THE GREAT HEATHEN ARMY

In 865 a force landed in East Anglia such as England had never seen: the micel here, the "great army" the chronicles called heathen. It was no summer raiding band but a conquering army with families, captured horses and fortified camps. The sagas say it was led by Ragnar Lothbrok's sons (Ivar, Halfdan and Ubbe) avenging their father; history confirms at least its leaders and its effectiveness.

The advance was unstoppable: in 866 they took York, Northumbria's capital, and by legend executed King Ella with the blood eagle (see Myths). In 869 they killed King Edmund of East Anglia, later venerated as Saint Edmund the martyr. Only Wessex held: young King Alfred suffered defeat after defeat until in 878 he won at Edington. The treaty of Wedmore baptized chief Guthrum as a Christian and recognized the Danelaw, England's eastern half under Danish law.

The Danelaw lasted generations and left a permanent mark: the city of York (Jórvík) as Viking capital, hundreds of place names ending in -by and -thorpe, and English words of Norse origin like sky, window, knife or they. The Danish settlers became farmers, merchants and finally Englishmen. Without the Great Army today's English would not exist... nor the series telling it.