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Anglo-Scandinavian Identity in the Danelaw

Figure 1

By Paul Willis
WIL11043439
Tutored by: Leonie Hicks
Word Count: 9,746

Contents
Introduction

Cultural and Social Integration

Religious Conversion

Economic Assimilation

Appendix

Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Introduction
The migration of Scandinavian settlers onto English soil in the era so aptly named ‘The Viking
Age’ marked the start of the amalgamation of the Anglo-Saxon and Nordic cultures to create
a new Anglo-Scandinavian identity
...
The largest, and most substantial, influx of Scandinavians entering
England occurred with the arrival of the micel here, the great Danish army, in 865
...
The territory secured and dominated by the Nordic settlers soon came to be called the
Danelaw
...
2 The transmission from Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian to form one distinct AngloScandinavian identity can be seen most prominently in the Danelaw due to Scandinavian
diaspora of the land
...


The study into the ethnogenic change from Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian cultures into one
assimilated Anglo-Scandinavian entity is hard to define
...
3 In this case, ethnogenesis refers to the emergence of an
Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid as a result of the moulding of Anglo-Saxons and Norsemen
...
The appearance of Anglo-Scandinavian identity is mostly seen
through Archaeological aspects, with multiple grave markers, monuments, coins and
1 Michael Swanton, (trans
...
68
2 Michael Lapidge (ed
...
136
3 Stephen M
...
McIlwain,(ed
...
136-138

clothing accessories containing symbolic evidence of relations between Anglo-Saxon and
Scandinavian forces
...


The primary sources for the assimilation of the two identities are extremely limited
...
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle can be seen taking note of
the Scandinavian raiding parties settling in England and the conversions that occurred, but
only provides us with a limited insight to the extent of Anglo-Scandinavian relations
...
5 A large majority of evidence supporting the relations between the two cultures is
archaeologically based
...
Other archaeological findings, such as the artefacts from the Cuerdale Hoard
and grave goods help historians explore the economic and religious dynamics
...
The other primary source which is used extensively in searching
for an assimilative link between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians is place-names
...
The sources, although largely up to interpretation, appear to show
unique links between the native society and the Norse settlers
...

Although a great deal of the documents used look at the individual cultures solely, and do
4 M
...
), The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, pp
...
22, No
...
54-63 (p
...
Dawn Hadley, a key researcher in this area, focuses a
great deal of her studies on the link between the two identities to form an ethnogenic
Anglo-Scandinavian identity
...
6 Julian Richards is equally as
prominent in the researching of Anglo-Scandinavian creation
...
Additionally, Richards focuses on the contact between the societies, which is
directly related to this topic of study
...
The secondary sources are extremely important when discovering the reason
behind the assimilation and the processes in which it occurred
...


This study looks at the interaction between ethnicities in cultural, religious and economic
terms to create an ethnogenic identity as a result of interaction between the Anglo-Saxons
and Scandinavians
...
Chapter one of this study looks at the changes instigated by
cultural change, ranging from the changing of place-names to the adoption of native political
culture from the Scandinavian settlers in the Danelaw
...
The economic structure of the
Danelaw along with the emergence of Danish minting and the dynamic behind trade
exchange is explored in the third chapter of this study
...
192-227

conclusion of Anglo-Scandinavian ethnogenic process and an analytical synopsis of the study
and the sources as a whole
...
The Danelaw, ‘an area north of the Thames covering the eastern Midlands,
East Anglia, Lincolnshire and Northumbria’,7 was established after Guthrum’s defeat in 878;
marking the epicentre of the social and cultural integration between the Scandinavians and
Anglo-Saxons within England
...
However, this change of rulers had little impact on peasants and farmers, observing
that ‘for many peasant farmers the Scandinavian settlement probably just meant a change in
whom they paid their taxes to
...

Additionally it shows that little political and social change was established in the Danelaw
after the Scandinavian occupation of the area
...
9 This indicates that the Scandinavian settlers
were extremely adaptable to the lands they inhabited
...
This form of adaptation can be seen through more noticeable events, such as their
willingness to convert to Christianity or to change the fundamentals principles of their social
identity, such as dress and hair style, to assimilate further into Anglo-Saxon society
...
) Julia Crick and Elizabeth Van Houts, A Social History of England; 900-1200
(Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2011) p
...
Richards, Viking Age England, (Gloucestershire; The History Press, 2010) p
...
52-53

identity, therefore creating a hybrid Anglo-Scandinavian identity that was engulfed
completely by the predominant native society and culture
...
Place names in
particular give historians an insight into where the Scandinavians settled, and how they
changed and shaped the Anglo-Saxon environment
...
One such example shows the change the modern town of Rawcliffe went
through, originally being called Rēad in Old English, then was converted by the Norse
invaders into a similar sounding Rauđr to match their linguistic tastes
...
This dominant force made Norse the logical choice for the
indigenous population
...
The invaders kept
the place-names relatively similar to make the transition between the two languages and
the buffer of new social control a great deal easier on the Anglo-Saxons living in the Norse
controlled settlements
...
The largest etymological changes
can be seen with places ending with ‘-by’ which project Danish influence; meaning ‘farm’ or
that it was previously an individual landholding
...
14

10 J
...
Maddicott, ‘Review of The Northern Danelaw: Its Social Structure c
...
116, No
...
668-669

11 Nicholas J
...
Ryan, Place-Names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape,
(Woodbridge; Boydell Press, 2011) pp
...
135-136
13 Wendy Davies, From the Vikings to the Normans, (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2003) pp
...
59

When exploring sources on Scandinavian place names, it is important to take note that these
sources, while giving vital information on Norse influence, also neglect to inform us of the
amount of Anglo-Saxon place names
...
15 As a result of this, it is
important to look at regions, such as Amounderness, to gain a full insight into just how much
Anglo-Saxon areas within the Danelaw were changed after its occupation in 878
...
Not only does only
show the linguistic renaming of areas, but the assimilation of two languages as a whole
...
16 This shows Norse initiative, not to conquer and create a replica of their
previously inhabited land, but to create a new living space and assimilate with locals
...
17 This causes difficulties when exploring how far the place name
evidence is part of an Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid
...
18 This argument portrays the idea that settlers
intended to populate the land and depose or isolate the natives
...


15 Ibid, p
...
Higham and Martin J
...
134
17 Ibid, p
...
H
...
99

One of the larger and most important forms of social and cultural integration, creating a new
Anglo-Scandinavian ethnogenesis, was the act of intermarriage
...
The legal and religious bond between Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian identities
created a strong sense of social control, generating less tension between the opposing
forces
...
’ This refers to the
integration of the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians through sexual means, it goes on to
explain that, ‘Intermarriage was never discouraged and a recognised place was found in
Scandinavian legal systems for sexual unions that fell well short of recognizable Christian
marriage
...
However, the Anglo-Saxon legal system
appeared to have very different ideas on intermarriage
...
The Norse religion, language and culture
all prove to be submissive to the dominant Anglo-Saxon equivalent
...
20 The dominance of Christianity can also
be seen through the conversion of Norse leaders, and the resulting Christianization of their
followers, which is explained in the next chapter
...
22
This Norse element of society would have been engulfed by the indigenous Anglo-Saxon
counterpart through gradual assimilation
...
77
20 Michael Swanton (trans
...
68
21 David Stocker, (ed
...
Hadley and Julian D
...
2,
(Turnhout: Brepols, 2000) pp
...
9, No
...
537-548, (p
...
23 The emergence of a new AngloScandinavian dress sense can be seen in the Danelaw when the two forces started engaging
and assimilating
...
The Winchester-style was brought to England
from Scandinavia by the Norse settlers, was extremely successful, and can be seen mainly in
the rural Danelaw and south of the Danelaw in Rural Wessex
...


The act of the Norse invaders showing submission to Anglo-Saxon marriage practices, and
not vice-versa, can be pinned on the strength of Christianity over the Norse pagan beliefs at
the time
...
26 Intermarriage had strong connections with religion and conversion as a whole
...
It is suggested that the change in language, culture and dress all revolved
around the mother of the next generation
...
27 Because of this, women were
given the role of ‘intergenerational transmitters’, passing on the ‘cultural traditions, customs,
songs, cuisine’ and the ‘mother tongue’
...
The creation of a bilingual, Anglo-Scandinavian generation on the
23 Ibid, pp
...
538)
24 Jane Kershaw, ‘The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style in Late Saxon England: Metalwork Finds from the
Danelaw’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, Vol
...
254-269, (p
...
269
26 Ibid, p
...
542
28 Ibid, p
...
29 It is explained that communication relied heavily on
individuals who knew both languages
...
This research portrays women as the cultural transmitters between the two
societies, and emphasises their role in Anglo-Scandinavian assimilation
...
31 While their
identity is debated as a whole, Van Houts notes that a neither the English nor the Danes at
the time would have been able to consider themselves as ‘purely genetically ethnic’
...

The army not only began to settle in England, but after Northumbria had been conquered it
is explained in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle that ‘Healfdene shared out the land of the
Northumbrians, and they proceeded to plough and to support themselves
...
This proposes that their invasion of England was so they could settle and inhabit
the English landscape, this would explain the use of ‘-by’, for Scandinavian settlements
within the Danelaw
...
The settlers can be seen adopting practices of the
indigenous elite, such as culture and forms of lordship
...
However, in this case, reverse mimicry is displayed
...
101
30 Ibid, p
...
216
32 Ibid, p
...
Douglas and Susie I
...
48
34 Wendy Davies, From the Vikings to the Normans, p
...
Parsons, Vikings and the Danelaw, (Oxford;
Oxbow Books, 2001) p
...
36 However, although the use of
the Brooch to gain social or political favour in the Danelaw is apparent, who exactly was
wearing it is not
...
37 The creation and use of
the Winchester Style reflects Scandinavian co-operation with cultural dress senses already
existing in England
...
The earliest form of
communication and co-operation between the Anglo-Saxons and the Scandinavians is seen
in 838 when the Viking invaders allied with the Britons to fight against the West Saxons
...
This is
reciprocated by the Anglo-Saxons, when the Northumbrian Kings showed willingness to
operate under Scandinavian domination
...
40 It would appear that this submissive behaviour was also adopted by the
Scandinavians, who submitted themselves to Edward the Elder in 917,41 then again to Edgar
in 970
...


The cultural assimilation of the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon forces as a result of cultural
exchange and exposure can be seen as rather significant
...
The change of place-names, most
36 Sally Crawford and Helena Hamerow, ‘The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style in Late Saxon England:

Metalwork Finds from the Danelaw’ by Jane Kershaw, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, (Oxford;
Oxford University Press, 2008) p
...
266
38 P
...
Sawyer, Kings and Vikings, p
...
99

40 Roger Collins, early Medieval Europe 300-1000, (New York; St Martin’s Press, 1991) p
...
192-199
42 Elisabeth Van Houts, A Social History of England; 900-1200, p
...
This displays the invaders in a
controversial light, not as barbarians, but instead as political land owners
...
Naturally this intermarriage led to the biological breeding of Anglo-Scandinavian
hybrids
...
43 This transmission and the ethnogenic
creation of the Anglo-Scandinavian identity has been portrayed through archaeological
findings, such as the Winchester style brooch
...
This desperation to settle in 865 sparked
the start of Anglo-Scandinavian assimilation and the amalgamation of the people in the
Danelaw to create a distinct Anglo-Scandinavian identity
...
542
44 Kershaw, ‘The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style, pp
...
266)

Religious Conversion
The ethnogenic creation of the Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid can be seen most prominently
with religion
...
Conversion as a prerequisite of marriage appears often, causing many of the
Norsemen to leave their paganistic ways for Christendom
...
The creation of the hybrid was influenced
greatly by religion, as explained within the chapter, religion was extremely important to the
Anglo-Saxons, and debatably so to the Norsemen
...


The creation of an Anglo-Scandinavian ethnicity can be explained in part by the weakness of
the Norse religion and the willingness of the Scandinavians to convert to Christianity
...
45 This dynamic appears to
45 Dawn Hadley, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, (Manchester: Manchester University
Press, 2006) p
...
One of the most
remarkable, remaining, Anglo-Scandinavian pieces of archaeology is the Gosforth Cross
...
46
The Gosforth Cross attracts interest due to its Anglo-Scandinavian structure, containing a
shape that is most commonly associated with Christianity, while simultaneously displaying
itself in conjunction with the Norse religion as the Tree of Life, Yggdrasil
...
The Gosforth Cross contains a
number of depictions of Ragnarök and stories from the Bible, which double in meaning
depending on the interpretation
...
The Cross displays the Anglo-Scandinavian culture that was beginning to occur as a
result of religious understanding and co-operation
...
49

When exploring the creation of an ethnogenic, Anglo-Scandinavian, identity in Viking age
England, it is important to explore conversion as a prerequisite of marriage
...
Furthermore, the act of marriage resulted in the creation of
Anglo-Scandinavian offspring, who were a part of both Christian and Norse societies
...
50 It can also be seen that this conversion process was extremely
46 Ibid, p
...
21, No
...
27

48 Ibid, pp
...
28-30

50 Hadley, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, p
...
There is little to no documented evidence where Anglo-Saxon Christians were
converted, in reverse, to the Scandinavian’s pagan religion
...
51 On
this occasion, the conversion to Christianity was seen as a defining act of submission and not
for any immediate assimilative purposes
...
This would have taken place in common Anglo-Saxon and Norse
society
...
52 The act of religious
conversion allowed the settlers to become more involved in Anglo-Saxon communities,
giving them access to trading benefits and marriage to local Christians, this strongly
promoted the gradual Christianisation of the Scandinavian way of life
...
It could be argued that without the Scandinavian’s willingness to convert to
Christianity, it would have been increasingly difficult for them to marry Anglo-Saxon
Christians, therefore making the assimilation of the two cultures extremely challenging
...
It would not have been uncommon for
a Scandinavian leader to become Christianised for marital purposes
...
55 The political factor behind marriages appears to
have been the driving force of the conversions that took place, with the majority of settlers
changing their religion to secure their positions and authority in England
...
H
...
Davis, ‘Alfred and Guthrum's Frontier’, The English Historical Review, Vol
...
385, (1982), p
...
225
53 Ibid, p
...
83
55 Ibid, p
...
This
change of ethnic and religious ideals would have created the new, ethnogenic, AngloScandinavian identity
...


The relations between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians resulted in a great deal of AngloScandinavian objects being crafted
...
As explained
before, the Winchester style brooch became extremely popular, however, Hadley makes
note to the trefoil brooch which Anglo-Saxons copied from the invaders
...
The Anglo-Saxons can be seen
reciprocating exploration into Scandinavian cultural dress as a result of intermarriage, just as
the Scandinavians replicated the cultural practices of the indigenous population
...
The replication of dress items shows us that people’s
identity was portrayed externally through their dress, and that the emergence of an AngloScandinavian item of clothing marks the breaking down of separate identities into a single
ethnogenic hybrid
...
Just as the Anglo-Saxon would have become
accustom to Norse culture, the Scandinavian would have become schooled in Anglo-Saxon
culture, resulting in the creation of new dress items as a result of interaction within
intermarriage
...
57 Even though the conversion to
Christianity allowed Vikings greater social integration and secured higher political grasps on
landholdings, many Vikings were unchanged in their day to day conduct and, in death,
56 Ibid, p
...
ed
...

(Exeter: Oxbow Books, 2001) p
...
58 Christianity as a whole was perceived very
differently depending on the person
...
This topic is talked about extensively
by Benjamin Hudson, who explains how the Vikings were limited at keeping their vows to
Christianity
...
60 This being said, after settling in
England, burials became extremely popular for the Scandinavians
...
61 This pagan tradition
started to fade out with the increase of conversion
...
62
This shows conformity with the religions regulations and a shift from pagan traditions to
adapt in concurrence with the native’s customs
...
63 Furthermore, the fact that we see can see an increase of
burials near churches suggests that the Norse settlers were quickly adopting the burial
practices of the indigenous elite
...
64 This understanding of cultural and
religious practices almost certainly aided in the creation of an Anglo-Scandinavian identity
...
22
59 Benjamin Hudson, Viking Pirates and Christian Princes: Dynasty, Religion, and Empire in the North Atlantic,
(Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005) p
...
1-2

61 Julian D
...
189
62 Julian Richards, ‘Pagans and Christians at the frontier: Viking burial in the Danelaw’, The Cross Goes North,
p
...
) Dawn M
...
Richards, ‘Irregularities in the Distribution of Stone

Monuments’, Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, eds
...
180-181

The archaeology surrounding the burials of Norse settlers shows us that while they adopted
Christian burials, they also contained distinct pagan elements
...
A great deal of settlers continued their custom
of providing their dead with weapons, jewellery and horses in the afterlife even after being
converted to Christianity
...
This
area, surrounding York, would have been the Scandinavian stronghold in the Danelaw
...
While there are very few identifiable ninth-century graves, the tenth-century
presents us with distinct Scandinavian grave markers
...
67

One distinctive form of Scandinavian grave markers comes from Hogbacks
...
68 However, Julian Richards
explains that there are none of these Hogbacks in the southern areas of the Danelaw, but
instead they emerge in the north of England, in North Yorkshire and Cumbria
...
70 However, Richards notes that the
Hogbacks have no distinctive origin, and that they can only be associated with a few burials
...
(ed
...
14

65 Julian D
...
189-190
66 Dawn Hadley, (ed
...
370

67 Ibid, p
...
Richards, Viking Age England, p
...
221
70 Ibid, p
...
One such Hogback was found containing Old English along its
back, while Danish runes have been found on others
...


The assimilation of the Scandinavians into Anglo-Saxons society is attested due to their
obvious desire to settle on English soil
...
71 It is
clear that the Norse religion was extremely insecure and when confronted with a more
potent, and formidable, religious competitor its diffidence became its downfall
...
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles tell us
that the Vikings travelled to England in search of land, and that once they arrived they
started supporting themselves
...
The rapid conversion of the Scandinavian
settlers displays the weaknesses of their pagan religion in the face of an all-embracing
Christianity, and provides yet another example of their eagerness to become assimilated
...
There appears to be a fine line between those
Scandinavians who willingly accepted to become converted into Christian society through
baptism, and those who entered into Christianisation through long-term exposure to the
behaviour and individuals in Anglo-Saxon society
...
Davis, ‘Cultural assimilation in the Anglo-Saxon royal genealogies’, Anglo-Saxon England, Vol
...
28

72 Dorothy Whitelock, David C
...
Tucker, The Anglo Saxon Chronicles, (London: Eyre and
Sppotiswoode, 1961) p
...
1

people they lead’
...
75 It is also suggested that
the survival of the church in the Danelaw was down to these leaders, who sought further
communication and integration between the two ethnicities by utilising priests as
negotiators
...
Churches appear to have had a better
chance of survival in Yorkshire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire rather than areas such as
Northamptonshire, East Anglia and Lincolnshire
...


The tension between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians has been noticed as far as the
early eleventh century
...
Brice Day, 13 November
...
This shows that although
religion was important in medieval England, it was often just used as a tool to create stability
in an instable society
...
80 This suggests that tensions were still high
between the Scandinavians and Anglo-Saxons after a century of integration
...
However, the orders given by Æthelred failed to notify readers as to what
qualified as a Dane
...
Anglo-Scandinavian
74 Lesley Abrams, (ed
...
Hadley and Julian D
...
2, (Turnhout: Brebols, 2000) pp
...
169
76 Ibid, p
...
169
78 Ibid, pp
...
) Dawn M
...
Richards, ‘Ecclesiastical Institutions in the Danelaw,
Cultures in Contact, Vol
...
170

80 Ibid, p
...
The lack of clarity of the sources
make it very hard to determine whether it was the cultural or religious divide that caused
the constant divide between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians
...
Religious and cultural differences can be
seen after a century of interaction, but the emergence of an Anglo-Scandinavian identity can
be seen
...
Intermarriage can be seen as one of the main contributors to the
emergence of an Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid, and displays sexual and cultural relations
between the two cultures within the Danelaw
...
Brice Day
...
This being said, in terms of religion, a great deal of integration can be
measured from archaeological sources, such as brooches, grave markers and even the
documented evidence of intermarriage
...
As a result, the importance of religion cannot be denied in the development of an
ethnogenic Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid
...
The Norse leaders were willing to abandon
their pagan religion for status and women, by converting as a prerequisite of marriage
...
81

81 Lesley Abrams, (ed
...
135-155

Economic Assimilation
The emergence of an Anglo-Scandinavian identity in the Danelaw can be partly attested due
to the economic interaction between the Anglo-Saxons and Norse invaders
...
82 The concept of trade was
undoubtedly one that the Vikings thought about when submitting to Christianity and
engaging with the indigenous population
...
83 This is where the distinction between the Norse settlers as
traders and raiders must be addressed
...
Richards, Viking Age England, (Stroud: The History Press, 2010) p
...
84 Unquestionably there were
Norsemen who traded wares from the Danelaw to the Anglo-Saxons in surrounding areas,
namely Wessex
...
Rightly so, some of the riches that the
Vikings sold were ill-gotten gains from their previous raiding exploits
...
In saying this, Richard’s reports that the actual
proportion of imported goods from the ninth and tenth centuries is relatively small
...
Numerous
archaeological items can be found, ranging from coins, brooches and weapons, but
ascertaining their owner and their significance is sometimes extremely difficult
...
86 However, these
transactions would have had a much deeper social dimension than later market
economies
...
Additionally, a hybrid art began to form, breeding further supply and
demand between the Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians
...
The
change in artistic culture shows the interaction occurring between the two societies, and the
impact that it had on life in the Danelaw
...

83 Dorothy Whitelock, David C
...
Tucker eds, The Anglo Saxon Chronicles, (London: Eyre and
Spottiswoode, 1961) p
...
66
85 J
...
162
86 Ibid, p
...
177
88 Dawn Hadley, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, (Manchester: Manchester University
Press, 2006) p
...
89 Certainly, the most traded items were probably
those which leave little trace, such as food or wool
...

Although there is little evidence for trade of food and organic materials, it is almost certain
that these items were traded or exchanged in existing market places
...
Figure 4 of the
appendix shows the trade patterns of the Scandinavians and the products which were
available to them
...
Trade beyond frontiers would
have resulted in exposure to Anglo-Saxon customs, in which the Scandinavians may have
wished to interact
...


One of the most common forms of trading, and most certainly the one with the least
evidence for it, appeared in the form of slavery
...
92 Document and DNA studies
show that the majority of slaves were either sold between Viking colonies in England, or
transported to other Viking owned territories, such as Iceland
...
The
amount of slaves being traded in England is portrayed by Domesday Book, which actually
89 J
...
165-166
90 Ibid, p
...
164

92 J
...
163-165
93 Clare Downham, ‘The Viking Slave Trade: Entrepreneurs or Heathen Slavers?’, History Ireland, Vol
...
3,
(Wordwell Ltd, 2009) pp
...
16)

reveals large scale slave ownership by the Church
...
The Domesday Book can be used to
display existing trademark Scandinavian names which may have been bestowed on the
slaves
...
95 Surprisingly, it is noted that the Church did not
have a problem with the act of slavery, but instead prohibited the transport of slaves abroad,
where they would have been unable to practice their religion
...
97 It is more
than likely that this practice was the same on English soil
...
This shows both an
economic and productive use for slaves
...
This may have resulted in the creation of AngloScandinavian offspring, and most certainly contributed towards the creation of a new
ethnogenic progeny
...
In saying this, the economy’s only coin was the silver penny, which had quite
a high value
...
Although they initially had a negative effect on the creation of coins,
by taking over Northumbrian and East-Anglian minting towns, by the late ninth century they
began to establish mints within the Danelaw
...
Richards, Viking Age England, pp
...
165
96 Ibid, p
...
22, No
...
54-63 (p
...
(ed
...
125

Scandinavians occurred in large quantities with good quality silver
...
The Scandinavians largely copied
the existing pennies which displayed Alfred
...
100 This replication of Anglo-Saxon
coins to enter their market shows the integration and interaction that was starting to occur
between the two cultures
...
’101 This indicates
their desire to integrate into native society and adopt their economic practices
...
A connection to Christianity and the Norse belief can be seen on the coins
too
...
102 The increase of silver pennies in the Danelaw correlates directly to
the amount of interaction that the Scandinavians were having with the Anglo-Saxons
...


Interlinked with the emergence of Scandinavian minting is the development and growth of
trading towns, also known as wics, within the Danelaw
...
103 Although these camps existed prior to the Viking age, and suffered
greatly during the Viking raids, they were used by the Scandinavians as the focal point for
marketing and trading
...
This shows the desire of the Norse leaders to take over existing centres
of power which mimicked the pre-existing style of Anglo-Saxon lordship
...
125
100 Ibid, pp
...
138
102 Ibid, p
...
Richards, Viking Age England, pp
...
Hadley, The Vikings in England, p
...
It is clear from the approach taken by the Norsemen, by using existing towns and
adopting the Anglo-Saxon economic market, that they were starting to integrate with the
existing society, and can almost certainly be called Anglo-Scandinavian
...
It is explained that while these settlements had an
economic significance, they were used to negotiate socially and politically
...


The Scandinavian impact on trade and the economy can be seen through grave deposits
...
106 The use of
precious and expensive materials shows the state of the economy in the Danelaw, and that
the Norse were willing to bury large quantities of the items with their fallen companions
...
Similarly,
Scandinavian graves typically contained items such as swords, axes, spears and shields
...

Halsall explains that the reason behind the grave goods is parallel to the Scandinavian
interpretation of the afterlife
...
The dominance of Christianity had a
definite hold on the settlers, eradicating any remnant aspects of paganism
...
Instead it has been argued that the Church’s attempt to display equality, by shunning
105 Julian D
...
(ed
...
306
106 David
...
Hinton, Archaeology, Economy and Society; England from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Century,
(London:Routledge, 1990) p
...
) Dawn M
...
Richards, ‘The Viking Presence in England? The Burial
Evidence is Reconsidered’, Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and Tenth
Centuries, Vol
...
263-264
108 Ibid, pp
...
109 This shows the impact that the Anglo-Saxon’ church
had on the Scandinavian’s culture and practices
...
Certainly this shows that the Vikings were willing to abandon their customs
in order to assimilate with Anglo-Saxon society, making them increasingly AngloScandinavian in practice
...
Much like their burial practices, hoards give historians an
insight into the economy and raiding activities of the Norsemen
...
111
The hoards display the wealth of Scandinavians in the Danelaw along with the increasing
Anglo-Scandinavian influence on everyday items such as brooches and coins
...
Most English hoards contain only Anglo-Saxon
coins, as foreign coins, such as Norse Anglo-Scandinavian replicas, were excluded from the
economy
...
Of course, this could have been a rouse into forcing the Norsemen to conform to
further aspects of Anglo-Saxon society
...
Seeing as an economy was already set up in England, but the
Scandinavians relied heavily on trade exchange, the Norse settlers would have been forced
to conform to Anglo-Saxon’ economic supremacy
...


109 Ibid, p
...
Richards, Viking Age England, pp
...
31
112 Ibid, pp
...
It has been
suggested that the vast quantity of valuables was buried by the Danish army retreating from
Tettenhall in 910
...
114 The hoard contains over 8500 items, a large majority of which being silver
...
115 Most importantly, in terms of
Anglo-Scandinavian ethnogeneis, contains coins from Wessex, East Anglia and Mercia,
showing that the Vikings were trading with the Anglo-Saxons and were adapting to their
economy
...
Unquestionably the hoard
gives us an insight into the interaction between ethnicities but does not help define the
extent of the assimilation
...

Although the settlers cannot be attested as ‘legitimate businessmen’ in all cases, they most
certainly furthered their integration through trade and exchange
...

The trade, coins and exchanges show contact between the two cultures and the influence
that the economy had on the creation of the ethnogenic Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid entity
...
The use of slavery as
a commodity, as explored, explains how slaves were used for sexual amusement which
without doubt, in the case of women, resulted in Anglo-Scandinavian offspring
...
T
...
) H
...
R
...
224-225
114 Sir Frank Stenton, Anglo-Saxon England, [3rd edn] (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1975) pp
...
Richards, Viking Age England, p
...
31-32
117 Ibid, p
...
The use of existing trade towns furthered Anglo-Saxon and Norse
communication and resulted in urban settlements with an Anglo-Scandinavian atmosphere
...


Conclusion
The scale of Anglo-Scandinavian integration within the Danelaw can be intensely debated
...
The creation of the Danelaw sparked mass integration between the settlers

and the native society
...
The appearance of the ethnogenic hybrids teaches historians that the
assimilation between the two cultures was relatively common within the Danelaw
...
Although these sources are limited in
detail, and need to be looked at with an open mind, they provide historians with a majority
of the evidence towards explaining the process of ethnogenesis occurring within the
Danelaw
...
This paper explains how the
Scandinavians were willing to make changes in order to assimilate further into the
indigenous society and even abandoned aspects of their lives which defined them as
Norsemen
...
However, whether the Scandinavians came to England with the
intention of assimilating with the native society is completely up to interpretation
...


The study into the cultural and social integration of the two ethnicities shows the
domination of the Anglo-Saxons and the weakness of Norse cultural practices
...
118 The culture and society of the two
ethnicities also reminds us of the importance of women in this period, as cultural
118 Nicholas J
...
Ryan, Place-Names, Language and the Anglo-Saxon Landscape,
(Woodbridge; Boydell Press, 2011) pp
...
Women can be seen as the ‘biological transmitters’ of ethnic groups and the
driving force behind the ethnogenic change occurring in the Danelaw, being in charge of
teaching their children cultural norms and values
...
120 This evidence is
furthered by archaeological artefacts, such as the Winchester style brooch, which would
have been used by both Anglo-Saxons and Scandinavians
...


The study into place-names allows historians to see the lasting changes in society, with the
aid of primary and secondary sources, namely Domesday Book
...
Naturally the
study of place-names aids historians into understanding the regions that were most affected
by the process
...
122 Women were extremely important in the biological reproduction of an
Anglo-Scandinavian identity, and were even more prominent in the upbringing of their
children, teaching them aspects of their culture and religion
...
123 Although this
study looks at a period that saw women as subservient to men, in many aspects, women
119 Florin Curta, Medieval Archaeology and Ethnicity: Where are we?, History Compass 9/7 (Blackwell
Publishing, 2011) p
...
Douglas and Susie I
...
48

121 Jane Kershaw, ‘The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style in Late Saxon England: Metalwork Finds from
the Danelaw’, Anglo-Saxon Studies in Archaeology and History, Vol
...
254-269, (p
...
9, No
...
537-548, (p
...
538

held extremely important roles
...
This, combined with conversion, saw the
creation of a new ethnicity which were schooled in both Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian
cultures and linguistics
...
Christianity’s hold on England and
the Anglo-Saxons appear to have made integration a struggle for the settlers
...
124 Although it can be questioned whether the conversions were legitimately
respected by those they were performed on, the act still displays the weakness of Norse
beliefs and the acceptance of the Scandinavians to conform to Anglo-Saxon customs
...
The act of intermarriage,
resulting in the sexual interaction between the two ethnicities, is explained as being one of
the main reasons for the emergence of an Anglo-Scandinavian identity within the
Danelaw
...
Intermarriage as a social aspect would have resulted in the
exposure of each individual to the other’s culture
...
The topic explores the
importance of trade and market towns in the creation of the new ethnicity
...
This communication is seen
through the emergence of hybrid art forms and the shared use of brooches with mixed

124 David Stocker, (ed
...
Hadley and Julian D
...
2,
(Turnhout: Brepols, 2000) pp
...
192

Norse and Anglo-Saxon styles
...
As explained, the Vikings were well attested slavers and sometimes took Anglo-Saxons
captive on their raiding campaigns
...
127 Although used in exchange circumstances, the
main economic structure appears to have been based around the silver penny
...
As explained, this
adoption of coin use shows conformity to Anglo-Saxon customs and the emergence of an
Anglo-Scandinavian economic structure
...
Trade and exchange can be seen influencing both the culture
and religion of the invaders, bringing them closer to Anglo-Saxon society and creating and
ethnogenic Anglo-Scandinavian society
...
While there
is evidence portraying the integration of the two, there is also evidence showing the
difficulties they had co-operating
...
Even at the end of this
period, the tensions ran high, with Anglo-Saxon kings calling for the slaughter of all Danish
settlers left in England
...


126 Dawn Hadley, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, (Manchester: Manchester University
Press, 2006) p
...
22, No
...
54-63 (p
...
(ed
...
125
129 Matthew Innes, (ed
...
Hadley and Julian D
...
2, (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000) pp
...
Although the quantity of objects from the Viking age in
England is vast, the identification of items as Anglo-Scandinavian can be extremely tricky and
is ultimately left up to the interpretation of the onlooker
...
This can also be seen on Anglo-Scandinavian grave
markers, which also contain assimilative symbols from both societies, and are sometimes
buried in religiously significant locations
...
The Danelaw appears to have been the focal point of AngloScandinavian relations and communication, creating changes and conversions of the people
who lived there
...
This change caused the
creation of a new ethnicity, dubbed by historians as Anglo-Scandinavian
...

Dawn Hadley, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 2006) p
...

Julian Richards, Viking Age England, (Stroud: The History Press, 2010) p
...

David Stocker, (ed
...
Hadley and Julian D
...
2, (Turnhout: Brepols, 2000) pp
...

Julian Richards, Viking Age England, (Stroud: The History Press, 2010) p
...
22, No
...
54-63
Swanton, Michael, (trans
...
Douglas and Susie I
...
), The Anglo Saxon Chronicles,
(876) [E manuscript] (London; Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1961)

Secondary Sources

Abrams, Lesley, Diaspora and identity in the Viking Age (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2012)
Berg, Knut, ‘The Gosforth Cross’, Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, Vol
...
1/2, (1958)
Blackburn, Mark, (ed
...
4, (Royal Historical Society; 1921)
Caliendo, Stephen M
...
McIlwain (ed
...
9,
No
...
537-548
Darby, H
...
and I
...
Maxwell, The Doomsday Geography of Northern England, (Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, 1962)
Davies, Wendy, From the Vikings to the Normans, (Oxford; Oxford University Press, 2003)
Davis, Craig R
...
21, (1992)
Davis, R
...
C
...
97, No
...
803
Downham, Clare, ‘The Viking Slave Trade: Entrepreneurs or Heathen Slavers?’, History
Ireland, Vol
...
3, (Wordwell Ltd, 2009) pp
...
Parsons (ed
...
, and Richards, Julian D
...
) Dawn M
...
Richards,
‘Introduction’, Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England in the Ninth and
Tenth Centuries, Vol
...
James Graham-Campbell, Richard Hall, Judith Jesch and David Parsons, ‘In
Search of the Vikings: The problems and the possibilities of interdisciplinary approaches’,
Vikings and the Danelaw, (Exeter: Oxbow Books, 2001)
Hadley, Dawn, The Vikings in England: Settlement, Society and Culture, (Manchester:
Manchester University Press, 2006)

Hadley, Dawn
...
, Viking and Native: Rethinking Identity in the Danelaw, (Blackwell
Publishing; 2007)
Hall, Richard, Viking Age Archaeology, (Oxford; Shire Publications LTD, 2010) pp
...
) Dawn M
...
Richards, ‘The Viking Presence in England?
The Burial Evidence Reconsidered’, Cultures in Contact: Scandinavian Settlement in England
in the Ninth and Tenth Centuries, Vol
...
, and Martin J
...
A
...
, 2006)
Hooke, Della, Anglo-Scandinavian Settlements, (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1988) p
...
15, (2008)
pp
...
5, (2009) pp
...
), John Blair, Simon Keynes and Donald Scragg, The Blackwell
Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England, (Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 1999)
Loyn, Henry, The Vikings in Britiain, (Oxford; Blackwell, 1994)
Maddicott, J
...
, Review of The Northern Danelaw: Its Social Structure c
...
H
...
T
...
) H
...
R
...
The Anglo Saxon Chronicle is
extremely useful in deciphering the contemporary perceptions of the indigenous population
...
It is because of these limitations that historians must
look at the impact on items
...


Jane Kershaw describes the emergence of an Anglo-Scandinavian archaeological presence in
The Distribution of the “Winchester” Style in Late Saxon England: Metalwork Finds from the
Danelaw
...
This impact is portrayed through the mixture
of native and foreign styles, typically containing both Norse and Anglo-Saxon distictions
...
This secondary source charts the change in both societies to form a new AngloScandinavian society
...
Hadley’s perspective
on the Scandinavian impact of Anglo-Saxon society gives historians information on the
linguistic changes, as well as political accommodations between the two cultures
...
The book explores the culture of both societies and the
amalgamation of the two cultures to form a singular Anglo-Scandinavian hybrid within the
Danelaw
...
The
source allows historians to look at both societal structures and offers an analysis into the

changes that were occurring within the Danelaw
...
The edited
edition contains relevant information describing the assimilation and the adoption of AngloSaxon practices, ranging from political to religious
...
The source offers perspectives on the Anglo-Scandinavian ethnogenic
merge and the reasons behind the disappearance of values which made the Scandinavians
distinctively different from the native population of England
...
The study
into place-names gives historians of this period an idea into what areas were affected by the
Scandinavian settlement, and where integration is most likely to have taken place
...
The book is invaluable, as it provides historians with
documented changes to areas over time as a direct result of Norse and Anglo-Saxon
interaction
...
C
...
The information from the Domesday Book gives us
knowledge into the areas changed in the Danelaw by the end of the 11th century
...
The
emergence of a co-operating society is seen through the archaeological finds, and is
portrayed most strongly on the Gosforth Cross
...
The
research into religious co-operation and conversion is backed by Julian Richard’s Pagans and
Christians at the frontier: Viking burial in the Danelaw
...
The source allows us to take
elements of both religions and compare them, it also aided this essay extensively into

coming to a conclusion on how the Norse religion was dominated by Christianity
...

Vikings and the Danelaw, edited by James Graham-Campbell, among others, schools us in
the importance of religion during this period as well as making us aware that the process of
assimilation occurred in stages
...
Naturally,
this analysis is extremely important when attempting to understand the ethnogenic
emergence that took place in the Danelaw
...
The book, although focusing on the Vikings in England,
explains the trade between the two societies and the constant interaction that occurred as a
result of the Danelaw’s geographical location
...
This
amalgamation of the two societies is further explained in Archaeology, Economy and
Society; England from the Fifth to the Fifteenth Century by David Hinton
...
This
can be seen, and is described as, a result of Anglo-Scandinavian communication
...
The source describes interaction of an Arab
trader with the Vikings, and his shock at some of their daily regimes
...
This is seen through archaeological evidence at Cuerdale
and the place-names in Amounderness
...
They allow readers to analyse archaeological
information and primary sources which explain how the Scandinavians impacted England
and assimilated into Anglo-Saxon society through cultural, economic and religious means

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