Читать книгу Paying the Viking's Price - Michelle Styles - Страница 3

AUTHOR NOTE

On 1st November 866, taking advantage of a Northumbrian civil war, part of the Great Viking Army led by Halfdan captured the Northumbrian capital of York. The capture was relatively bloodless as all the nobles were at York Minster, attending the All Saints service. By March 867 the Northumbrians had settled their differences and tried to retake the town. The town was sacked and the Northumbrians comprehensively defeated. Aella, one of the Northumbrian leaders, suffered a particularly horrific death—being made a blood eagle. However, he had slowly poisoned Halfdan’s father, if the saga is to be believed.

Halfdan and his warriors then left Northumbria to its own devices. In 876, after some unspecified disturbance, Halfdan decided to settle his warriors in the Yorkshire countryside. Up until this time the Vikings had mainly stuck to York. They settled as far north as the North Riding, rather than going up to what is now the county of Northumberland. There is a singular lack of Norse place names in Northumberland and Durham, so the conclusion is that they did not maintain permanent settlements.

The Vikings were not a literate people and left few written records—thus things can change as new evidence is uncovered. Late in 2011 a hoard of silver coins from the era was uncovered in Lancashire and revealed the existence of several Viking Northumbrian kings missing from the historical record. The Jorvik museum in York is well worth a visit. It is designed to be accessible to anyone from the age of five and up, and is dedicated to researching this highly interesting era.