The Vikings quickly seek retaliation for the…
910 CE
The Vikings quickly seek retaliation for the northern excursion.
The Danelaw Kings in 910 assemble a fleet and transport a Danish army, via the River Severn, directly into the heart of Mercia.
Here they ravage the land and collect large amounts of valuable plunder, but quickly seek to return North rather than be trapped in hostile territory.
They know King Edward is away, massing a fleet of ships in Kent.
However, to the surprise of the Danes, the King meet with his Mercian allies and moves to surround the raiders.
The Vikings find that their way to Bridgnorth is blocked by the allied army.
Unable to reach their exit route to the sea, and pursued through hostile land by Edward and Aethelfleda's forces, they are forced to choose battle.
While little is known of the exact maneuvers employed at the battle, it is obvious the allies trapped their Viking opponents and inflicted heavy casualties on them.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle states that "many thousands of men" were killed, referring to the Danes.
The Kings leading the Viking raid, Eowils and Halfdan, seemingly unable to retreat, are both killed by the allied troops.
With the Northern Danes subdued, the forces of Wessex and Mercia can be focused against those who had settled further south.
It is also the defeat of the last great raiding army from Denmark to ravage England.
With allied strength rising, England is soon united under one domestic monarch, and Danish expansion is quelled permanently.