Hairy Breeches

ithout doubt, the most famous of the invading Vikings was Ragnar Lodbrok. A Norwegian who was associated with the ruling classes of Denmark at that time. A pirate almost from birth, he spent most of his life invading one country or another. He was given the name hairy breeches because of the trousers made from animal skin by his wife. By 845 he was a well established figure who was famous for his exploits. In that year, he invaded Paris, but was beaten back. Not to be outdone he turned his attention to England. He landed in Northumbria on the north east coast of England. Unfortunately he was captured by King Ella of Northumbria and thrown into a snake pit of adders, the only poisonous snake that exists in England. As he was slowly being bitten to death, he was alleged to have exclaimed " How the little pigs would grunt if they knew the situation of the old boar ". The story continues that when his four sons heard the manner of his death, Hvitserk, who was playing chess gripped the piece so hard that blood issued from his finger nails. Bjorn gripped his spear so tightly that he left an impression in it and Sigurd who was trimming his nails cut straight through to the bone. Only the fourth son, Ivor the boneless collected all the details of his fathers death and prepared their revenge. The custom known as blood red eagle was to cut the ribs of the victim out and the lungs removed by grasping them and spreading them over the body. This justice was allegedly carried out on King Ella. The story above as obviously been exaggerated but the consequences of Ragnar Lodbrok's death had serious consequences. Ivor The boneless was the mastermind behind the attacks on the mainland in the final quarter of the ninth century. In 866 he invaded East Anglia and the following year attacked York. He was aided by the internal struggle for power in Northumbria. With no fleet and no defences of note, the Vikings wintered in England and were reinforced by more of their kind. In 869 Edmund the last king of East Anglia was slain for not renouncing his faith. Mercia which had been the foremost power in the country since king Offa, reeled under the attacks. They appealed to Wessex for help. Wessex responded and Aethelred and the young Alfred marched to their assistance only to see the Mercians surrender to the invaders. Fighting almost alone, the Vikings were pushed out of Mercia. They retreated back to York. It was only a temporary peace. It was not long before they returned, regaining most of the ground that was lost by them. The only kingdom of the heptarchy left with any say in its own affairs was Wessex. Soon, it would be their turn to suffer the invaders might.