Norsemen’s daring raid of the holy site of Lindisfarne in 793, kicked off the Viking era in Britain
EVIL portents in the year 793 preceded a seaborne raid of Lindisfarne, an island off the coast of the medieval Kingdom of Northumbria. It would mark the start of the Viking era in England.
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ACCORDING to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, the 9th century manuscripts chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons, there were evil portents in the year 793. The chronicle says that “immense flashes of lightning and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A Great Famine immediately followed”. Not long after, on June 8, “the raiding of heathen men miserably devastated God’s church in Lindisfarne island by looting and slaughter”.
Today marks 1225 years since the first major Viking raid in Britain. There had been other landings by Norsemen; in 789 some “Danes” had landed near Dorchester and killed a reeve (chief magistrate) who greeted them. But the attack on the abbey and Church of St Cuthbert of Lindisfarne, a tidal island off the coast of the Kingdom of Northumbria, northeast England, was seared into the consciousness of the Anglo-Saxons.
Alcuin, a Northumbrian scholar at the court of the emperor Charlemagne, wrote “ Behold, the church of St Cuthbert spattered with the blood of the priests of God, despoiled of all its ornaments; a place more venerable than all in Britain is given as a prey to pagan peoples”.
After Lindisfarne there were more raids by Norsemen, who saw the isolated monasteries as easy targets, rich with precious metals and gemstones in holy objects. They had their own pantheon of gods and cared nothing about how the site was sacred to the Anglo-Saxons.
The Lindisfarne raid, which changed the course of British history, was depicted in the first season of Vikings. Although the TV series depicted the raid led by Viking hero Ragnar Lodbrok (played by Australian actor Travis Fimmel), it is not known whether he took part in the raid but he and his sons came to be feared in Britain. Viking attacks increased and culminated in major invasions in the mid 9th century under Lodbrok’s sons.
The Norse were boat builders and plundered their way across Europe long before Lindisfarne, which became known as the “Viking Era”. But before the end of the 8th century, the Norse developed ships with a strong keel — the protruding structure on the hull running the length of the ship, which made the ship steadier and stronger, and better able to withstand the rough waters of the open ocean.
There is also evidence the Norse had advanced methods of navigation, including a compass made from a wooden disc with a small projecting spike in the centre that cast a shadow on markings around the rim allowing them to hold a steady easterly or westerly course.
It is not known why their raiding increased in the late 8th and early 9th centuries. It may have been a combination of the improved maritime technology and conditions in Scandinavia at the time, where land was limited and there was an excess of people looking for new lands.
The Norse never called themselves Vikings. The word came from their expression to go “a-Viking” meaning going on raids by sea, which was probably derived from Vik, the name of the bay now called Skagerrak, from where many Vikings left on their raids.
The Norse headed out in all directions, but some found their way to Britain. After finding easy pickings at Lindisfarne, which was not well defended, they attacked the monastery at Jarrow in Northumbria in 794. They were beaten but returned and looted it by stealth. In 795 they raided Jarrow again as well as Monkwearmouth as well as monasteries in Scotland and Ireland.
Raids turned into conquests.
In 820 they conquered the Isle of Man and by 851 had completed their conquest of Ireland. In the 840s and 850s Lodbrok is said to have conducted raids in Germany, France and in what is today England, until he was captured by King Aella of Northumbria, who, according to legend, threw Lodbrok into a pit of snakes, killing him.
In 865 Lodbrok ’s sons, Ivar the Boneless, Ubba and Halfdan (some legends include other sons Bjorn Ironside, Sigurd and Hvitserk), led the “Great Heathen Army” to attack Aella’s kingdom and exact revenge. They then went on to capture York in 866 which became a Viking stronghold for more than a century.
Alfred the Great halted the advance of the Heathen Army in 868 coming to an agreement with the Danes over territory. But this would lead to two centuries of conflict between Viking invaders and the Anglo-Saxons. At the beginning of the 11th century Sweyn Forkbeard invaded England and was crowned king in 1013. When he died in 1014 his son Canute fought to claim the throne in 1016, but his death in 1035 ended Viking rule.
However, in 1066 William of Normandy, the descendant of Vikings, defeated Anglo-Saxon and Viking claimants to become king of England.
Vikings: Season 5 Part I is available on Blu-ray & DVD on June 20.
Originally published as Norsemen’s daring raid of the holy site of Lindisfarne in 793, kicked off the Viking era in Britain
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