How Not to Fight the Vikings: The Invasion of Maldon, 991 AD
By: Phil Hurst
Tags: War, England, History, Nonfiction, Vikings

Photo by Victor B. on Unsplash

When thousands of Vikings raided the British coast in 991 AD, they were expecting to dominate its badly organised inhabitants. However, a poorly chosen landing point stranded them on a small island while the British gathered on the opposing shore. Defeat looked certain, that is, until the local Anglo-Saxon leader made a fatal decision.

This battle remained as an important part of history due to an Old English poem. This poem’s purpose was to be a warning about the viciousness of the Viking threat and, also, a moral tale about the destructive nature of pride.

The Viking threat

At the end of the tenth century, Viking raids from Denmark were a curse on the British eastern coast. The raiders utilised the area as a hunting ground, subduing local opposition and ripping the heart out of villages and towns along the way.

Britain, which was a patchwork of Anglo-Saxon territories led by King Æthelred the Unready, could not put together any kind of organised defence. Coastal residents lived in constant fear, as their masters quarrelled about how to deal with the threat. When the Vikings came, some paid them off and some ordered their servants and armies to fight to the death. The chosen method depended on the landowner and its success depended on the mercy of the invaders.

In 991 AD, the Viking fleet set sail, led by Olaf — it’s unclear which Olaf but it could have quite possibly been Olaf Tryggvason, King of Denmark — with thousands of men — estimates vary between 2,000 and 4,000 — eager to take advantage of their Anglo-Saxon neighbours. The raiders worked their way downwardly throughout the coast, looting Ipswich, Sandwich and other coastal villages. Their final stop was Maldon, a town in what is now the English county of Essex (although, at that time, it was its own kingdom).

As they moved up the estuary, approaching the town, the local Earl, Byrhtnoth, ordered them to halt or pay a levy to go further.

Landing at Maldon

The Vikings beached their boats and jumped off, eager to teach Byrhtnoth a lesson for his lack of respect and claim the spoils a victory would certainly bring them.

The Anglo-Saxon faction was composed of a collection of villagers, farmers, and servants. Estimates of the number of people on the British side vary, but this was not an organised force. These men were not soldiers, they were farmers and labourers, untested in battle and untrained. Byrhtnoth sent a messenger to the king, telling him of the incursion and his intention to fight them off. There would be no payment for the invaders.

The Vikings planned their attack. There was no possibility of this confrontation ending in anything other than a bloodbath.

Then the tide came in.

The causeway

Unbeknown to the Anglo-Saxons, the Vikings had come ashore in a small island in the estuary, Northey Island. Although this island was connected to Maldon it was only accessible via a narrow causeway when the tide was low.

The causeway was small: men could only cross three at a time or risk getting trapped in the mud. Either side of the causeway was composed of deep, impassable mud. The Vikings could not cross the mud without sinking or risking getting stuck in a position in which they would certainly drown when the next tide came in.

The defenders placed their best men on the causeway in an attempt to deter the invaders and lined the bank with archers. Any advance would mean death for the Vikings, even with their superior fighting skills, the men in the back would be picked off by the archers while the ones in the front fought for their lives. It was likely that casting enough Vikings at the defenders would eventually cause a break in their defenses, but that would cost many men their lives.

Olaf was either faced with a humbling retreat or a disastrous assault.

So he decided to shout.

The bargain

The distance to the mainland wasn’t great. The Viking invaders could shout to the British defenders and soon they entered into dialogue. Olaf threatened Byrhtnoth with destruction unless he paid a ransom. The Vikings were not there to capture or hold territory. Their only aim was to cause trouble, and it would continue to be so until they were paid.

Byrhtnoth was incensed. How dare they invade and threaten his land? He told them no — he would not facilitate any such payment. If they wanted money, they would have to take it.

Olaf pleaded his case. Could Byrhtnoth not see that it was not fair to fight like this? It wasn’t… noble.

So Byrhtnoth agreed that the Vikings be let across the causeway.

The previously mentioned poem states that it was ofermōde that caused Byrhtnoth to let the Vikings cross. This is a word that is difficult to translate, having no modern English equivalent, however, looking at the translation by J.R.R. Tolkien (yes, that Tolkien) it could be described as overmastering pride.

Byrhtnoth not only wanted to prove that his army could beat the Vikings, but he wanted to do it in such a way that it would halt any further debate about paying the Viking raiders off. It was to be a decisive victory, nothing less. He must have been rather confident in his group of farmers and servants because not only did he let Olaf cross, but he also allowed the invader army to have time to get ready for battle.

A statue of Byrhtnoth in Maldon, UK. Oxyman / CC BY-SA (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)

The defeat

The battle didn’t go well for the British. The Vikings were stronger and better equipped for a battle, and now that their terrain advantage was gone Byrhtnoth and his troops were doomed.

Different sources describe the fight in different ways, with some highlighting the overwhelming odds, some cheering the bravery of the defenders, and some describing the toll the Anglo-Saxons took on the attackers. The outcome, however, is always the same: the British fled, Byrhtnoth died at the hands of a Viking raider, and Olaf conquered Maldon.

The tax

It is rather ironic that Byrhtnoth’s death prompted the very thing that he was trying to prevent. With Vikings now entrenched on British soil, King Æthelred had little choice. He paid Olaf off with 3,300 kg of silver and the Vikings left.

To stop the Vikings from continuing raids against his country, Æthelred initiated what is thought to be one of the world’s first land taxes and, each year, he would pay the Danish king to protect his country from attack.

Maldon was a decisive battle in the ongoing hostilities between the Vikings and Anglo-Saxon Britain. The poem would later become famous and, although it may not be a perfect record what actually went on, it remains a fascinating window into the relationship between the Vikings and their victims.