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Aachen, cathedral at, 70, 73
Abbasid Caliphate, 63
Abbo (Frankish Benedictine monk), 122–5
Aberdeen Assembly, 56
Aclea, battle at (851), 93
Adam of Bremen, 113, 114, 154
administrative systems see political, social, legal and economic systems
Ælfheah, archbishop of Canterbury, 328
Ælfric of Eynsham, abbot of Cerne, 125
Ælle, King of Northumbria, 97–8, 109, 110–12, 119, 122
Æsc (son of Horsa), 90
Æthelbald, King of Mercia, 147
Æthelbald, King of Wessex, 183
Æthelbald of Wessex, 93
Æthelberht, King of East Anglia, 8
Æthelberht, King of Wessex, 183
Æthelflæd, ‘the lady of the Mercians’, 120, 190, 198, 225–6, 227, 279
Æthelred, ealdorman of Mercia, 189–90, 226
Æthelred I, King of Northumbria, 7–8, 31
Æthelred, King of England, 312–13, 318–20, 328; death of (1016), 330; flees to Normandy (1013), 324; orders murder of all ‘Danish’ men (1002), 320–2; restored to throne (1014), 329–30
Æthelred, King of Wessex, 119, 121, 128–9, 130, 131–2, 133–4, 143, 183, 211–12
Æthelstan, King of East Anglia, 122, 183
Æthelstan, King of Kent, 183
Æthelswith, sister of Alfred, 119, 183
Æthelweard, West Saxon ealdorman, 214, 224, 285
Æthelwold, Alfred’s nephew, 211–13, 214, 223, 278
Æthelwulf, ealdorman of Berkshire levy, 128, 129, 204
Æthelwulf, King of Wessex, 93, 119, 133, 173, 183
Ahmad ibn Rusta, 62
Alcuin, English cleric, 29, 30–1, 34, 182
Alfred the Great, xvi; accord with Guthrum, 182–4, 185, 188–9, 190, 193, 231; at Athelney (878), 163–5, 166–7, 168; baptism of Guthrum, 180–1, 182–4; battle at Ashdown (Æscesdun) (870), 130–4, 135–7, 143, 177, 178; building programmes, 194–200, 211; buried at Winchester, 338, 339; and Carhampton, 86; childhood meeting with Pope, 196–7; coinage of, 185–7; death of (899), 211; as ‘founder of English navy’, 43, 175; as king of ‘all the Christians of the island of Britain’, 190–1, 228; makes terms with Vikings (872), 143, 147, 148; military and defensive innovations, 195–6, 197–9, 211, 224; muster at Egbert’s Stone (878), 170, 173; occupation of London (886), 190; repels new Viking raiders in 890s, 210–11; ‘resurrection narrative’ of, 176, 178; shaping his own legacy, 135–6, 140, 148–9, 176; and siege of Nottingham (868), 120, 121, 128; Victorian love of, 175–6, 177–8; victory at Edington (878), 170, 171, 173–5, 176, 177–9, 182, 191–2; and Wayland the smith, 139–40; and ‘Winchester Chronicle’ (A text), 13–14
Alt Clud (‘the rock of the Clyde’), kingdom of, 11, 244, 245, 247, 248, 252, 255
Angles, 32–3
Anglesey, 244–5, 278–9
Anglo-Saxon Chronicle: and battle of Brunanburh, 285–6; battle of Maldon (991), 318; C manuscript, 319–20, 330; D text, 311, 319–20, 330; description of Athelney, 163–4; E manuscript, 285, 319–20, 330, 331; material from older sources, 14; Mercian Register, 225; micel hæðen here description, 95–6; ‘northern recension’ of, 14–15; not concerned with average warrior, 85; obituary for Alfred, 211; references to ‘Danes’, 1, 14, 41, 191, 192; A text (’Winchester Chronicle’), 1, 13–14, 131, 285–6, 293; Viking settlement in Northumbria, 161
Anglo-Saxons: Alfred as king of, 190–1; arrival of, 32–3, 89–90, 142–3; Christianity, 122–6; Hengest and Horsa, 89–90; myths of the pre-Christian past, 33, 34; northern heritage, 33–4, 43; pre-Christian burials, 171–3; royal genealogies, 33–4; slave-owners, 64; see also entries for associated people and kingdoms
Anwend, Viking chieftain, 158, 165
archaeology, xviii, xix–xx, 32, 38, 51–2, 83–5, 129, 246; direct evidence for Viking violence, 52–4, 56–8; early Anglo-Saxon burials, 171–3; and Freud’s unheimlich concept, 142; gullgubber (thin gold foils), 75; Inchmarnock slates, 58–60, 62; and Repton burials, 156–8; rural settlement in Northumbria, 229–30; at Torksey, 200–1; Vikings in London, 334; Wayland’s Smithy at Ashbury, 138–40; in York, 295, 296
architecture: early Scandinavian, 73–5; Palatine Chapel at Aachen, 70, 73; of Viking colonies in north Atlantic, 230; Viking long-houses, 230, 244, 251–2
Ardnamurchan, Scotland, 261
Argyll, 12, 244
art and culture, xvi, xvii, 44, 49, 107; ‘Borre’ style (Viking art-form), 46; brooches, xv, xvi, 205–6, 252–4, 260, 266, 337; fusion of influences, 7, 265, 337; illuminated gospels, 7, 27–8, 206; ‘Ringerike’ style (Viking art-form) 334, 337; see also architecture; literature; sculpture
Ashburnham House, 314
Ashbury, Oxfordshire (formerly in Berkshire), 134, 135, 136–7, 138–40
Ashdown (Æscesdun), battle at (870), 130–4, 135–7, 143, 177, 178
Assandun, battle at (1016), 331–3, 335
Asser, bishop of Sherborne, 141, 164–5, 166, 167, 170, 182, 184, 190, 192, 204; and Alfred’s building programmes, 194–6; background of, 130–1; baptism of Guthrum, 183; battle at Ashdown (Æscesdun) (870), 131–4, 135, 143
Assyrian Empire, 119
Athelney, Somerset, 163–5, 166–7, 168
Athelstan, King of the Anglo-Saxons, 281–7, 290, 292
Atkinson, Richard, 138
Atomic Energy Authority, 89
Avebury, 304, 306–7
Aylesford, gathering at (1016), 330, 331
Bacsecg, Viking chieftain, 130, 133, 158
Badbury Rings, Dorset, 212
Bældæg (Old Norse god Balder), 33
Bakewell, Derbyshire, 227
Ballantyne, R.M., 43, 44
Ballateare, Isle of Man, 256–8, 262
Bamburgh, Northumbria, 272, 282, 299
Basengum, battle at (871), 143
Bath, 197, 324
Bayeux Tapestry, 337–8
Beaduheard, 1, 2–3, 4, 12
‘beating of the bounds’, 19
Bede (northern monk), 6–7, 32–3, 34, 89–90, 142–3; Ecclesiastical History of the English People, 7, 191
Bedford, 226
Belarus, 41
Beorhtric, King of Wessex, 1, 3, 5, 9, 197
Beornwulf, King of Mercia, 82
Beowulf, 1, 3–4, 21–2, 25, 33, 34, 102–3, 140, 144, 172, 314
Berkshire, 128, 129, 204, 303–4
Bernicia, 7
Betham, William, 88
Betjeman, John, 146
Blatchford, Robert, 177
Bloodaxe, Erik, xvi–xvii
Boethius, 139, 140
Borg, Vestvågøy, house at, 72–5, 77
Bornais, South Uist, 244
Braaid, Isle of Man, 244
Bratton Camp, Iron Age hill-fort, 170–1, 173
Braydon, 213
Bremesbyrig fortress, 226
Brentford, battle at (1016), 330
British Empire, xviii, 42–4, 178, 286
British Isles, xvii, xviii; Athelstan’s reign as pivotal, 286–7; hybridized Norse–Gaelic culture, 252–4; inter-kingdom warfare, 64, 82, 94, 192–3, 213; Old Norse þing element in place-names, 219–20; Romano-British elites, 6; Viking Age political geography, 5–12, 33, 34–5, 82, 87, 244–7, 280; see also entries for individual peoples, regions and kingdoms
British Museum, 52, 119, 250, 261–2
Brittany, 10
Brøgger, Professor Anton Wilhelm, 46
Browne, Dik, 37
Brunanburh, battle of, 284–6, 287
Buckingham, 226
Burghal Hidage, 198
Burhred, King of Mercia, 119, 121, 148, 183
Bury St Edmunds, 125
Byrhtnoth, Essex ealdorman, 313, 315–16, 318
Byrhtferth of Ramsay, 296
Byrhtwold, Anglo-Saxon warrior at battle of Maldon, 316–17
Byzantine Empire, 9, 10, 63, 67
Cadell ap Rhodri, king of Gwynedd, 279
Caithness, 215, 245, 261, 282, 285, 341
Call, Sir John, 87–8
Calverley, Rev. W. S., 267
Cambridge, 158, 165, 227
Camden, William, 127
Canterbury, 93, 199, 206, 207
Carantoc, Celtic saint, 85–6
Carhampton, battle at (836), 82–3, 85–6, 91, 96
Carolingian Empire, 67–72, 73, 75–6
Carver, Professor Martin, 53, 54, 57, 76
Cashen, Isle of Man, 244
Castleford, 293
Cenncairech, Amlaíb (Olaf), 283
Ceolwulf, King of Mercia, 82, 166, 189
Ceorl, ealdorman of Devon, 93
Charlemagne, 29, 67–72, 73, 75–6
Chester, 279, 309
Chesterton, G.K., 176–7; Alarms and Discursions, 174–5, 177; The Ballad of the White Horse, 163, 177–8, 191
Chippenham, Wiltshire, 166, 182, 184
Chirbury, Shropshire, 226
Christchurch, Dorset, 211
Christianity: Anglo-Saxon, 122–6; baptism of Guthrum, 180–1, 182–4; Charlemagne’s bellicose foreign policy, 67–9, 75–6; Christ’s death on the cross, 126, 176; and Cnut, 338–9; coda to pagan end of days, 269; cross-slabs, 54–7, 76, 149; and geographical knowledge, 21, 24; hierarchical/authoritarian structures, 75; High Middle Ages, 324–5; Historia Sancti Cuthberti, 273–5; Holy Roman Empire, 67–72, 75–6; hybrid iconography, 268–70, 277–8; illuminated gospels, 7, 27–8, 206; as ‘imperial toolkit’, 76; Irish forms, 5; Jelling dynasty in Denmark, 327; Lindisfarne Gospels, 7, 27–8, 314; and Northumbrian Viking kings, 273–8; in Norway, 117; reliquary shrines, 59–62; Roman forms, 5, 11; seventeenth-century Scotland, 55–6; and symbol stones, 12, 266, 267; theme of diabolical North, 24–6, 29, 31; Tolkien and ‘true myth’, 176; and Viking ‘religion’, 75, 269–71, 277–8; and Viking violence, 54, 56–8, 75–6; violent characteristics of, 67–9, 75–6
Christiansen, Eric, 25
Church of Scotland, 56
Cirencester, Gloucestershire, 184–5, 283
Civil War, English (seventeenth century), 339
Cnut IV, King of Denmark, 342
Cnut, King of England, 39, 111, 125, 329–30, 331–7, 338–9
Cnut, Viking king of Northumbria, 273, 276
coins, 8, 9, 157, 185–7, 201, 223, 276; Æthelred’s, 318–19; bullion economy, 202, 208, 244; Cuerdale Hoard, 280–1, 318; Edgar’s standardization, 309–10; Islamic, 201–2; of Viking Northumbria, 276, 276–8, 277, 280, 290, 296
Colchester, Essex, 227
Collingwood, W.G., 218, 233–7, 240, 241; The Book of Coniston, 229, 240–1; and Cumberland ‘Statesmen’, 237–8; Northumbrian Crosses of the Pre-Norman Age, 235; Scandinavian Britain, 236; Thorstein of the Mere, 233, 234, 238, 242
Colonsay, 261
Coniston, Cumbria, 229, 235, 237, 239–41
Constantín I, Pictish king, 248, 254, 273
Constantín II, king of Scots, 255, 278, 279–80, 282, 283, 285, 287, 291
Constantine, Pictish king, 12
Constantine, Roman Emperor, 76
Corbridge, battle at (918), 278, 279–80
Corfe, Dorset, 312
Cornwall, 10, 11, 82, 86–9, 90, 91, 313
Cotton, Sir Robert, 314
Crowland monastery, Lincolnshire, 24
Cuerdale Hoard, 280–1, 318
Culliford Tree, Dorset, 2
Cumbria, 10, 52, 233, 237–8, 239–41, 267, 290–1; barrow graves of, 262; and Norse–Gaelic culture, 250, 252, 253
Cwichelm’s Barrow (Skutchmer Knob), 303–4
Cynewulf, King of Wessex, 9, 19, 120
Dál Riata, kingdom of, 12, 244, 246, 247, 253–4, 255
‘Danelaw’, 32, 188, 190, 193, 208–9; and Edgar’s legal reforms, 311–12; hólmgang (ritual duel), 215–16, 217, 222–3; peace making in, 223; things, 217–21, 219; Þorgnýr (law-speaker), 221, 222; ‘wapentakes’, 222–3, 310
Darwinism, 42
Degge, Dr Simon, 155–6
Deira, 7
demons see monsters, demons and diabolical hordes
Denmark, 1, 4, 14, 21–2, 32, 33, 34, 67, 68, 338; Danevirke, 69; eleventh century invasions of Britain, 324, 328–9; Encomium Emmae Reginae, 328, 332, 337, 338; Godfred’s baiting of Empire, 69–70, 71, 72; Jelling dynasty, 325–8; National Museum of, 60
Derby, 120, 227
Devon, 93, 165–6, 167–8
Dickens, Charles, Pickwick Papers, 307
Dingwall, Ross and Cromarty, 219
Doepler, Carl Emil, 105
Domnall, son of Constantín I, 254
Dorchester, 1, 3
Dore, meeting at (828), 97
Dorset, 93, 165; mass grave of Scandanavians (c.1000), 334–5
dragons, 102–8, 109, 265; see also serpents
Drimore Machair, South Uist, 244
Dublin, 44, 200, 225, 248, 278, 280, 283, 284
Dumbarton Rock, 11, 245, 248
Dumnonia, kingdom of (Devon and Cornwall), 10
Dunadd hill fort, near Kilmartin, 12
Dunblane, 247
Dyfed, 10
Eadberht, King of Kent, 82
Eadred, King of England, 291, 293, 297, 308
Eadric Streona (Eadric the Acquisitor), 330–2, 336, 337
Eadwig, King of England, 308
Ealdred of Bamburgh, 282
Ealhstan, bishop of Sherborne, 93
Ealhswith, wife of Alfred, 173, 339
Eanwulf, ealdorman of Somerset, 93
Early Medieval Archaeology Student Symposium (EMASS), 249–50
East Anglia, 6, 8–9, 82, 95–6, 199, 232; as earldom of Cnut, 336; Essex submits to Æthelwold (902), 213; Guthrum as king of, 185–7, 189; Viking conquest of (870), 121–5, 165, 248
Easter Ross, 12, 52–7, 76
Ecgberht, King of Wessex, 10, 82–3, 86–7, 90, 91, 93, 97, 173, 228
economic systems see political, social, legal and economic systems; trade; wealth
Edgar pacificus, King of England, xvii, 308–12, 338
Edgar the Ætheling, 342
Edington, battle at (878), 170, 171, 173–5, 176, 182, 191–2; and Chesterton’s Ballad of the White Horse, 177–9, 191
Edmund ‘Ironside’, King of England, xvi, 330–2, 335–6
Edmund, King of East Anglia, 121, 122, 123–6, 187, 248
Edmund, King of England, 285, 288–9, 290–1
Edward the Confessor, 337, 341
Edward the Elder, son of Alfred, 198, 200, 210, 211–12, 213, 223; campaigns against Northumbria (909–10), 223–5, 278; claim as overlord of the Scots, 245; death of (924), 281; dominance in post-1910 period, 225–8; New Minster at Winchester, 338, 339, 341; submission of the north to (920), 272, 280, 281
Edward ‘the Martyr’, King of England, 312–13
Einar, Earl of Orkney, 115
Ellendun, battle at, 82
Ellwood, Thomas, 237
Elmet, 7
Emma, wife of Æthelred then Cnut, 324, 328, 338, 339
Englafeld, battle at (870), 128
England, xvii; Alfred and the Vikings’ invention of, 190–1, 199–200; Athelstan as first true king of, 282; burgeoning sense of nationalism/identity, 286, 312; calamity of 980–1016 period, 307, 313–22, 323–4, 328–34; Cnut divides into four earldoms, 336–7; and ‘foreigners’, 41–2; ‘foundation myths’, 89–90, 178; late tenth century xenophobia, 312; navy, 43, 175, 309, 310, 319; Svein Forkbeard’s conquest of (1013), 323–4, 328–9; Viking mercenary fleets, 310; see also entries for regions and kingdoms
Eohric, King of East Anglia, 214
Eric Bloodaxe, 291–4, 295, 297–9, 300–2
Eric Hákonarson, 336
Essex, 9, 213, 226–7, 313–16
Estonia, 41
ethnicity see race and ethnicity
Euganan (Wen), Pictish king, 246–7
Exeter, Devon, 165–6, 197
Eystein Haraldsson, King of Norway, 342
Fadlan, Ibn Ahmad, 63, 114, 159–60, 201, 257
Fáfnir (ur-dragon), 104–6, 108
Faroe islands, 242
fascism, 45, 46–7, 49–50
Fedelmid mac Crimthainn, king of Munster, 64
Fenrir, 263, 265, 269, 269
Finn (legendary Frisian king), 33
Flusco Pike, Cumbria, 253
Folkestone, 313, 316
Fortriu (Moray Firth region), 246–7
France, 9, 32, 67, 185, 204, 325
Frank, Roberta, 112–13
‘Franks’ casket, 119–20
Franks (Germanic tribe), 67–72, 247, 324–5, 338
Freeman, E.A., 175
Friedrich, Caspar David, 27
Frisia, 71
Frösö Church, Jämtland, Sweden, 113–14
Furness Abbey, Cumbria, 52
Gaimar, Geoffrey, 130
Gainsborough, Lincolnshire, 323
Gamla Uppsala, Sweden, 75
Ganger Rolf (Rollo), 47
Garstang, Lancashire, 230
Gaul, 9, 67
Geats of Gautland, 4, 21–2, 33, 99, 102, 172
Gelling, Margaret, 135
geographical knowledge: boundary clauses, 16–19; and Christianity, 21, 24; early medieval, 20–1; modern cartographical, 19–20
Gevninge, Zealand, 85
Gildas (British monk), 7
Gjermundbu helmet, 38, 84
Glasgow, 249–50, 251, 252
Glastonbury, Somerset, 36
Gloucester, 166, 226, 286
Godfred, Danish king, 69–70, 71, 72, 78
Gododdin, 7
Gokstad ship, near Oslo, 96, 261
Gorm the Old, King of Denmark, 326–7
Gosforth, Cumbria, 267–8, 269, 278
Govan, Glasgow, 249–50, 251, 252
Greek world, maps in, 21
Grimsby, Lincolnshire, 230
Grove, Barry, 55
Gunnhild, wife of Eric, 292
Guthfrith, Viking king of Northumbria, 273–6
Guthfrith, Viking king of Northumbria (grandson of Ivar), 280, 281–2, 283, 290
Guthrum, Viking chieftain, 158, 161, 165, 176, 192; accord with Alfred, 182–4, 185, 188–9, 190, 193, 231; baptism of, 180–1, 182–4; death of (890), 210; as king of East Anglia, 185–7, 189
Gwent, 10
Gwynedd, 10, 279
Haakon the Good, King of Norway, 292
Hadrian I, Pope, 70
Hæsten, Viking warlord, 210–11
Hafrsfjord battle-site, Norway, 46–7
Hägar the Horrible (comic strip), 37
Hákon, King of Norway, 117
Halfdan Long-leg, 115
Halfdan (son of Ragnar Loðbrók), 110, 118, 143, 158, 161, 273
Halfdan the Black, 46, 50
Halton, Lancashire, 108
Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark, 323, 326–8
Harald Finehair, King of Norway, 46, 115, 242–3, 291, 292
Harald Hard-ruler, King of Norway, 44, 342
Harald, King of England (son of Cnut), 337
Haraldsson, Maccus, 309
Harold Godwineson, King of England, 337
Harthacnut, King of England (son of Cnut), 337, 338, 339
Harun al-Rashid, 71
Hastings, Battle of (1066), 337–8
Heahmund, bishop of Sherborne, 143
Heath Wood cemetery, Derbshire, 158–9, 160, 262
Hebrides, 241, 244, 245, 253, 261
Hedeby, Schleswig, 32, 69, 72, 79, 114
‘hell’, origins of word, 25
Hengestdun (Kit Hill), Cornwall, 86–9, 90, 91
Henry II, King, 232
Hereford, 199, 226
Hertford, 226
Higbald, Bishop, of Lindisfarne, 30–1
High Middle Ages, 324
Hilton of Cadboll stone, 54–6
historical record, xviii, xx; absence of Viking written sources, 13; Annals of St-Bertin, Frankish, 247, 253; Annals of St Neots, 212; Annals of Ulster, 246, 248, 285, 286; and battle of Brunanburh, 284–5; British written sources, 13; Chronicles of the Kings of Alba, 285; early vernacular written records, 7; Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, 279; Frankish Royal Annals, 69, 71; geographical origins of Vikings, 14–15, 66–7; lack of detail in Scotland, 245–6; Scotland in, 282–3; see also Anglo-Saxon Chronicle; Asser, bishop of Sherborne
hogbacks, 250–1, 251, 252, 254, 262
hólmgang (ritual duel), 215–16, 217, 222–3
Holy Roman Empire, 67–72, 75–6
homosexuality, 153–4
horned helmet myth, 37–8, 44
Howard, Robert E., ‘The Dark Man’ (1931), 36
Hrothgar, legendary Danish king, 4, 22, 34
Hughes, Thomas, Tom Brown’s School Days, 127, 134
Hunterston Brooch, 253–4
Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire, 227
Hywel, king of the West Welsh, 282
Iago ab Idwal Foel of Gwynedd, 309
Iceland, 242; Althing (‘parliament’), 217, 218; earliest law codes, 153; Thingvellir, 217–18
Icelandic sagas and histories, 13, 40, 117–18, 150–1, 218
Inchmarnock, island of the Clyde, 58–60, 62
India, 9
industry and mining, 89, 201, 295
Ine, King of Wessex, 3, 9, 22, 95
Ingeld, king of the Heathobards, 34
Ingimundr, Viking leader, 278–9
Inishmurray, Co. Sligo, 51
Iona, 12, 51, 62, 81, 245
Ipswich, 32, 79, 199, 313, 316
Ireby, Cumbria, 243
Ireland: abduction for slave trade from, 63; early Viking raids, 51, 62, 81; Fragmentary Annals of Ireland, 279; hybridized Norse–Gaelic culture, 252–4; inter-kingdom warfare, 64; Olaf Guthfrithsson in (920s), 283; Olaf’s raids, 248; Uí Ímair dynasty, 225; Viking expulsion from Dublin (902), 225, 278; Viking winter camps (longphuirt), 200
Irish chronicles, 63
Iron Age hill-forts, 12, 170–1, 173, 198
Iron Age tribal groupings, 11
Isle of Man, xix–xx, 12, 108, 219, 220–1, 243, 244–5, 256–8, 261, 262, 265–7, 341
Isle of Sheppey, 82
Isle of Wight, 303, 304
Ivar the Boneless (son of Ragnar Loðbrók), xvi, 110–12, 118, 123, 124, 158, 225, 248–9
Jarrow, 51
John of Worcester, 3, 120, 147, 284–5, 291, 313, 328, 331
Jörmungandr (‘mighty-wand’), 103, 104
Jutes, 32–3
Jutland peninsula, 33, 68, 69, 326–7
Kelvin, Lord Smith of, 58
Kenneth II, King of Scotland, 309
Kent, 6, 9, 82, 90, 183; men of Kent at ‘the Holme’ (902), 213–14, 215, 216, 223
Kit Hill (Hengestdun), Cornwall, 86–9, 90, 91
Kitchener, Horatio Herbert, 44
Kitchin, G. W., 237, 241
Lachish, siege of (701 BC), 119
Lake District, Cumbrian, 233, 234–5, 237
Lakenheath, Suffolk, 215
landscape, xvii–xviii, 5–6; Alfred at Athelney (878), 163–5; and Alfred’s battles, 135–6, 138–40, 173–5; Coniston Old Man, 239–41; the Fens, 214–15; house at Borg on Vestvågøy, 72–5, 77; Kit Hill, Cornwall, 87–9, 90, 91; modernity’s alienation from, xviii; Northey Island, Essex, 313–14; and oral narrative, 16–19; the Ridgeway, 137, 138, 303–4, 306, 307; Salisbury Plain, 170–3; Seven Barrows, Wiltshire, 306–7; Somerset Levels, 214–15; and things, 217–21; Thingvellir in Iceland, 217–18; see also geographical knowledge; maps
Lang, Andrew, ‘The Story of Sigurd’ (1890), 92, 105–6
language, xviii–xix; Celtic (Common or Old Brittonic), 6, 10, 11, 41; Cleasby–Vigfusson English–Icelandic dictionary, 237; German revolution in philology, 42; Latin, 6, 11, 19, 58, 122, 131, 181, 182, 206, 214, 324; Ogham (Celtic alphabet of hatch-marks), 265; Old Norse, 39, 41–2, 161, 162, 230–1, 233, 237, 265, 337; ‘Pictish symbols’, 11–12, 54–5; runic script, 13, 39, 47, 60, 155, 265, 334; and scholarly debate over settlement, 230, 233
law and justice see political, social, legal and economic systems
Leicester, 226, 227, 288
Lejre, Denmark, 75
Lenin, 127
Leo III, Pope, 67
Lewis, C.S., 176
Lincoln, 199, 232, 288
Lincolnshire, 147–8, 200–1, 202–3, 207, 232
Lindisfarne, 7, 26–8, 51, 167, 272, 275, 290; carved tombstone from, 29–30; Viking raid on (793), 26, 28–31, 51
Lindsey, Lincolnshire, 147–8
literature, xvii; Anglo-Saxon verse, 103; Armes Prydein Vawr (Welsh poem), 283, 284; The Battle of Brunanburh (Old English poem), 291, 305, 317; The Battle of Maldon (poetic fragment), 314–17; Codex Regius, 151, 152; Cotton library, 315; crow and raven, wolf and eagle, 305–6; Egil’s Saga, Arinbjarnakviða, 288, 293–4; Eiríksmal, 300–2; eulogies and praise-poems, 300–2; Flóamanna saga, 215; Frithiof ’s Saga, 44; Grímnismál (poem), 151, 300; Gylfaginning (Snorri Sturluson), 264, 265, 268, 300; Hávamál (poem), 110; Heimskringla (Snorri Sturluson), 117–18, 292; Icelandic, 13, 40, 117–18, 150–1, 215–16, 218, 343; Knútsdrápur, 111–12; Kormáks saga, 215–16; Krákumál (poem), 101–2, 109; Maxims II (poem), 103; Nibelungenlied (Old High German epic), 105; Norwegian ‘synoptic histories’, 298–9; Óláfs saga Helga, 222; Old English poetry, 21–2, 77–8, 103; Old Norse, 215–16; Old Norse poetry, 39, 77–8, 111–12, 140–1; Old Norse saga, 98–102, 103–9, 110–12, 115, 238, 242–3, 292, 299; Orkneyinga saga, 115, 243; Passio Sancti Eadmundi (Abbo), 122–5; Prose Edda (Snorri Sturluson), 150–1; The Seafarer, 21; skaldic verse, 39, 77–8, 111–12, 317, 335; theme of diabolical North, 23, 24–6; Þrymskviða (‘the Song of Thrym’) (poem), 151–2, 154, 155; Völsunga saga (Old Norse epic), 105, 108, 109; Völundarkvida, 140–1; Völuspá (eddic poem), 51, 256, 263–5, 268–9; The Wanderer, 21; Widsith, 34; and the world ‘outside’, 21–3; Y Gododdin (Old Welsh poem), 77; see also Beowulf
Llanbedrgoch, Anglesey, 52, 244
Lochobar, 12
Lofoten Islands, 72–5
Loki (trickster god), 104, 151, 152, 154, 264, 265, 268
London (Lundenwic), 189–90, 197, 199; Alfred’s occupation of (886), 190; capitulation to Svein (1013), 324; first Viking raids (842, 851), 92; St Paul’s Cathedral, 334, 337; Viking army at (872–3), 147; Viking burning of (982), 313
long barrow tombs, 138–40, 141, 171–3, 306
Lydford, Devon, 39
Máel Finnia, son of Flannácan, 278
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, xx, 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, xviii, 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, xvii, 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, xviii, 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, xviii–xix; 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, xix, 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 population 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, xvi, 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, xix, 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, xvii, 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, xix, 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, xvi, xvii, xix; 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, xix, 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, xvi, 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., xvii, 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, xvi, xvii, 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, xviii
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, xvi, 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, xv–xvi, xviii, 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
Vikings: Life and Legend exhibition, British Museum, xv, 250
Völsunga saga (Old Norse epic), 105, 108, 109
Vortigern, King, 32, 90
Wagner’s Ring cycle, 44, 105, 107, 302
Wales, 11, 41, 189, 244, 245, 279, 310; Athelstan demotes kings of, 282, 283; four main kingdoms, 10–11; Hen Ogledd (‘the Old North’), 34–5
Walker, Thomas, 155–6, 157
Wallingford, 197, 198
Wantage, 173
Wareham, Dorset, 165, 197
warfare: Anglo-Saxon raising of armies, 168–70; battle at Ashdown (Æscesdun) (870), 130–4, 135–7, 143, 177, 178; battle at Corbridge (918), 278, 279–80; battle at Edington (878), 170, 171, 173–5, 176, 177–9, 182, 191–2; battle at Reading (870), 128–9; battle at ‘the Holme’ (902), 213–14, 215, 216, 223; battle of Brunanburh, 284–6, 287; battle of Maldon (991), 22, 313–18; battle of Tettenhall (Wednesfield) (910), 224, 225, 278; battles of 1016 period, 330, 331–3; capture of York (866–7), 96, 97–9, 109, 111–12, 116–17, 118–19, 272; Carhampton (836), 82–3, 85–6, 91, 96; and Charlemagne, 67–9, 75–6; helmets, 38, 44, 84–5; hubs for military assembly, 168; iconic battle-sites in Norway, 46–7; inter-kingdom in Britain, 64, 82, 94, 192–3, 213; Kit Hill (Hengestdun) (838), 86–7, 88, 90, 91; Scandinavian double-handed axes, 337–8; second battle of Carhampton (843), 93, 96; ‘shield-wall’, 83–4, 131; siege warfare, 119–21, 128, 165, 197; size of Viking armies, 95–6; Viking defeat at ‘Cynwit’, 167–8; Viking use of fortifications, 119, 121; Viking victories in 871 battles, 143; Vikings and pitched battles, 93, 94; Vikings and ‘rules of’, 94–5
Watchet, Somerset, 226, 313
Wayland (legendary smith), 139–41
Wayland’s Smithy, Ashbury, 138–40
wealth: acquisition of in Viking Age, 77–9; concept of in Viking Age, 77–8; Dublin and York route, 280–1; gift-giving in early Middle Ages, 77–8, 184; liturgical metalwork, 53, 59–62; and loyalty, 72, 77, 78; luxury goods, 77–8; precious metals, 202–3, 208, 253, 280–1, 318; Viking slave-trade, 44, 62–5, 79, 201
Weardbyrig, 226
Wearmouth-Jarrow, 7
weights and measures, 202–3, 309
Wessex: Æthelwold’s incursion to Braydon (902), 213; Alfred’s exile at Athelney (878), 163–5, 166–7, 168; battle at Aclea (851), 93; battle at Carhampton (836), 82–3, 85–6, 91, 96; battle at Kit Hill (838), 86–7, 88, 90, 91; battle at Reading (870), 128–9; campaigns against Northumbria (909–10), 223–5, 278; dominance in post-910 period, 225–8; dynasty restored under Edward the Confessor, 337, 341; as earldom of Cnut, 336; first arrival of Vikings, 1, 3, 4–5, 10, 12–13, 14–15; increased Viking attacks from 830s, 92–3; shift of power towards, 82; submission of to Guthrum (878), 166; torrid eighth century, 9–10; Viking army moves into (876), 165–6; Viking defeat at ‘Cynwit’, 167–8; Viking invasion of (870), 127–31; see also entries for individual kings and places
Western Isles, 12, 51, 243, 337, 341
Westness cemetery, Rousay, 261, 262
Wicga’s Barrow, battle at (850), 93
Wicken Fen, Cambridgeshire, 215
Wigingamere, 226
Wiglaf, King of Mercia, 147
Willington, Derbyshire, 146
Wilton, battle at (871), 143
Wilton diptych, 125
Wiltshire, 166
Wimborne, Dorset, 211–12
Winchcombe, 199
Winchester, 197, 307, 324, 337; royal burials at, 338–9
Winchester Cathedral, 339–40
Wirral, 219, 284
Wise, Francis, 139
Witham, Essex, 226
Wodehouse, P.G., 47
women: abducted as slaves, 63; role in pagan Viking world, 61–2, 256–8, 261–2; and Thor cult, 155
Wulfstan, Archbishop of York, 39, 192, 303, 311, 312
York, 29, 79, 199, 232, 272, 273, 290; Athelstan at (927), 281–2, 283; Coppergate excavations, 84; Svein Estridsson’s capture of (1069), 342; Eric Bloodaxe at, 293–4, 295, 297; Olaf Guthfrithsson in (940), 288, 289; tenth century growth of, 295–6; Viking capture of (866–7), 96, 97–9, 109, 111–12, 116–17, 118–19, 272; Viking Jorvik, 294–6
York Minster, 276, 294
Yorkshire, 222, 250–1, 252, 293–4, 302