When did the Vikings attempt to invade Britain and where? Which were successful?

Answer 1

There are notations of Viking raids in Britain since the days of the Romans. However, widespread invasions leading to colonization didn't begin until the 6th century.

By the 8th century, the Danes were well embedded in East Anglia, and the territory was known as the "Danelaw" (Dane Law). After Alfred the Great, the Viking influence rapidly declined, and the remaining Danes were rapidly incorporated into the Anglo Saxon blood lines.

Answer 2

They attempted many times from AD 750 until 1066.
Canute suceeded, he became king of England, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Later the Saxons drove the Vikings out.
The last time the Vikings tried to invade was 1066. Hadraada invaded Northern England and was defeated by the Saxon king Harold.
At Hastings the Normans invaded. They were also Vikings, descended from Scandinavian settlers given parts of Northern France by the Frankish king. They defeated Harold's army, killed him by hitting him in the eye with an arrow, then 4 Norman knights finished him off.
William the Bastard (the illegitimate son of a tanner) the Normans' leader, became King William I of England, known as the Conqueror.

Answer 3

This requires a long answer. Much of our information about the Vikings in Britain is unreliable as it comes from sources written long after the Viking invasions, for example the 'Anglo-Saxon Chronicles', and was generally written by those who didn't see eye-to-eye with the Vikings.

It is generally accepted that the first sighting of Viking forces in England was in AD 787 off of Portland, south Dorset coast. For the next hundred years the Vikings mounted numerous incursions in to England in an attempt to assert power and integrate themselves in to the existing society- NOT totally destroy it, as is commonly believed, although they did form a great army, or 'Michel Here', which later divided in two.

The English towns of York, Lincoln, Norwich, Derby and to a lesser extent Wareham and Exeter all have Viking histories and very good museums, if you are wanting to research further- feel free to email me too.

As a postscript, it is worth noting that the word 'Viking' is actually a modern invention, and was not used by them or even their enemies at the time; they were usually referred to as 'Danes', although many actually came from Norway.

I hope this helps- combined with the answer on Scottish history above you have a good preliminary study base, although Ireland, Man and Francia are other territories also affected by the Viking peoples.

Answer 4

The Vikings mainly attacked the north of Britain, Danes mainly England. They were all successful to an extent - it depends on how you define success. If raping and pillaging is your definition, then yes, they were successful. If you are talking about assimilation into society (or societies at the time), then I can't say much about England, but in Scotland, they were successful. Especially in the north like Orkney/Shetland - you just have to hear how they speak and look at the names of the people living there. It's very Norwegian. Also, Orkney and Shetland was still part of Norway until the 1460s, when they were given back to Scotland as part of a dowry for Margaret, wife of James III. This was never repaid. If you also look at oral accounts of the period, such as the sagas, it will give a good impression of this as well. Be warned though, take these with a pinch of salt as some were not even written until the 13th century and contain at least 400 years of oral tradition! In Scotland, this period was mainly 6th/7th centuries up until the 13th century, the former half being raping and pillaging and the latter a process of assimilation. Both very interesting.

Answer 5

ususally the first viking raid, is attributed to the raid on the monastery, at lindisfarne, in the northumbria area, i.e north of england. This event happened, in 793.
However, if you want to be really anally retentive about it, you would have to say, that it happened properly in the middle eigth century, with the arrival of 'the great army' under its king from denmark Cnut.
The earlier replies, that state 'after the roman period, arent answering your question. Whilst there was migratory activity, from scandinavia, predominantly in around the fifth and sixth centuries, these peoples are NOT referred to in history, as the 'vikings' they were a mixture of saxons from northern germany, angles from norway, and jutes from the jutland area.
So to recap, the first raid (on lindisfarne) was just that, and in terms of its objective, it was successful - fuelling many more raids on nearby monasteries, Iona, and Jarrow for example. This then lead to raids all over the british isles.
The second part, the arrival of the great army, this was partially succesful. At its height, the danelaw, was a huge area of england, with the saxon kings forced to retreat right into the somerset marshes to evade capture. However, the massive danelaw was eventually all but won back, not so long later, and certainly by the battle of hastings, the whole of england, was under the control of the saxon royal house of wessex.
However, the vikings have left an indelible mark, upon this land, and for that reason alone, they were in many peoples views, successful.

Answer 6

William the Conqueror, a Viking King who ruled northern part of France, invaded Britain and became a king himself...yes, it was very successful since whole England bowed on his knees

Answer 7

Viking raids on England started in the late 8th century. Sporadic raiding gradually turned to larger-scale assaults, as war-bands amalgamated, and these took on a more political aim. Over-wintering in defended camps, the control of extensive areas of land, and the extraction of 'protection money' (the so-called Danegeld) became characteristic of Viking activity in England.
In 878 Alfred had to concede the northern and eastern counties to the Vikings, where their disbanded armies settled, created new settlements and merged with the local populations. Lincoln, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Leicester became important Viking towns within The Danelaw (or 'Scandinavian England'), while York became the capital of the Viking Kingdom of York which extended more or less over what we call Yorkshire.

At one point half of England was Viking land. Take a loook at the site below...

Answer 8

Its a myth that the Vikings 'invaded' Britain, in the main they where colonisers who came to farm the land.
Many British place names have viking roots, Kirkby or Kirby for example means 'by the church' and has viking origins.
Yes there where raids, and St Davids Cathedral in wales is situated where it is so that it could not be seen from the sea.
The main battle was at Stamford Bridge in 1066 when Harold (good British name that!) defeated his brother Tostig and Harald Hadrada, then having to march to Hastings to fight another blood relation William (the Conqueror), from the area of France colonised by Vikings, Normandy (nore man)

Answer 9

The Swedes and the Danes secretly believe that it was their raids... and their genes mixed with the British... that took the native population out of their dull lethargy and made us the vibrant energy, confident, exploring people that we were to become.

Answer 10

Surbiton, last weekend at the jazz festival. We drank them under the table.