The Harrying of the Heathen

• Main Author: Pegg, Mark Gregory
• Format: Book Part
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford University Press 2023
• Subjects: North Atlantic
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199766482.003.0006; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/58130700/oso-9780199766482-chapter-6.pdf

Abstract This chapter cites the appearance of the Northmen as a transformative moment in the West in the late eighth century. Northmen's appearance resulted in their continued raiding, conquest, and colonization for centuries. Moreover, the pagan holy warfare, which was embodied by longships, was shocking and destabilizing from the North Atlantic to the Mediterranean. The chapter explains that the inherent fractiousness of the Franks on the Rhine was aggravated and hastened by the Northmen. Despite the violence of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian pirate fleets, Northmen helped reinforce and create a more universal sense of Christianity transcending the much smaller parochial Christendoms.