The interval typically known as the ‘second Viking Age’ witnessed a brand new intensification of Scandinavian assaults on England, beginning with the English defeat on the Battle of Maldon in 991 and culminating, two and a half a long time later, within the Danish conquest. This turbulent period of Anglo-Scandinavian entanglement bequeathed to historical past a vibrant forged of characters, together with Svein Forkbeard, Cnut the Nice, Æthelred ‘the Unready’ and Emma of Normandy.
There may be one other determine whose position within the second Viking Age was equally pivotal: Thorkell the Tall. Arguably probably the most profitable viking of the early eleventh century, by the tip of his life Thorkell had performed a vital position within the Danish conquest of England and had made himself a strong magnate in Cnut’s North Sea empire.
The 990s noticed the primary assaults on England led by Scandinavian rulers. Particularly, Svein Forkbeard of Denmark’s damaging raids led the English below Æthelred to begin paying out huge sums of silver as tribute to would-be attackers. England had develop into a tempting goal for Scandinavian warleaders in quest of their fortune.
Thorkell launched his assault on England in 1009. His life earlier than this level is hazy. It’s unclear what his household origins might have been: whereas later sources declare that he was the son of an earl of Zealand, many historians regard this as a fabrication. Lots of the feats attributed to his youth, that are likewise solely attested in later sources, ought to nearly definitely be thought of legendary, together with his supposed participation within the battles of Hjörungavágr with the semi-legendary Jomsvikings and Svolder in opposition to King Olaf Tryggvason of Norway.
Thorkell’s arrival in England on the head of a viking military in 1009 is, conversely, properly attested within the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, in up to date Norse poetry and within the chronicle of the monk John of Worcester (d.1140). Thorkell’s military, these sources report, was a various amalgamation of smaller teams, together with a contingent from Norway led by the nation’s future patron saint, Olaf Haraldsson, in addition to fighters from Sweden. In accordance with John of Worcester, Thorkell’s military was additionally quickly joined by a Danish fleet led by commanders named Hemming and Eilaf.
For the following three years Thorkell’s military ravaged broadly by means of central, southern and japanese England. He gained a formidable victory in opposition to Ulfcytel, the chief thegn in East Anglia, and obtained a modest tribute of three,000 kilos of silver in Kent. In spring 1012 Thorkell’s military captured Archbishop Ælfheah of Canterbury. Though a truce had already been organized, involving a very large tribute of £48,000, a few of Thorkell’s males demanded to be paid a further private ransom for the archbishop. When Ælfheah refused to permit this, he was killed, evidently in a drunken brawl.
Though Thorkell’s culpability within the incident is unclear, Ælfheah’s homicide was a critical political blunder and made a martyr of the archbishop. Shortly thereafter, Thorkell’s patchwork military dispersed, and a brand new stage within the second Viking Age started: 45 ships below Thorkell’s management remained in England and – presumably sensing a chance to learn financially – entered the service of King Æthelred, supported by a brand new tax often called heregeld, or ‘military tax’.
Thorkell’s fleet was now being paid to shore up England’s ragged defences. The need of such a transfer would quickly develop into obvious. In summer season 1013 Svein Forkbeard returned to England. This time, nevertheless, he meant not merely to raid, however to overcome. Although Thorkell specifically put up a robust resistance, by the tip of the 12 months Svein had obtained the submission of your complete nation and compelled Æthelred into exile in Normandy. Solely Svein’s premature dying 5 weeks later allowed Æthelred to return and drive out Svein’s son Cnut, whom the Danish military had tried to raise in his father’s place.
Thorkell’s association with Æthelred apparently survived Svein’s invasion. In summer season 1014 Æthelred paid his fleet one other £21,000. Nevertheless, in September 1015 Cnut returned to England and as soon as once more pressured the English to undergo a Danish king. By April 1016 Æthelred was useless, and by the following 12 months Thorkell had been established because the earl of East Anglia, one of the distinguished males in Cnut’s England, whose title appeared as the primary witness to lots of Cnut’s early diplomas.
When did Thorkell enter Cnut’s service? Did he proceed to serve Æthelred till his dying, or did he sooner or later abandon Æthelred to serve Cnut? The query has divided historians. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is silent on the matter and the Encomium Emmae Reginae, written on the behest of Emma of Normandy – spouse of each Æthelred and Cnut – within the early 1040s, is deeply unreliable. Nevertheless, the percentages appear good that Thorkell performed a essential position in Cnut’s marketing campaign. He and Cnut are co-subjects of a Norse reward poem celebrating Cnut’s seize of London in 1016, and it’s evident that Cnut confirmed Thorkell vital honour as he labored to consolidate his rule over England in 1017. Thorkell spent the remainder of his life in Cnut’s service, except for a short interval of exile. By the point he died, in all probability round 1023, Thorkell had been made governor of Denmark and guardian of Cnut’s son.
Over the course of 14 years, Thorkell had elevated himself from a viking commander to a terrific man of two realms. A mere two centuries later, nevertheless, he had handed practically totally out of historic reminiscence. Whereas he seems in passing in some late-Twelfth- and Thirteenth-century sagas, his title is hardly to be discovered within the magisterial histories of Angevin England. Plainly Thorkell was considerably overshadowed by the formidable princes of his period who relied on historical past writing to authentic their campaigns. What is evident is that Thorkell performed a vital position within the reshaping of energy in England within the a long time earlier than the Norman Conquest. With out the navy may Thorkell and his military supplied Æthelred and Cnut, England’s tumultuous eleventh century might have appeared very totally different.
Elizabeth Hasseler is a historian of medieval Scandinavia. She earned her PhD from the College of North Carolina.
