August 991
From Folkestone to the Blackwater
After a generation of peace, Viking raids on England resume in 980 and 982, and in 988 the thegns of Devon defeat a raiding force in a hard fight. In August 991 a much larger fleet arrives. Version A of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle names its leader Olaf, usually taken to be Olaf Tryggvason, and gives it 93 ships. Historians think Sweyn Forkbeard was probably among its leaders too.
The Battle of Maldon as imagined by Alfred Pearse for Hutchinson’s Story of the British Nation, 1922Wikimedia Commons, Alfred Pearse, Public domain (Alfred Pearseː Battle of Maldon in 991 (Hutchinson's Story of the British Nation, 1922).jpg)
By the Chronicle’s account the fleet ravages the country round Folkestone, goes on to Sandwich and from there to Ipswich, which it overruns. It then sails into the estuary of the Blackwater, then called the Panta, and occupies Northey Island below Maldon. Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex since 956 and one of the leading men of the kingdom, calls out his forces.
“Ego Byrhtnoth dux”, Byrhtnoth’s name among the witnesses of a charter of King Æthelred, 987Wikimedia Commons, unknown scribe, Public domain (Byrhtnoth's name in a charter of Æthelred the Unready.png)
Byrhtnoth’s army has two parts: his household troops, trained fighters bound to him, and the fyrd, the levy of Essex. The poem on the battle gives no numbers. Cyril Hart estimates about 300 household men and at most 700 levies, and modern estimates of the Viking army run from 2,000 to 4,000. The English ride to the battle and fight on foot.
Northey Island (left) and the mainland shore (top) from the air, joined by the causeway, 2010Wikimedia Commons, terry joyce, CC BY-SA 2.0 (Northey Island Essex.jpg)
Northey Island lies about 2 km east of Maldon and is joined to the south bank by a causeway, which the tide covers for up to three hours either side of high water. A study of 1973 puts the channel in 991 at about 110 m across, half its width today. The battle is dated 10 August by the calendar of Ely and 11 August by those of Winchester and Ramsey.
Sources
- Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, annal for 991 (993 in version A).
- Donald Scragg, The Return of the Vikings: The Battle of Maldon 991 (2006).
- Cyril Hart, The Danelaw (1992).
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