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The Viking Invasion787

Who were the Vikings?Vikings were Scandinavian raiders who suddenly appeared in World History.

Viking was actually a verb that meant Raiding. The Anglo-Saxons called them Danes.

Beginning in the late eighth century, Vikings attacked countries across Europe.

At rst, Vikings were looking for gold and slaves.

The Viking LongshipThe key to Viking terror and success was their longshiptheir stealth weapon.

The longship was engineered for speed, but it was remarkably seaworthy.

The longship had a shallow draft allowing it to beach on the shore or move move into shallow rivers.

The longship was symmetrical so that raiders did not have to turn the boat around to leave a narrow river.

The longship usually had a dragonhead on the bow. A Viking crew would remove the dragonhead if they

were peaceful.

Viking AttackA Viking attacked was designed to instill terror.

Their longships would appear all at once.

They attacked by screaming and jumping from the ship as it beached, or by sneaking ashore and attacking

by surprise.

They mercilessly killed anyone in their way. Then they burned what they didnt take.

They would surround a town and demand payment in return for not destroying the town and killing the

people.

The English called this payment Danegeld.

They would leave messages with hostages using them as targets or using the famous blood eagle form

of death.

Timeline of the Viking Invasion787rst attack on England in Dorset

793Vikings attacked Lindisfarne, killing the monks and burning the library.

By 800Vikings attacked Wearmouth, Jarrow, and Whitby.

Vikings begain to move inland and overpower the forces of Northumbria. Their capital was York (Jarvik).

Along with conquering Northumbria, they also conquered East Anglia, Essex, and much of Mercia.

871London captured.

The only signicant kingdom still in English hands was Wessex.

Opelika High Schoo

AP & Honors English 12

Anglo-Saxon History Note

Dr. Hannah

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Wessex871Alfred named King of Wessex

Over the next 13 years, Alfred waged war on the Vikings, sometimes winning, sometimes losing.

884Alfred defeats Vikings and together they create The Danelaw, the area of England controlled by

Viking rule. Alfred also regains control of London

The English Language Grows.

Many English towns within the old Danelaw still have Viking names ending in -by, -thorpe, -holme, or-kirk.

Many English towns within the old boundaries of Wessex still have Anglo-Saxon names ending in

-burgh, -ham, -stead, or -ton.

From the Vikings, we took most of our modern English words beginning with sk- or sc-.

All of our 3rd person plural pronouns are Norse.

Husband is Norse; wife is English.

Alfred the GreatAlfred created the rst organized English navy.

Alfred stopped the Danish invasion.

Alfred convinced separate English kingdoms to work together because they spoke the same language.

Alfred translated many works from Latin to English (Old English).

Alfred demanded that young men be taught to read and write English.

Alfred died in 899, the only English ruler the British have ever called The Great.