The Battle of Maldon 

is the name given to an Old English poem of uncertain date celebrating the

real Battle of Maldon of 991, at which the Anglo-Saxons failed to prevent aViking invasion. Only 325
lines of the poem are extant; both the beginning and the ending are lost.

    1     Birhtnoth tells his men to leave their horses and advance on foot. 1-17
    2     Birhtnoth deploys his men for battle. 18-25
    3     The Vikings send forward a herald to demand tribute, offering peace in return. 25-42
    4     Birhtnoth replies defiantly to the Viking herald. 43-62
The Saxons move forward; but it is high tide, the causeway is covered, and neither side can advance to meet the other.
    5     63-72
    6     The tide ebbs, the causeway appears. Saxon warriors defend it. The Vikings can't cross. They ask for passage. 73-88
    7     The earl withdraws his men from the causeway so that the Vikings can pass over. 89-95
    8     The Vikings cross over and battle is joined. 96-129
    9     Birhtnoth in combat; he is wounded twice. 130-161
    10     Birhtnoth and his two companions are slain. 162-184
    11     Some cowards flee. The others make speeches to hearten each other, and fight on. 185-272
    12     Eadweard, Æthelric, and Offa die bravely. 273-294
    13     The men of Essex fight on to avenge their fallen lord.

Summary: The history of this battle also is recorded in the chronicles of Anglo-Saxon times.  A band
of Vikings land on an island near shore on the River Pante, now known as the Blackwater.   Byrhtnoth
confronts them and answers their demand for tribute payments saying he'll pay them with swords'
points and spears.  At low tide, the island is connected to land by a narrow causeway which Byrtnoth
orders his toughest warriors, Wulfstan (Ceola's son), Ćlfhere, and Maccus, to defend.  The Vikings
realize they can't pass without unacceptable losses--they would much rather swoop down on
defenseless farmers and slaughter them, leaving before the armored troops arrive (seeOdyssey IX
when Odysseus' men stay too long after their similar raid on the Kikones).  The Vikings apparently
appeal to Byrtnoth's sense of honor for a fair fight, for he allows them to cross the causeway and the
two sides engage in a melee.  After several clashes, Byrhtnoth is mortally wounded and thanks the
World Ruler ("đeoda waldend") and Lord of Angels ("ţeoden engla") for his life.  Then three faithless
men steal the horses Byrhtnoth had given them and flee to the forest.  The rest of the warband, one by
one, boast defiance of the Vikings and loyalty to Byrhtnoth, and die.
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle  is a collection of annals in Old English chronicling the history of
the Anglo-Saxons. Nine manuscripts survive in whole or in part, though not all are of equal historical
value and none of them is the original version. he Chronicle is not unbiased: there are occasions when
comparison with other medieval sources makes it clear that the scribes who wrote it omitted events or
told one-sided versions of stories; there are also places where the different versions contradict each
other. Taken as a whole, however, the Chronicle is the single most important historical source for the
period in England between thedeparture of the Romans and the decades following the Norman
conquest. Much of the information given in the Chronicle is not recorded elsewhere. In addition, the
manuscripts are important sources for the history of the English language; in particular, the
later Peterborough text is one of the earliest examples of Middle English in existence.

The Battle of Stamford Bridge took place at the village of Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire,
in England on 25 September 1066, between an English army under King Harold Godwinson and an
invading Norwegian force led by King Harald Hardrada and the English king's brother Tostig
Godwinson. After a bloody battle, both Hardrada and Tostig along with most of the Norwegians were
killed. Although Harold Godwinson repelled the Norwegian invaders, his army was defeated by
the Normans at Hastings less than three weeks later. The battle has traditionally been presented as
symbolising the end of the Viking Age, although major Scandinavian campaigns in Britain and Ireland
occurred in the following decades, such as those of King Sweyn Estrithson of Denmark in 1069–70
and King Magnus Barefoot of Norway in 1098 and 1102–03.