History

Vikingar várum vér Nú erum vinir Stendr stein at merki Støṑr rúnum

Vikings in 997...and a millenium later in 1997!

Poor Anglo-Saxon Britain - fleets of Vikings haunted the shores of Britain from 793AD when Lindisfarne Abbey, north of Newcastle, was sacked, right through to about 1010AD when Swein of Denmark briefly became King of England, followed shortly afterwards by the more famous King Canute. Most summers a fleet would cruise around looking for easy plunder, sometimes over-wintering this side of the North Sea.

Both sides learned as they interacted. King Alfred did a good job keeping the Danes at bay after they had taken over East Anglia. In particular he set up a series of fortified small towns, known as ‘Burhs’, making it much harder for seaborne raiders to penetrate inland.

In what is now West Devon. the most important were Exeter in the walls of the old Roman town, Totnes, and Lydford. The last was particularly important when it had a new Royal mint, making silver pennies all stamped with the name of the coiner and the mint. It opened in 975 and went on for 70 years, long before the present castle was built, using locally mined silver.

For their part, successive Danish leaders learnt the geography of the areas and thus how to strike both coastal places and inland. In 997 we suffered a significant raid here, after the Danish fleet had cruised and raided all along the Bristol Channel.

Here is how the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle recorded it: ‘the Danes coasted back about Penwith-steort (Lands End) on the south side, and turning into the mouth of the Tamar, went up until they came to Hlidaforda (Lydford), burning and slaying everything that they met. Moreover, Ordulf’s minster at Aetefingstoc (Tavistock) they burned to the ground, and brought to their ships incalculable plunder’

The Abbey was a recent foundation, barely 20 years before the raid. It must be imagined that all the buildings then were of wood. Did the Burh at Lydford hold out? I do not know; I do know, however, that no less than 44 Lydford-minted silver pennies are in the Royal Stockholm Museum. The King at the time of the raid was Aethelred the Unready; it is recorded that he several times gave large sums of money (Danegeld) to the Danes to stop their attacks. It was always a temporary measure, encouraging them to return for more! Draw your own conclusions as to the source of these pennies.

To commemorate the Millennium of this raid, four Viking longships arrived at the mouth of the Tamar in 1997. This was of course an organised trip, not a raid! They were welcomed and hosted at Mount Edgcumbe Country Park, camping there and being much-visited. A special conference was also held in Tavistock all about the Vikings, with lectures by distinguished historians.

Two granite stones were commissioned to be carved as memorials. A rough carving is immediately below Lydford Castle in a lane next to the Church. A much finer carving with clear writing on it is on the West Hoe in Plymouth. Round the base are the names of the current nations from which

Vikingar várum vér Nú erum vinir Stendr stein at merki Støṑr rúnum the Vikings came, also of course Plymouth. Note that the original raid did not visit Plymouth at all. It did not exist, except perhaps as a tiny fishing village at Sutton Harbour. Vikingar várum vér Nú erum vinir Stendr stein at merki Støṑr rúnum

A scroll round the top of the Hoe stone has runic lettering. This is a typically alliterative poem in old Norse. Vikingar várum vér Nú erum vinir Stendr stein at merki Støṑr rúnum If, sadly, you cannot read Old Norse, here is a rough translation: Vikings we were Now we are friends This stone stands as a mark, Fixed with runes Why not drive or get a bus to Lydford village and explore? The lanes and earthworks from the Saxon Burgh can still be traced. There is a neat plan next to the Norman Castle.

Viking stone below Lydford castle Viking stone on Plymouth Hoe

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