Peter Sawyer Living History History is best when experienced

Home schooling pack Viking Warriors I’m not a teacher, but I am a history graduate and I’ve been doing Living History for 2 years. Covid-19 has hit my business hard, it’s unlikely that I’ll be working again before September but I’m fortunate that I don’t have any children to look after. As well as Living History, I’m also an author, so I wanted to use these skills.

For anyone who’s having to try their hand at home-schooling, I’ve put together this education pack based on my Living History workshops. Feel free to print, copy and distribute this pack as far and wide as you want.

I’ll also be doing packs on, some of which are already on the website: • Vikings and Saxons • World War One • Ancient Roman army • World War Two Evacuees • Roman Society • Early Railways • Ancient Greece- Athens • Creative writing exercises • Ancient Greece- Sparta • Favourite books • Medieval • More to follow • Tudors

Keep an eye on www.peter-sawyer.com or “Peter Sawyer, author” on Facebook or Twitter Please feel free to email, Facebook or tweet to share what you do

Viking wordsearch

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ACROSS 1 - The name given to Viking raiding boats (8) 4 - A big gamble, like sailing with no engine or compass (4) 6 - Viking’s favourite weapon, good for chopping with (3) 8 - God of Storms, carried a hammer (4) 10 - A big piece of wood to protect you (5) 13 - Treasure bullied out of Saxon Kings (7) 14 – Precious metal, the Vikings loved it (4) 15 - Nickname of Viking King Ivar. Where’s his skeleton? (8) DOWN 2 - Chief God of the Vikings (4) 3 - What the Vikings crossed to go raiding (3) 5 - A long metal weapon for cutting and slashing (5) 7 - The direction to sail to get to Russia (4) 9 - Armour made out of chain rings for the arms, body or legs (4) 11 - Armour for your head (6) 12 - Big bird of prey, often painted on Viking shields and ships (5) 13 - God of War (3)

Timeline of the Danelaw

The Danelaw was a big portion of England that was occupied by the Vikings, roughly east of a line between London, Northampton, Tamworth and Carlisle.

865AD- Danish raiders, led by Ivar the Boneless and Halfdan, winter in East Anglia, exacting tribute and hostages in exchange for a truce. In the spring, civil war broke out in Northumbria and the Vikings attacked northwards, taking and sacking Lincoln, Doncaster and York.

867- With the Viking attacks, Northumbria united against them, but the Northumbrian leaders were killed, and a puppet king was installed- a Viking pretending to be a Saxon. Wessex and Mercia marched against the Danes but were unable to take Nottingham. Mercian King Burhred gave up Nottingham and the Trent bank to the Danes in exchange for peace. Tamworth became the first city, like a capital, and the biggest fortress in Mercia.

869- Ivar the Boneless returns to East Anglia and winters again, demanding tribute and hostages. East Anglian King Edmund refused and was killed, his kingdom annexed by the Danes. The place is marked by the modern town Bury St Edmunds. Wessex’s King Alfred attacks Reading but is beaten back with heavy losses and pursued into his own lands.

871-4- Alfred repeatedly raids Viking territory, preventing them from mounting a full- scale attack on Wessex, but they take over Mercia with another puppet king after Burhred dies.

875- A Viking party settles in Dorset, on the Wessex-Cornish border and breaks the peace in the summer, attacking Wareham and Exeter. They are surrounded on two sides by the Cornish and Alfred’s army of Wessex and, eventually, they leave for Mercia.

878- A Saxon noble, Odda, wins a battle at Countisbury in Gloucestershire to prevent Alfred being encircled. Alfred mounts an attack on Edingham and then Chippenham, defeating Earl Guthrum and persuading him to convert to Christianity. Guthrum settles in East Anglia as a Saxon-style king.

884- Guthrum breaks his vow and attacks Kent. Beaten on the Medway in one of the biggest battles of the Viking era, he agrees to a permanent peace.

903- Aethelwald of Wessex invades Essex and torches everything he can find. He is joined by the East Anglian Vikings.

917- East Anglia and Essex join Wessex under King Edward the Elder, then Nottingham and Leicester and then York on New Year’s Day 918.

920- Northumbria submits to Edward, giving him the biggest Kingdom in English history up to that point.

954- The last Viking king in Britain, Eric Ragnvaldsson, is driven out of Northumbria. He moves to the Scottish islands but eventually sails back to Norway.

1066- King Edward dies and his cousin King Harald Hardrada comes to claim the English crown. He is defeated and killed by Harald I of England at the Battle of Stamford Bridge, the last major foreign raid/invasion of the Viking era. Harald of England is killed at the Battle of Hastings and Norman King William becomes King.

The first Viking invasion on Britain was 793 AD, when the attacked the monastery on Lindisfarne. The last one is normally considered to be 1066, that’s 273 years of Vikings in England. Some came as adventurers and explorers, some travelled to kill and steal. Many Vikings settled in Britain, bringing their families, or finding new ones when they arrived. By about 880-900, it would have been difficult to tell Vikings and Saxons apart. Even the languages and the religions were very similar, so the two groups, especially in places like East Anglia, would have started blending together. Historians used to think that the two communities would not have mixed but now it’s believed that lots of young Viking men would have had Saxon girlfriends and wives, leading to children who were both Saxon and Viking, in the same way that modern immigration works.

Some Viking thinking

Q1- How do you think Vikings would have thought about Britain? Would it have been better or worse than Denmark or Norway? How would the time of year have made a difference?

Q2- Where would Vikings have landed? What would they have looked for? What would they have avoided? What would they need to take on a raid?

Q3- Write a modern business plan for a Viking trip to Britain, from a warrior to his chief. Tell him (or her, Viking chiefs could be women) what you will need, where you want to go, how you will get there and how long it will take. Most importantly, explain the risks and the potential rewards. If you’d like to, email your business plan to [email protected] and Tørvald Ragnarsson will write back!

Viking craft- Headbands Many Vikings wore beaded headbands and bracelets every day and some had special meanings showing status or family.

You need • 2 strands of wool (ideally different colour) and a strand of thread. All three need to be long enough to go around your head 1 ½ times. • An odd number of beads (7-11, depending on the size) Vikings would have had wooden, horn or bone beads but use whatever you have.

String the beads on the slim thread.

Tie a knot either side of the beads using the wool as well.

Plait each end like hair and tie it off.

Put the two plaited ends around your head to get the right length and tie the two ends together to finish. Here’s some finished examples:

Remember, please email photos of anything you’ve done! The address is on page 1.