In 954 the last great Viking warlord (with the appropriately vicious name of Eirik Blood-axe) died on Stanmoor, north of York, and for almost 30 years England was free of the ravages of Viking raiders.
Viking raids resumed in 980 with several years of minor raids which slowly increased in intensity. They were using the ports of Normandy (where some of them may have had cousins or other relatives) to repair their ships and possibly even trade their booty. This led to a sharp deterioration in relations between England and Normandy.
Having heard of the problems between England and Normandy, the Pope sent an envoy with instructions to arrange a treaty. The envoy did his work well, and on 1st March 991 the treaty was duly signed in Rouen and Norman ports became closed to Viking raiders.
All this was too late for the inhabitants of Ipswich however. In August the same year Olaf Tryggvason led a large fleet and sacked the town. In answer to this the local Ealdorman, Byrhtnoth, led his Fyrd and hearth-troop to meet the Vikings. This resulted in the now famous Battle of Maldon. The result was an English defeat and the Vikings spent the next four months ravaging Kent, Hampshire and other parts of Wessex. Finally Æthelræd and Olaf signed a treaty and the Vikings were paid 22,000 pound of gold and silver to cease their raiding.
Unfortunately treaties with Viking chieftains did not apply to other chieftains, so Northumbria was raided again in 993.
Having rested during 992 & 993, Olaf decided the treaty did not apply to him any more either and in 994 he led a fleet of 94 warships to attack south-eastern England, helped by Swein (the King of Denmark's son). Again peace had to be bought and this time the price was 16,000 pounds. After this Olaf disappears from English history, as he used the money extracted from the people of England to return to his homeland of Norway and establish himself as King.
Another two year break ended with arrival off the coast of Wessex of yet another large Viking fleet in 997, and this one was not going home after just one summer. They first attacked Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and South Wales. In 998 they moved on to Dorset, Hampshire and Sussex.
In 999 they attacked Kent and burned the city of Rochester. By now the raiders posed such a threat to Anglo-Saxon England that King AEthelraed was forced to recruit bands of Viking warriors in order to counter the threat posed by their fellow countrymen. London is full of references to the presence of Vikings in and around the city. One of the most prominent of these was known as Padaswick Green and was in the part of West London known today as Ravenscourt Park. (In Old Norse, 'Pada-' is the word for a Raven and '-wic' is an Anglo-Saxon word denotes a campsite or marketplace.) Having taken all they could from Southern England the Vikings moved to France where they spent the following summer.
They came back in 1001 though, and again attacked Sussex and Devon. Although Exeter held out against them, nothing could disguise the fact that the Vikings were masters of the English Channel and could go where they chose.
Finally in the spring of 1002 another truce was purchased, this time for 22,000 pounds of silver. By now King AEthelræd and his advisors were badly shaken by their numerous defeats and when he was told that the Danes living in England were plotting to kill him and take over the kingdom, he ordered that all "Danish men in England be killed". The date chose for this terrible deed was St. Brices day, 13th November. Clearly this undetaking was beyond even the by now paranoid Æthelræd, but nevertheless on the appointed day a large number of Danes living in England were dragged into the streets and killed. No mercy was shown and some of those killed were women and children. Indeed in Oxford, where some Danes took refuge in a church, the church was burned down and all those within killed. Unfortunately for England, one of those killed was Gunnhild, sister of King Swein Forkbeard of Denmark, who died with her husband and child.
King Swein swore to avenge his dead sister, and with the armies of Denmark and Norway and help from his allies the Jomsborg Vikings and the King of Sweden, he invaded England in 1003. He attacked Wessex and sacked Exeter, moving on to raid Wilton and Salisbury before turning back to their ships.
The following year Swein was back. He invaded East Anglia and sacked Norwich and Thetford before he was met in battle by the Thegns of East Anglia under Ulfkell Snilling. Although the Vikings won, their losses were so great that they returned home early in 1005.
In 1006 they came back again. This time they occupied Sandwich and raided across the south east, avoiding the large army called out to fight them, until they returned to their ships and anchored off the Isle of Wight. Then, in the depths of winter they struck again. They raided Hampshire and Berkshire as far as Reading and then crossed the Chilterns towards Wallingford. Next they turned west along the Ridge Way, defeated the Wiltshire Fyrd near Avebury, and swept on past Winchester to the coast. Again the English King and Nobles had no choice but to pay and early in 1007 they paid a tribute of 36,000 pounds.
Two more years passed before the Vikings returned with what historians recognise was probably the largest and most dangerous army to threaten England thus far. For the next two years they raided and plundered wherever they wanted. A chronicler of the time estimated that they ravaged part or all of twenty counties in less than as many months. Their final triumph in September 1011 was the capture of Canterbury. This time the amount demanded in tribute was 48,000 pounds and this great sum was delivered in April 1012. While waiting for their tribute one band of raiders murdered the Archbishop of Canterbury who was being held hostage, and this led to one famous Viking chieftan (Thorkel The Tall) and his 40 ships joining Æthelræd when the rest of the Vikings sailed home.
By 1013 Swein knew that England was his for the taking and his belief was confirmed when he landed at Gainsborough. He was immediatly acclaimed King by the men of Northumbria, Lindsey, the Five Boroughs and the whole of Danish England south of the Welland and East of Watling Street. Having secured a base he marched into southern England where Oxford, Winchester and Wilton surrendered as soon as he appeared outside their gates. Although his first attack on London failed, the city later surrendered to him and the whole of England was now under his control. At this point Æthelræd fled to Normandy.
Swein did not live to enjoy his success however, and died on 3rd February 1014. Although acclaimed king by his men, Swein's son, Cnut, was not confident enough to remain in England so he returned to Denmark in April the same year.
Having raised a new army in Denmark, Cnut returned in 1015 to claim the throne. For the next 6 months Cnut and AEthelraed fought a confused war which did not end even after Æthelræds death on 23rd April 1016. The struggle was taken up by Æthelræds eldest son Edmund Ironside and finally, after a further 6 months warfare a truce was agreed. Under its terms Edmund remained as King of Wessex and all the lands south of the Thames, while Cnut was acknowledged as King of the rest of England including London.
Fate intervened again however when, on 30th November 1016 Edmund Ironside died and the West Saxons accepted Cnut as their King. Æthelraeds youger son, Edward, fled to his mothers home in Normandy, wher he stayed until he returned to become King of England in 1042. For the next 26 years Cnut and his two sons, Harold and Harthacanute, reigned over England as well as (at various times) Denmark, Norway and a big chunk of modern Sweden.