Daner
Encyclopedia
The Danes were a North Germanic tribe (East of the Rhine) residing in modern day Denmark. They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes' Getica
, by Procopius
, and by Gregory of Tours
.
In his description of Scandza
, Jordanes
says that the Dani were of the same stock as the Suetidi (Swedes, Suithiod?) and expelled the Heruli
and took their lands.
According to the 12th century author Sven Aggesen, the mythical King Dan
gave name to the Danes
.
The Old English
poems Widsith
and Beowulf
, as well as works by later Scandinavian writers—notably by Saxo Grammaticus
(c. 1200)—provide some of the references to Danes.
, the island of Zealand, and the southern part of present-day Sweden
. In the early 11th century King Canute
(died 1035) ruled Denmark and England
as a single realm for almost 20 years.
and Ireland
beginning about AD 800
and were gradually followed by a succession of Danish settlers. The Danes began settling England in 865
when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson
and Ivar the Boneless
wintered in East Anglia
. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria
in 867
as well as York
. The Danes invaded Ireland in AD 853
and were followed by Danish settlers who gradually assimilated with the local population and adopted Christianity.
The best known clan of Vikings was the Tilsted Clan. Its leader, Tilsted "The Grey", was one of Sweyn Forkbeard's most beloved chieftains. It was Tilsted who, in 991, led the fierce Danish assault at the Battle of Maldon
in Essex, which persuaded Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury to advise King Aethelred to buy off the Danes for the sum of ten thousand pounds.
Three years later in 994, Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Trygvason returned to lay siege to London. Though the raid was unsuccessful, according to legend it was the sight of Tilsted in the midst of the Viking army that convinced the Anglo-Saxons to buy off the Danes once again. The amount of silver paid impressed the Danes with the idea that it was more profitable to extort payments from the English than to take whatever booty they could plunder.
Tilsted stayed loyal to Sweyn Forkbeard and died in 1013, after having sailed up the rivers Humber and Trent with Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnute, for Sweyn to be accepted as king of the Danelaw. In Denmark, his sons raised a rune stone as a memorial at his homestead in Roskilde
.
Getica (Jordanes)
De origine actibusque Getarum , or the Getica, written in Late Latin by Jordanes in 551, claims to be a summary of a voluminous account by Cassiodorus of the origin and history of the Gothic people, which may have had the title "Origo Gothica" and which is now lost...
, by Procopius
Procopius
Procopius of Caesarea was a prominent Byzantine scholar from Palestine. Accompanying the general Belisarius in the wars of the Emperor Justinian I, he became the principal historian of the 6th century, writing the Wars of Justinian, the Buildings of Justinian and the celebrated Secret History...
, and by Gregory of Tours
Gregory of Tours
Saint Gregory of Tours was a Gallo-Roman historian and Bishop of Tours, which made him a leading prelate of Gaul. He was born Georgius Florentius, later adding the name Gregorius in honour of his maternal great-grandfather...
.
In his description of Scandza
Scandza
Scandza was the name given to Scandinavia by the Roman historian Jordanes in his work Getica, written while in Constantinople around AD 551. He described the area to set the stage for his treatment of the Goths' migration from southern Sweden to Gothiscandza...
, Jordanes
Jordanes
Jordanes, also written Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th century Roman bureaucrat, who turned his hand to history later in life....
says that the Dani were of the same stock as the Suetidi (Swedes, Suithiod?) and expelled the Heruli
Heruli
The Heruli were an East Germanic tribe who are famous for their naval exploits. Migrating from Northern Europe to the Black Sea in the third century They were part of the...
and took their lands.
According to the 12th century author Sven Aggesen, the mythical King Dan
Dan (king)
Dan is the name of one or more legendary kings of the Danes in medieval Scandinavian texts.-The Lejre Chronicle:The Chronicle of Lejre written about 1170 introduces a primeval King Ypper of Uppsala whose three sons were Dan, who afterwards ruled Denmark, Nori, who afterwards ruled Norway, and...
gave name to the Danes
Danes
Danish people or Danes are the nation and ethnic group that is native to Denmark, and who speak Danish.The first mention of Danes within the Danish territory is on the Jelling Rune Stone which mentions how Harald Bluetooth converted the Danes to Christianity in the 10th century...
.
The Old English
Old English language
Old English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
poems Widsith
Widsith
Widsith is an Old English poem of 144 lines that appears to date from the 9th century, drawing on earlier oral traditions of Anglo-Saxon tale singing. The only text of the fragment is copied in the Exeter Book, a manuscript of Old English poetry compiled in the late 10th century containing...
and Beowulf
Beowulf
Beowulf , but modern scholars agree in naming it after the hero whose life is its subject." of an Old English heroic epic poem consisting of 3182 alliterative long lines, set in Scandinavia, commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature.It survives in a single...
, as well as works by later Scandinavian writers—notably by Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus
Saxo Grammaticus also known as Saxo cognomine Longus was a Danish historian, thought to have been a secular clerk or secretary to Absalon, Archbishop of Lund, foremost advisor to Valdemar I of Denmark. He is the author of the first full history of Denmark.- Life :The Jutland Chronicle gives...
(c. 1200)—provide some of the references to Danes.
Viking Age
During the Viking period the Danes were based on the Jutland PeninsulaJutland Peninsula
The Jutland Peninsula or more historically the Cimbrian Peninsula is a peninsula in Europe, divided between Denmark and Germany. The names are derived from the Jutes and the Cimbri....
, the island of Zealand, and the southern part of present-day Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
. In the early 11th century King Canute
Canute the Great
Cnut the Great , also known as Canute, was a king of Denmark, England, Norway and parts of Sweden. Though after the death of his heirs within a decade of his own and the Norman conquest of England in 1066, his legacy was largely lost to history, historian Norman F...
(died 1035) ruled Denmark and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
as a single realm for almost 20 years.
Danelaw
Danes assaulted Great BritainGreat Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
and Ireland
Ireland
Ireland is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth...
beginning about AD 800
800
Year 800 was a leap year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. It was around this time that the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years, so from this time on, the years began being known as 800 and onwards.- Europe :* December 25 - Pope Leo III...
and were gradually followed by a succession of Danish settlers. The Danes began settling England in 865
865
Year 865 was a common year starting on Monday of the Julian calendar.- Europe :* Ethelred succeeds as king of Wessex .* Louis the German divides his kingdom among his sons....
when brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson
Halfdan Ragnarsson was a Viking chief and one of the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok with Aslaug. It has been suggested that Halfdan is the same person as Ragnar's son Hvitserk....
and Ivar the Boneless
Ivar the Boneless
Ivar Ragnarsson nicknamed the Boneless , was a Viking leader and by reputation also a berserker. By the late 11th century he was known as a son of the powerful Ragnar Lodbrok, ruler of an area probably comprising parts of modern-day Denmark and Sweden.-Invader:In the autumn of AD 865, with his...
wintered in East Anglia
East Anglia
East Anglia is a traditional name for a region of eastern England, named after an ancient Anglo-Saxon kingdom, the Kingdom of the East Angles. The Angles took their name from their homeland Angeln, in northern Germany. East Anglia initially consisted of Norfolk and Suffolk, but upon the marriage of...
. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured Northumbria
Northumbria
Northumbria was a medieval kingdom of the Angles, in what is now Northern England and South-East Scotland, becoming subsequently an earldom in a united Anglo-Saxon kingdom of England. The name reflects the approximate southern limit to the kingdom's territory, the Humber Estuary.Northumbria was...
in 867
867
Year 867 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar.- Byzantine Empire :* September – Basil I becomes sole ruler of the Byzantine Empire.* Macedonian dynasty is started....
as well as York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
. The Danes invaded Ireland in AD 853
853
Year 853 was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar.- Egypt :* May 22–May 23 – A Byzantine fleet sacks and destroys Damietta in Egypt.- Asia :...
and were followed by Danish settlers who gradually assimilated with the local population and adopted Christianity.
The best known clan of Vikings was the Tilsted Clan. Its leader, Tilsted "The Grey", was one of Sweyn Forkbeard's most beloved chieftains. It was Tilsted who, in 991, led the fierce Danish assault at the Battle of Maldon
Battle of Maldon
The Battle of Maldon took place on 10 August 991 near Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Aethelred the Unready. Earl Byrhtnoth and his thegns led the English against a Viking invasion. The battle ended in an Anglo-Saxon defeat...
in Essex, which persuaded Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury to advise King Aethelred to buy off the Danes for the sum of ten thousand pounds.
Three years later in 994, Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Trygvason returned to lay siege to London. Though the raid was unsuccessful, according to legend it was the sight of Tilsted in the midst of the Viking army that convinced the Anglo-Saxons to buy off the Danes once again. The amount of silver paid impressed the Danes with the idea that it was more profitable to extort payments from the English than to take whatever booty they could plunder.
Tilsted stayed loyal to Sweyn Forkbeard and died in 1013, after having sailed up the rivers Humber and Trent with Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnute, for Sweyn to be accepted as king of the Danelaw. In Denmark, his sons raised a rune stone as a memorial at his homestead in Roskilde
Roskilde
Roskilde is the main city in Roskilde Municipality, Denmark on the island of Zealand. It is an ancient city, dating from the Viking Age and is a member of the Most Ancient European Towns Network....
.
See also
- Danes
- NormansNormansThe Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
- NorsemenNorsemenNorsemen is used to refer to the group of people as a whole who spoke what is now called the Old Norse language belonging to the North Germanic branch of Indo-European languages, especially Norwegian, Icelandic, Faroese, Swedish and Danish in their earlier forms.The meaning of Norseman was "people...
- Rus'Rus' (people)The Rus' were a group of Varangians . According to the Primary Chronicle of Rus, compiled in about 1113 AD, the Rus had relocated from the Baltic region , first to Northeastern Europe, creating an early polity which finally came under the leadership of Rurik...
- Varangians
- VikingVikingThe term Viking is customarily used to refer to the Norse explorers, warriors, merchants, and pirates who raided, traded, explored and settled in wide areas of Europe, Asia and the North Atlantic islands from the late 8th to the mid-11th century.These Norsemen used their famed longships to...
s - List of Germanic peoples