Introduction

There can be few historical-cultural groups that are viewed more romantically by the British public than the Vikings. From the Victorian vision of noble warriors invading the British Isles (even Queen Victoria was claimed to have descended from them) to the Viking re-enactor groups today, they are a much celebrated part of our nation’s heritage. Representations are embedded in our modern culture on, among other items, the emblem on the front of Rover cars, beer labels (there is even ‘Viking beer’) and hotel signs. And a quick flick through the history documentaries on our television screens proves that the fascination with Vikings continues unabated.

The Vikings arrived in Britain over a thousand years ago and, until recently, the evidence had come from the traditional sources of texts, archaeological and linguistic evidence, used to piece together information about their presence and influence in the British Isles. There are very few surviving local contemporary written accounts: the Vikings are mentioned in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle and Irish Annals and a handful of other sources. These speak of the first Viking contacts as ones of raiding: Wulfstan, the Anglo-Saxon Bishop of London in the late 10th century famously (in his Sermon of the Wolf) saw the Viking raids as God punishing the Anglo-Saxons for their sins (Smail and Gibson 2009). A shift towards trading, migration and later permanent settlement then took place in the mid-ninth century (Richards 2004). The settlers are thought to have integrated with the indigenous population and the influence of this Viking presence, particularly in parts of the country that were under the administration of the Vikings, survives today. Archaeologists find physical evidence of their settlement and daily lives, Scandinavian word elements pervade our language, and numerous place-names containing Scandinavian elements bear witness to the Viking settlers naming the landscape (Barber, et al. 2009). Indeed, many of our place names (such as those ending in - by, - thorpe, - toft and - thwaite) and words used in English today are Scandinavian in origin and in areas of the Danelaw, up to ~70% of major place names are Scandinavian in origin.