Eric Bloodaxe

I mentioned yesterday that the control of northern England passed in and out of Anglo-Saxon and Viking hands until finally the inhabitants themselves drove out the last Viking ruler in 954. That ruler was Eric Bloodaxe.

Details of Eric's life are few, and this has caused the sometime King of Northumbria in the 940s and 950s with an Eric of Norway mentioned in Norse sagas who ruled the Norwegian Westlands in the 930s. This possibly erroneous conflation of the two gives us a richer history, but cannot be proven. If true, however, then Bloodaxe is the son of Harald Fairhair and half-brother of Haakon the Good, and left the kingship of Norway to rule over northern England.

At least we have evidence of his status in England from the existence of coins minted during his reign. Shown are coins minted at York with "ERIC REX" on them, accompanied by a sword.

The epithet "Bloodaxe" comes from mentions by a Norse poet writing in the 900s, and is given to him because he supposedly slew his half-brothers to ensure his rule over Norway. Other poets and historians refer to him as a "brother killer" or simply the he was vicious as a Viking raider. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle omits "Bloodaxe" and refers to him simply as "Harald's son."

Let's talk about northern England. When Æthelstan died in 939, he was succeeded by his teenage brother Edmund. It seems that Olaf Guthfrithson almost immediately left Dublin to reclaim what he once claimed. He was joined by his cousin, Olaf Sihtricsson (known in Ireland and usually referred to in chronicles as Amlaib Cuarán). When Guthfrithson died in 941 or 942, Amlaib succeeded him. He had (for a time, at least) the support of Archbishop Wulfstan of York. Edmund then marched north and subdued Amlaib (and Wulfstan), and negotiated a treaty: Amlaib would be an ally and could hold onto Northumbria.

This second Olaf, however, was supposedly not as acceptable as the first, so Wulfstan and others helped drive him out in 952 and invited Eric from Norway to come and rule them. This is where he starts minting his own coins. Tomorrow we'll continue the back-and-forth possession of Northern England from Viking to Anglo-Saxon hands.

Æthelstan's Reign, Part 3

King Æthelstan (c.890s - 27 October 939) united England under a single ruler, prevented invasion, reformed the law, and donated to the Church. He did all the things you would want a leader to do, but of course, nothing lasts forever.

Æthelstan died almost exactly 40 years after the death of his grandfather, Alfred the Great. There is no particular reason given for his death. It is likely that, as a man in his 40s who had led armies through some fierce battles and pushed his body to its limits as the leader of a country, he was simply aged to the point where his body had enough. The fact that so many king's deaths raise the specter of poison, but not here, is telling that it seemed a natural death.

He was buried at Malmesbury Abbey. The 12th-century chronicler William of Malmesbury stated that the king had devotion to the memory of the 7th-century St. Aldhelm, but there may have been another reason. When Æthelstan first was crowned, he had an older sibling, Ælfweard, with a claim to the throne. Winchester—where Æthelstan's grandfather, father, and Ælfweard were buried—seems to have preferred Ælfweard over Æthelstan. Æthelstan might have avoided Winchester as part of a grudge.

With the king's death, the Viking king of Dublin, Olaf Guthfrithson, was chosen by York to rule them. The unification of northern England to the rest of the island was broken. It got worse: Olaf conquered the East Midlands as well. Upon Olaf's death in 941, Æthelstan's half-brother Edmund managed to regain control of the midlands in 942 and York in 944, but that victory was short-lived. Edmund died in May 946, and the Vikings once again took control of York.

I once wrote of Æthelstan as the Forgotten King. The truth is that we have little source material about his life. William of Malmesbury wrote about him long after his death, and his account is considered unreliable, but some historians argue that William must have had access to some lost biography. Still, the charters and coins give evidence of a very active king. Also, the illustration in yesterday's post was made in Æthelstan's lifetime, making his likeness one of the earliest contemporary portraits of an English king in existence.

Speaking of York: northern England swayed back and forth from Anglo-Saxon to Viking hands. Anglo-Saxon rule did not become permanent until the northerners decided to drive out their Viking rule themselves. Tomorrow we'll start the story of that Viking ruler, Eric Bloodaxe.

Vikings & Coincidence

These may be the remains of Olaf Guthfrithsson

Not historical coincidence; recent coincidence. In the post on Vikings in Ireland, just a few days ago, Olaf III Guthfrithsson was mentioned; he had been King of Dublin from 934 until 941, and also had brief periods of rule in parts of England. One day after that post, imagine my surprise when I see an article with the title "Skeleton Discovered May Be Viking King Olaf Guthfrithsson"!

An archaeological excavation conducted in East Lothian (Scotland) in 2005 turned up the remains of a young adult male surrounded by artifacts that suggest he was very important. One of those artifacts is a belt whose clasp is clearly of Viking design.

Accurate identification of the skeleton is probably not possible, suggesting that the headline of the article was designed to generate more interest than the actual find deserves. Although modern forensic science can determine a lot from medieval bones (also coincidentally discussed in this blog in a recent post), the best opportunity for identification of a specific person is genetic comparison of DNA in the remains with known modern descendants. In this case, we have no descendants of Olaf from whom we can get DNA.

Even without positive identification of Olaf, however, the find is worthwhile, as explained by Fiona Hyslop, the Cabinet Secretary for Culture and External Affairs:

"This is a fascinating discovery and it’s tantalising that there has been the suggestion that this might be the body of a 10th century Irish Viking king. Scotland and Ireland’s archaeological communities enjoy a close working partnership, and this find and subsequent research is of particular interest to both, further emphasising the myriad ways in which the two countries’ histories are entwined."

Vikings in Ireland

A sign of Viking presence in Ireland:
a Viking ship built in Dublin c. 1042

As alluded to in the post on King Edmund I, Ireland was the target of raids from Scandinavian countries almost as much as England. Based on hints in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, some believe the earliest raids took place in 795 at the island of Lambay off the coast north of Dublin. (In fact, "Lambay" is from Old Norse for "lamb island.")

There were, in fact, two separate periods of Viking incursion, separated by less than a single generation. The first was from 795 until 902, when (according to the Annals of Ulster, mentioned here) "The heathens were driven from Ireland." Those heathens (descendants and followers of Ivar the Boneless) seemed to hang about the Irish Sea, hassling Northumbria and Strathclyde. They returned to the mainland in 914, taking over Dublin.

Ireland was a good place from which to stage incursions into northern England. It was this clan of Ivar's that produced King Olaf III Guthfrithsson, who succeeded his father to become King of York and was driven out by King Edmund in 942.

Although typical Viking raids tended to plunder monasteries and towns and then depart, Ireland was good land for settlements. Viking and Irish intermarried, and produced a group now called "Norse-Gaels." Between the 12th and 14th centuries, the English referred to the Norse-Gaelic people living in Ireland as Ostmen, "East men," because of their origin in Scandinavia. They were considered ethnically and legally distinct from Irish, and lived in their own communities. The modern Oxmantown, now a suburb of Dublin, derives its name from Ostmentown, where Norse-Gaels lived outside of Dublin. According to a 2006 paper, Norse DNA is still found in the Irish population, especially in the areas of Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford.

Edmund I

from a genealogy of the kings of England

Edmund I
Edmund the Magnificent
Edmund the Just
Edmund the Deed-Doer

It isn't often that we run across an early king of England who had so much good will from his people, especially one who ruled for only a few years.

Edmund was the younger brother of Æthelstan (sometimes thought of as "the Forgotten King"), and grandson of Alfred the Great. He came to power when Æthelstan died in 939. Although Edmund was King of England for only a few years (he died on 26 May 946), he distinguished himself in the eyes of his people.

A national crisis is always a good reason for people to rally around their king. King Olaf III of Dublin invaded and conquered Northumbria and the Midlands during Edmund's reign, but Edmund succeeded in reconquering them in 942 and 943. Edmund also conquered Strathclyde in the north, but made a treaty with King Malcolm I of Scotland in which Malcolm got Strathclyde and Malcolm and Edmund became allies. Edmund also had good relations with Ireland, since he was godfather to King Olaf of York (not the same as the King Olaf mentioned above).*

He was married twice: first to Ælfgifu of Shaftesbury, by whom he had two children who would later become kings (Eadwig and Edgar, the father of Æthelred), and after her death to Æthelflæd of Damerham.

His death could probably have been easily avoided. While at church on 26 May, Edmund saw a thief who was supposed to be exiled. He attacked the thief, Leofa by name, who fought back and stabbed the king. Leofa didn't survive the encounter, either: he was attacked by the nobles present and killed. But the damage was done. Edmund died, leaving the kingdom to his brother, Eadred, who ruled for the next ten years, after which Edmund's sons succeeded him.

*You may guess that Ireland had a "Norse problem" just as England did.