It’s a myth! Lindisfarne Wasn’t The First Viking Contact

We all know the Viking Age is 793–1066, right? Well, not quite.

The TV show Vikings muddied the waters further by suggesting the Norse hadn't even discovered Britannia by then — that the Britons had no idea who these warriors were when Ragnar Lothbrok came charging in. Good drama. Bad history.

In reality, the Norse had been trading with Britain for decades before Lindisfarne. The Angles, Saxons and Jutes who filled the vacuum left by the Romans actually shared a lineage with the Norse — ever notice how Saxon and Viking shields, weapons and armour are nearly identical? Jutland, after all, later became Denmark. They were getting along just fine — until a volcano changed everything. More on that another time.

Back to the point. The first written record of a raid comes four years before Lindisfarne — and that distinction belongs to Portland in Dorset, 789 AD. A chronicle from the time records:

Here Beorhtric took King Offa's daughter Eadburh. And in his days came first 3 ships from Hordaland: and then the reeve rode there and wanted to compel them to go to the king's town because he did not know who they were; and then they killed him. These were the first ships of the Danish men which sought out the land of the English race.

It's likely that raids occurred before and after this date that simply weren't recorded. The killing of a royal reeve at Portland, followed by the sacking of Lindisfarne's monastery, made those events newsworthy enough to survive in the chronicles. The raids grew more frequent from there — and eventually became a full land grab. All thanks to that bloody volcano. 🌋