Around the time of Charlemagne's coronation as emperor, just when it seemed that Europe was on the road to safety and unification, yet another great threat appeared from the north. They came from Scandinavia— now Sweden, Norway, and Denmark— where the land was rough and rocky, and people lived on the edge of the sea. With the population growing and the land ever more scarce, they began sweeping over Europe, killing and marauding as they went. Frightened Europeans called them Northmen, Norsemen, or—using a word from the invaders' own language—Vikings.
On January 8, 793, Viking raiders destroyed the church at Lindis-farne off the coast of England—ironi-cally, one of the places where civilized learning had weathered the darkest years of the Middle Ages. In a further irony, Lindisfarne, Iona, and other scholarly centers now became bases for Viking raids throughout the British Isles. The marauders swept through Ireland, drawn by the gold and other wealth of its monasteries, and established colonies on the east coast. Among the latter was Dublin, which later became the Irish capital.
The Vikings were particularly savage in their attacks on Britain, so much so that the natives began uniting against them. This happened in Scotland, and again to the south, where attacks by the Danes helped produce the first true hero of English history. At first King Alfred (849-899) ruled only a small realm called Wessex; by 886, however, he had captured the city of London, and united all English lands that were not under Danish control. The Danes were pushed into the northeast of England, which came to be known as the Danelaw; thereafter, they became landowners and eventually melted into the population.
World History
