HH337 England in the Viking Age (Spring AY2016)

No Horns on Their Helmets? Essays on the Insular Viking Age

American Historical Review, 2000

Vikings were Germanic raiders/traders, most of whom came from Scandinavia . In the ninth century, Norwegian and Danish viking bands ravaged (and settled in) Britain, Ireland and France, while Swedish vikings raided the Baltic coastline and established trading posts both there and in Russia (Novgorod, Kiev). Vikings fleets even went so far as to attack Italy and Constantinople in the mid ninth century. But who and what were "vikings." The meaning of the word 'viking' is obscure; some have derived it from the Norse word for fjords, others think that it refers to the men of the Viken region of Norway around Oslo, still others have argued that it meant pirate (its meaning in Anglo-Saxon). The Old English verb 'to go viking' meant to engage in piracy. Vikings are best thought of as pirate bands, not unlike the buccaneers of the Spanish Main in the seventeenth century. (Because "viking" is a description of a profession or activity and not a proper noun referring to a "people," the word ought not to be capitalized-although Microsoft Word disagrees!) Even to call vikings Scandinavians is misleading. Most Scandinavian free men did not go "a-viking," and not all vikings were Scandinavian. The 'nationality' of a viking warband was defined by its leaders. A "Danish viking fleet" meant that the captains of the ships were Danes. The members of a viking boat, however, could well be an ethnically heterogeneous lot. Medieval Irish sources, for instance, tell of 'Irish foreigners,' natives who decided to join viking armies, preferring the role of predator to prey.

This is a teaching document that I wrote for my war in the Middle Ages class. It summarizes my thoughts about the Viking wars in England. As I am currently preparing a revised edition of my biography of Alfred the Great and am writing a short biography of Æthelred the Unready for Penguin, I welcome comments and criticisms. I am particularly interested in recent trends in viking studies.

Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History 17, , 2011

Reassesses the role of King Alfred in the development of London in the ninth century. It explores the historical and landscape context of the political and strategic developments of which it was the centre, at a crucial juncture in the development of the West Saxon kingdom in relation to the Viking presence in Mercia and East Anglia.

Rounded Globe, 2019

In the realm of popular history, it’s common to hear the claim that Æthelred the Unready, King of the English, was a military failure in an age where kings had to be warriors. Due to the unflattering nickname (unraed actually means “poorly-advised”) and the Danish Conquest of England, it might seem that these critics have won the argument before it’s even started. That isn’t the case, though, as Bender’s research has found. This book seeks to redress King Æthelred’s military reputation, arguing that he was militarily prepared and often successful against his many enemies, including the Vikings. Tracking the king’s movement and activity over his 38-year reign, this book argues that Æthelred the Unready was anything but a battle-avoider. NOTE: The current file listed here corresponds to the book's printed form. Versions of this book downloaded prior to 14 August 2019 may have different page numbers. This book is available in ebook form, free of charge, on the Rounded Globe website. Its print form is available on Amazon.

An examination of the campaigns of Alfred the Great and how the Kingdom of Wesex responded to the Viking invasions of the ninth century.

Viking and Medieval Scandinavia 8, 2012