How the Vikings pushed Anglo-Saxon England to the brink

Welcome to the History Extra podcast. Today we're kicking off the latest of our four-part Sunday series as Dr. Eleanor Barraclough tells James Osborne about the moment in the 9th century when the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms face an existential threat on a scale never seen before from Viking forces. In the second half of the 9th century, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were brought to their knees by a wave of unprecedented Viking aggression. I'm James Osborne, and in this four-part series I'll be joined by historian Dr.

Eleanor Baraclough to examine how the Viking Great Heathen Army came so close to destroying Anglo-Saxon England, how Alfred the Great halted its conquest, and the long legacy of this story. In this first episode, we'll discuss the arrival of the Great Heathen army and examine what life was really like for these people who'd go on to rampage across Anglo Saxon England. Eleanor, I think you can officially be described as a Viking aficionado? I am a fan, yeah, let's say. I have a I have a keen interest.

You are the perfect person to ask. Why is this chapter so consequential in the history of the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. I mean, we just have to look at the language we're speaking today. So many of those everyday words, egg, knife, glitter, husband, they come from the consequences of this period, the fact that we end up not only with raids from across the North Sea in Scandinavia, but long-term settlement and cultural change.

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