An East Coast Whoishe?

tillergirl

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Since it is:

(a) raining
(b) windless

how about an East Coast Who is he? Do you know your history?

Clues:

1. First recorded event of English fair play on the battlefield
2. "The heathen shall fall in the war. Not so likely shall you come by the treasure: point and edge shall first make atonement, grim warplay, before we pay tribute.

Not the best photo - and no that's not my Mum and Dad on the bench!

113-1335_IMG.jpg
 
Because he played fair! (tongue in cheek). The Vikings were on Northey Island, estimated at between 2000 and 4000 and Brythnoth had some hundreds. The Norse wanted to fight on dry firm land and not on the muddy causeway (where they were at a disadvantage) Bryth let them get ashore and draw up in battle lines. Then the Norse chopped his head off!

see http://www.battleofmaldon.org.uk/ and the poem!
 
And, as the website says:

"Brythnoth was important because, although he lost the battle, he inspired the Saxons to resist the maurading Danes." (sic)

Sounds as if the Danes got tired of raping, burning, pillaging ( and probably even marauding) and took up maurading instead. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Rudolph: personally I doubt whether he inspired the Saxons at all. Ethelred spent enormous sums of money on Danegeld thereafter, did a marriage to forge an alliance with the Norse in Northern France thinking that would keep the Danes away (and where William got the idea that he was entitled to the throne of England) and in the end ran away! The Danes needed decent fertile land - we had it!

Wingdiver: I think the boat in the 'dry dock' is a conversion of a wooden Scottish fishing boat. I can't be sure as there were two similar vessels around at the time. I'll see if I can ask someone else.
 
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