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England and the Scandinavian lands, soon to be
brought into closer connexion.
Another country came into view, so to speak, from
the shores of southern England when vikings from
Norway began to be recognised among the invaders.
On the west coast the Norse were well known ; Ælfred
had written of his visitors from Halogaland and the
Baltic ; traders from the fjords had taken cargoes to
English ports, and among the hosts of earlier years
many a Norseman had been numbered. But so far
no distinctly Norwegian army had attacked southern
England. In 991 Jóstein (Justin) and Guthmund
plundered Ipswich ; they are called Danes, and Justin
is a Danish form of the name ; but a Jóstein was
maternal uncle of King Olaf Tryggvason, who joined
this party, and Guthmund is called Justin’s brother.
At Maldon they overthrew the Essex levies under
Brihtnoth, in a battle made famous by the ballad
which tells how the bridge was defended by three
champions, one of whom—from his name Maccus—
seems to have been of Viking origin himself. One
result of this battle was the first payment of
that enormous Danegeld which soon became the
chief feature of these new invasions. On this
occasion archbishop Sigeric, ealdorman Æthelwerd
the chronicler, and Ælfric of Hampshire were the
negotiators on the English side ; they have borne the
blame of initiating the weak and disastrous course of
money-payments which tempted Viking attacks. But
it was no new thing. From 865 onwards such blackmail
was levied. Freeman notes a bequest to Hyde
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