"In the year 793, the pagans from the north came to Britain like stinging hornets..." wrote an early Saxon chronicler about the first Viking raid on England. The Vikings had struck a small costal monastery, killed and pillaged. This was the frist blow in a mighty struggle between the Vikings and England whch ended with The Battle Of Hastings in 1066.

For the next 40 years however, there was peace. The Vikings had been preparing for a full-scale invasion and from 835 onwards, hardly a year went by without a raid being reported to the Saxon chronicles. In 851, the Vikngs first wintered in England and in 856 forced England to pay its first Danegald or tribute.

In 867, 3 famous sons of ragnar hairy-Breeches : Ivar the the boneless, Ubbi and Halfdan landed in East Anglia, marched across country, seized York and settled in Northumbria. By 871 the Vikings had overrun the north of England and were preparing to invade the Saxon stronghold, Wessex. This was the fir

Later that year, Alfred became King Alfred and within months was on the battle fields once again. This time however, he was defeated at Wilton and forced to pay a tribute. After this the Vikngs split in two. One group under the leadership of halfdan went and settled in northumbria. the remaing under Guthrum settled in South Cambridge and waited for another chance to invade Wessex.

after Guthrum moved back to Danelaw, there was seven years of peace. this was until a new army from the continent came across the English Channel and seized the city of Rochester. Alfred's army came once again to the rescue athough and defeated the new invaders and pushed them back to sea.

Edgar the Peaceable (959-975) became friends with the Vikngs as he respected their beliefs and customs. But his son Ethelred the unready (978-1016) was a different kind of man. The Viking attacks were soon renewed. The Vikings had a string of victories and made Ethelred pay higher and higher amounts of Danegald. The most annoying of Ethelred's foes was the king of Denmark, Svein Forkbeard. He attacked mercilessly until Ethelred ordered that "all the Vikings that have sprung up on this island shall be destroyed". This led to the massacre of St. Brice's day on 13th November 1002. Among those killed was Svein's sister, Gunnhild. Her death enraged Svein and from 1003 onward there were continuous attacks.

The Vikings made one last attempt to conquer England under a new leader Harald Hardradi. However three days after losing the battle of Stamford bridge, the Normans landed led by Duke William. They fought hard with King Hardradi and all his remaining troops but were defeated and

Some common words found in the essay are:
South Cambridge, Battle Hastings, King Alfred, Edgar Peaceable, St Brice's, Athelney Alfred, Vikings Saxon, Norway Scandinavia, East Anglia, Banks Severn, peace army, seven peace army, sea alfred, seven peace, king alfred, norwegian vikings, saxon people, king king, northumbria vikings, settled northumbria, powerful king,
Approximate Word count = 1113
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)