Viking Britain

Detail of a Viking helmet from grave one at Vendel, Uppland, Sweden. In the 860s and 870s, the Vikings would bring war to England’s four kingdoms on a massive scale. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

The great Viking terror: how Norse warriors conquered the Anglo-Saxons

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Cnut’s invasion of England: setting the scene for the Norman conquest

A portrait of Swein, king of Denmark and England, taken from one of his coins. (Getty Images)

1013: the year the Vikings conquered England

View across the river Clyde to Dumbarton Rock and the medieval Dumbarton Castle. (Photo by Martin W Holt via Getty Images)

History explorer: Alfred and the Vikings

The Abingdon Sword, an iron sword fragment and hilt found near Abingdon in Oxfordshire in 1874. The decoration on the sword hilt indicates this was a high status weapon dating from around AD 875. (Ashmolean Museum/Heritage Images/Getty Images)

Fighting the Vikings

Image of the Lindisfarne Stone from Holy Island, Northumbria. It shows seven warriors, possibly vikings. The Vikings’ first recorded raid on Lindisfarne took place in AD 793. (Photo by CM Dixon/Print Collector/Getty Images)

Why did the Vikings’ violent raids begin?