#lindisfarne raid

Pagans have desecrated God's sanctuary, shed the blood of saints around the altar... What assurances can the churches of Britain have, if St Cuthbert and so great a company of saints do not defend their own?

This period [550 – 790] is known as the Vendel Period, after a major archaeological find from the time.  It saw the emergence of a proto-Norse culture whose upper echelons were rich enough to import horses from the emerging kingdom of the Franks.  Some of the legends and sagas from this era refer to princes and highborn warriors fighting on horseback, although foot combat was the norm. Much of what we know of this era comes from archaeological finds such as that at Vendel.  These included great riches and extremely high-quality craftsman-made items as well as goods that can only have been imported.  During this period, shipbuilding technology advanced to the point where it was possible to trade in the British Isles and to settle the Orkneys.  Lengthy expeditions became possible, bringing about what is normally called the Viking Age.  This is [usually] defined as beginning in 793 AD with the first large-scale 'Viking' raid on Lindisfarne, a tidal island on the north-east coast of England.  However, Scandinavian ships had been making expeditions to Britain for at least a few years previously.  By the common definition of the term, the crews of these ships were Vikings.