

by Cat Jarman
River Kings
Author: Cat Jarman
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2022-02-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 1643138707
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Follow an epic story of the Viking Age that traces the historical trail of an ancient piece of jewelry found in a Viking grave in England to its origins thousands of miles east in India. An acclaimed bioarchaeologist, Catrine Jarman has used cutting-edge forensic techniques to spark her investigation into the history of the Vikings who came to rest in British soil. By examining teeth that are now over one thousand years old, she can determine childhood diet—and thereby where a person was likely born. With radiocarbon dating, she can ascertain a death-date down to the range of a few years. And her research offers enlightening new visions of the roles of women and children in Viking culture. Three years ago, a Carnelian bead came into her temporary possession. River Kings sees her trace the path of this ancient piece of jewelry back to eighth-century Baghdad and India, discovering along the way that the Vikings’ route was far more varied than we might think—that with them came people from the Middle East, not just Scandinavia, and that the reason for this unexpected integration between the Eastern and Western worlds may well have been a slave trade running through the Silk Road, all the way to Britain. Told as a riveting history of the Vikings and the methods we use to understand them, this is a major reassessment of the fierce, often-mythologized voyagers of the North—and of the global medieval world as we know it.