m85

A Saxon ceorl with short-hafted axe and shield, and possibly a simplc helmet, tackles a member of the warrior class armed with spear, sword, shield and what is probably a mail shirt. From a contemporary manuscript.

Left, the rich helmet from the Sutton Hoo find, closely resembling the Viking helmets (see later): right, a reconstruction of the Benty Grange helmet. (Gerry Embleton)

TheMkings

The Yiking Age can conveniently be defined as commencing with the first raid on Lindisfarne in 793 and ending with the defeat of the army of Harald Hardraada at Stamford Bridge in 1066. However, this is a prejudiced view, a time limit set by those who suffered at the hands of the Viking raiders, for the Vikings were on the move as traders and settlers long before 793, while the end of the Viking Age was brought about as much by Christianity as by the success of the Anglo-Saxons at Stamford Bridge.

Whatever the exact chronological definition of the Viking Age, the Viking raiders burst suddenly into the mainstream of history in 793, terrorizing most of the then-known world, founding earldoms and kingdoms from the Thames to the Yolga, and