Chapter 29
Chapter 29 of History of the Norwegian People, Volume 1 by Knut Gershet. This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter 29, The Fall of the Kingdom of York. The last four years of King Alfred the Great's reign, 887-900, seemed to have been peaceful. The great army had disbanded, Hastings had retired into France, and the Vikings showed
no disposition to renew their attacks on Wessex. When King Alfred died, his son Edward was chosen king by the Witten, but Æthelwald, a son of Alfred's elder brother Æthelred, attempted to make good his claim to the throne. He was unable to cope with Edward, but fled to York, where he was hailed as king. This meant a renewal of war between the Danilog and the king of Wessex. King Æthelwald came
southward to Essex with a large Northumbrian fleet, and was joined by the Danes of East Anglia under their king, Errik. Mercia was ravaged, and the combined forces crossed the Thames into Wiltshire in Wessex. In the meantime, Edward had marched northward and attacked the Danish settlements. This compelled Æthelwald to return to defend his own dominions. A battle was soon fought in which Æthelwald and Errik both fell, and a treaty of peace terminated the war in 903.
In 910, hostilities were renewed, and Edward and his sister Æthelflaed undertook to conquer the whole Danerlog. The building of fortified strongholds, or bergs, which had been introduced by the Vikings, became a great feature in this war. Æthelflaed built a number of bergs along the borders, and the conquest was pushed steadily forward. By 919, the Chronicle tells us, King Edward was acknowledged as overlord by King Rogenwald of York, by Donald, king of the Welsh and Strathclyde, by Eldred of Bambro, and even by Constantine, king of the Scots.
Whether these kings really submitted to Edward may well be doubted, but Mercia was joined permanently to Edward's possessions. Edward died in 924, and was succeeded by his son Æthelstan, then over thirty years of age. King Sigtryg of York acknowledged himself the vassal of the new king, and received his sister in marriage. but he died the following year, and Æthelstan formally annexed Northumbria. The kings of Strathclyde in Scotland and many princes of Wales submitted to Æthelstan,
who now called himself Rex Totius Britanniae. Olaf Kvarn, the son of King Sigtryg, who had been living in Scotland, planned to recapture his father's kingdom. He gathered a large armament from all parts of the Viking dominions for an attack on Northumbria. His father-in-law, King Constantine III of Scotland, joined him.
Olaf Goodridsson of Dublin came with a large fleet. From the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and even from Brittany, forces were gathered. In 937, he sailed up the Humber with a large fleet and captured York. But King Æthelstan and his half-brother Edmund also gathered their forces, and many Norse Vikings joined the standards of the English king.
Among others, the great scald Egil Skála Grímsson from Iceland, and his brother Toralf. The latter fell in the great combat which Egil has described in his songs. The armies met at Brunnenberg, or Vainheide, as Egil calls it, and here was fought one of the most renowned battles in Viking times. From morning till evening the bloody struggle lasted.
Five kings and seven Viking jarls are said to have fallen. King Æthelstan was finally victorious. Olaf Goodridsson of Dublin fled back to Ireland with the remnant of his army, and King Constantine returned to Scotland. An old English poet has described the battle in a well-known song.
End of chapter 29
