The Vikings in Britain

Although a fairly slim book (it's only 128 pages long, including the index), this volume is quite packed with information. I like the way the book is laid out--it basically divides the Viking era into two blocks of time--the first from the beginning of the Viking period until roughly 950, and the second from 950 until 1100--then goes through each area of the British Isles, including not only Anglo-Saxon England but also Wales, Scotland, Ireland, and the northern islands, and talks about how they were affected by the Vikings during the period. There's also a very interesting chapter near the end about the various languages spoken in the British Isles during the Viking era. This is an overview type of study, so the degree of detail is somewhat limited, but still I'd definitely recommend it.

The student of the history of Anglo Saxon England who ignores a study of the effect of the Scandinavian invasions does so at their own peril. In much the same way, the student who chooses not to read at least one work by the well-respected Anglo Saxon scholar Henry Loyn does so at the risk of severely limiting their historiographical knowledge of this period. The late Professor Loyn was a consummate historian whose work serves, itself, as a textbook on the way in which historical research should be conducted. In a time in which historical study is more and more reflective of the political and personal biases of the historian, Loyn's treatise on the impact of the Scandinavian Age on the peoples and history of Britain is, by contrast, a balanced, methodical and reasonably well-argued case. Indeed, the organization of the chapters of the book itself is built around such a balance. Rather than providing a continuous narrative from the earliest Viking expeditions in 793 to the latter part of the 11th century, Loyn finds it more useful to discuss the Scandinavian and British worlds separately and further subdivides his study into two time periods, providing the break at 954 A.D. The author begins his work by relating current historical knowledge of the state of affairs of the three main players from Scandinavia: Norway, Sweden and Denmark. Bringing the reader up to the commencement of the Viking raids on Britain in the late 8th century, Loyn provides the possible motivation for such raids, including such factors as climactic change, overpopulation and political instability at home. Loyn follows this with a discussion of the conditions in all of the British Isles, briefly acquainting the unfamiliar reader with the histories of the four main divisions of Britain to 800 A.D. . Notably refreshing is Loyn's apparent disregard for contemporary political sensitivities by including the whole of Ireland as one of the British Isles to be discussed, avoiding a separate treatment of the island as many modern historians tend to do. Having the foundation laid, Loyn then launches into a discussion of the Viking sorties and eventual settlement of Scotland, Ireland, Wales and England in that order. From this point onward, Loyn's text is a narration of events, sprinkled with commentary by the author. Loyn relates the settlements of Dublin and Waterford, the conquest of the western isles in Scotland and the western coastal defenses of Wales, all of which, while important in the development of these regions, did little to affect the political, social and economic histories of the modern nations of Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They did, however, provide a base for attacks on what is now England and a base for the extensive discussion of English history by the author. We follow the settlement of the Danes in East Anglia, the retreat of Alfred to the southern reaches of Wessex and the eventual agreement arranged between Alfred and Guthrum over the partition and ruling of