Bested in the field, his forces retreated in disarray to a nearby fortress. The army was reinforced – and later divided – but ultimately endured until the Battle of Edington in 878 AD, where its leader Guthrum met his match in the young King Alfred and his West Saxon army. Over the next 15 years the Vikings ranged high and low, from Wessex to The Clyde, conquering towns, claiming victories and suffering their share of defeats. The army wintered there before setting off north towards York, where they were again paid off while establishing control of Northumbria. The locals made peaceful overtures, offering the invaders their horses and hospitality to allay conflict. Ragnar’s sons led the Great Viking Army and made landfall in East Anglia that same year.
A sense of organisation crept into their plans, and in due course the Danes, supported by the Swedes and Norwegians, raised a great army with the intention of conquering Britannia and avenging the death of the legendary Viking warlord Ragnar Lothbrok, executed by the King of Northumbria in 865 AD. What began as sporadic coastal raids intensified over time as the Vikings began to glean the scale of plunder Britannia could offer. The previous century had seen escalating Viking incursions across the isles. A bitter pill for the invaders to swallow, in light of their grand vision for a new Scandinavian kingdom. In 878 AD, the Great Viking Army was defeated by King Alfred and faced a new life of enforced settlement in the east of Britannia.
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