Norse and early raids

by Sammystorm1

I was wondering about early English/Norse history. Do we know who the first Norse was to raid at lindisferne? Do we know much about Ragnar lothbrok, Rollo, and the great heathen army? Finally any good books/authors/podcasts that go in depth in this time period

y_sengaku

I summarized as well as compiled the link to some relevant questions and answers before in: How much did the 'Vikings' really know about the West at the time of Ragnar Lothbrok?

I hope you can check them mainly concerning the historicity of the figures appear in the drama series Vikings. As for the Viking raid in Lindisfarne in 793, in addition to Anglo-Saxon Chronicles (see below), we have a contemporary mention of the event in the letter by Alcuin of York (The English scholar recruited by Charlemagne of the Franks as an advisor), but his description unfortunately tells us not so much on the raid itself, rather than his griefs and concern on the event. This UK teaching material for teachers on the raid of Lindisfarne also makes this point clear.

The main source of the 'Great Army' and their battles in Britain as well as early raids is Anglo-Saxon chronicles (ASC) that began to be written in the last decade of the 9th century. It means that:

  • This English source is written by the foe of the Vikings, mainly from the viewpoint of pro-Wessex kingdom among others in England.
  • The scribe wrote the entries up to the entry of 891 CE at once in the end of the 9th century. In short, entries prior to the late 9th century in this text were written not contemporary year by year, but retrospectively from the point of view in the midst or after the political struggles between the Great Army and the ruler(s) of Wessex. Only this source specifies that the raid in the Lindisfarne was the first of such incidences (even this statement can almost be refuted by the inconsistency within the same text).

Nevertheless, it is worth noting that the scribe of ASC doesn't portrait the 'Great Army' is an invincible enemy, as I alluded before in this answer to the question on the alleged strength of the 'Great Army'.

Early medieval mortuary archaeology (i.e. study of the graveyard and skeletons found in it) has also shed light on the doings and possible identity of the Vikings those who joined in the 'Great Army' and died in England recently. Some of such result on the Vikings buried in the graveyard of Repton 873/ 874 are conveniently summarized in this archaeological maganize's blog: Resolving Repton (June 06, 2019).

As for the good introductory books for beginners on this topic (Viking raids in Britain), I'd recommend the books listed below:

  • Carroll, Jayne, Stephen H. Harrisson & Gareth Williams. The Vikings in Britain and Ireland. London: The British Museum, 2010.
  • Nordeide, Sæbjørg W. & Kevin J. Edwards. The Vikings. Kalamazoo, MI: Arc Humanities, 2019.
  • Price, Neil. Children of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. New York: Basic Books, 2020.

I admit I'm little familiar with podcast (so that I cannot review this kind of media properly), but the British Museum made this live tour of the museum on the Vikings, Vikings Live: a tour from the British Museum last year, in which two of the authors (Price and Williams) also appeared. This program itself largely look decent one.

(Added) Some museums in Scandinavia also make good programs in the daily life of the Scandinavians during the Viking Ages on Youtube, such as Ribe Viking Center's Channel.