10th June 2019 - Of Vikings and Wales...

Thought for the day :"If you lose a sock in the dryer – it will turn up as a Tupperware top that fits nothing"

A touch of history today.

THE VIKINGS IN WALES.

On 8th June 793, Norse longboats landed on the island of Lindisfarne in Northumbrian. They proceeded to plunder its monastery's relics and riches and brutally murder its monks. This event along with a Norse raid in 787 on the Isle of Portland off Weymouth in Dorset are generally considered to mark the beginning of the Viking Age in Britain.

The first recorded Viking raids on the Welsh coast was in 851/2. This was at this time when the Kingdoms in Wales were pressurised by the expansionist aims of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Wessex and Mercia. Through courageous defence and a series of alliances with both the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons, it would appear that the Welsh kingdoms managed to hold on to a considerable amount of autonomy and were not colonised to the degree that eastern England and Ireland were.

There are many place names of Norse origin particularly in coastal areas in Wales. Anglesey gets its name from Nordic Önguls-ey meaning the island of Öngul. Other names relate to sea navigational points, such as Worms Head on Gower Peninsula, worm being the Norse word for dragon, as the Vikings saw the peninsula as being shaped like a sleeping dragon, Great Orme near Llandudno from the Nordic orms-höfuth (snake’s head) and Stack Rock, in Pembrokeshire coming from stakk meaning pillar-shaped. Other names of Nordic origin refer to trading areas and minor settlements such as Swansea which is thought to have been established by Sweyne Forkbeard when shipwrecked there. Sweyns Ey, which means Sweyn's island in Norse refers to the area of the Tawe estuary. In Pembrokeshire, the names of the islands of Skokholm , Grassholm and Skomer are also of Norse origin.


Initially, Rhodri ap Merfyn (Rhodri Mawr - Rhodri the Great) ruler of Gwynedd (844-78) was instrumental in repelling Viking raids and preventing them from gaining a foothold in Wales. He won a significant victory in 856 in which the Danish King Gorm was killed and repelled two further raids in 872.

The period following Rhodri's death in 878 was when Alfred the Great King of Wessex began the process wrestling the control of Anglo-Saxon England from the Vikings and in 893, forces from Gwent, Glynwysing and Gwynedd fought with those from Mercia and Wessex to defeat a Danish army at the Battle of Buttington (thought to be near Welshpool). However, in 895 the Danes wintered in the Severn valley and launched raids into Brycheiniog, Gwent, Gwynllwg, Morgannwg and Buellt and following Alfred's death in 899, the Norse who had been expelled from Dublin embarked on a series of raids into Anglesey during which Merfyn ap Rhodri King of Powys, was killed c. 900.

In around 909, Rhodri's grandson, Hywel Dda became King of Seisyllwg (modern day Ceredigion and parts of Carmarthenshire). He was to become the ruler of most of Wales and maintained good relations with the subsequent Wessex and English kings, Edward the Elder, Athelstan, Edmund the Elder and Eadred who were involved in the reconquest of the parts of England under Viking control (Danelaw). This policy of diplomacy by Hywel also resulted in there being no significant Viking raids in Wales during his reign.

Following Hywel's death in 950, Viking raids became more numerous, especially on religious centres. Penmon on Anglesey and St David's were raided several times as was Clynnog Fawr (Caernarfonshire), Tywyn (Merionethshire), St Dogmaels (Pembrokeshire), Llanbadarn Fawr (Cardiganshire) and Llantwit Major and Llancarfan in Glamorgan. In 979 Hywel ap Ieuaf seized the throne of Gwynedd with the assistance of the Norsemen. In 987, Vikings seized 2,000 men from Anglesey and sold them as slaves and in 989, Maredudd ab Owain of Deheubarth, the grandson of Hywel Dda, was obliged to pay a tribute to the Vikings.

The Normans who themselves were descended from the Norse invaded England in 1066 and this brought new challenges to Wales. Gruffudd ap Cynan King of Gwynedd (1081 - 1137) was a major figure in the resistance to Norman expansionism in Wales. He himself was of Norse ancestry, his mother Ragnhilda was the daughter of Olaf Sigtryggsson, king of the Norse settlement in Dublin and where Gruffudd spent his early childhood. In 1073, Gruffudd made an attempt to take the throne of Gwynedd with assistance from the Norse of Dublin and another in 1081 in which he was successful, supported by the Norse from Waterford. In 1098, Hugh the Red, the Norman Earl of Shrewsbury. forced Gruffudd to flee Anglesey for Ireland. However, within a few days, Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway appeared with a fleet and during the ensuing battle, referred to as the Battle of Anglesey Sound, Hugh was killed, leaving the way open for Gruffudd to return.

This map can be disputed but has no real date upon it - but it is clear that it does not include Dunmonia and Cornwall is shown just as part of Wessex....

Cheers