808 - King Godfred captured Reric

Reric was captured by king Godfred

Germany
King Godfred declared that the Obrotrites had crossed the Danish border and then his viking army moved into Mecklenburg supported by the Veleti. The rich town Reric(Now Gross Ström-kendorf) was captured. Reric was vital for the growing transit trade in the North Sea region.

After the capture of Reric, Frankish imperial annals told :"Before the Danish king Godfred returned to his kingdom with the loot(Which the Danes had robbed from the Obrotrites), he destroyed Reric which had delivered him a great tax income, Godfred took the traders with him and sailed to Sliesthorp".On their way back the Danes were attacked by a Frankish army led by Carl, the son of Charlemagne. The Danish heir to the throne Reginald died in the hard struggle battling the Franks.

Since 1995 archaeologists under the leadership of Hauke Jöns, University of Kiel has made excavations near Gross Ström-kendorf, and they found out that the Frankish storytellers had lied, the town could not have been totally destroyed when Thrasco should meet the Danes there a year
after. Archaeologists did not find any signs of warfare and destruction, if the Danes had attacked Reric, the archaeologists would have found arrows and burned down houses.

The Obrotrite capital Reric

An excavation of a viking ship

Hauke Jöns revealed that what happened was a planned deportation, Godfred took artisans and traders to Sliesthorp to strengthen his own area, and then destroyed the trading power of Reric.

It was amateur archaeologists that discovered the first items. they where supported by the growth of trees, which suggested that a town was placed there.

The excavation started with a lot of pictures being taken of the place from the air. Then the area was split into fields 10 x 10 m and then systematically searched with metal detectors. The discovery of many iron riveter witnessed that it were Scandinavian viking ship, because the Slavs only used tree rivets. They also found that some of the dead were buried in shapes formed as a boat graves, a custom only used by
Scandinavian vikings, they also found Frankish,Frisian, Saxon graves and the majority of the graves was 50 Slav urns.

The discovery of 900 boat riveter suggested that a viking shipyard was present and also discoveries of melted glass and glass pearls, that probably a Frankish glass works was present in the town and also 3000 pieces of amber was found, which proofs a large ornament production.

The buildings in Reric were build systematic. The house were build parallel in rows. This indicate that a central government of the town with rules about the placement of the houses. Many of the houses in Reric had their own well, and the wells gave archaeologists important information, because the wells were framed with wood, and this wood showed that the wells were build 722-811.

Charlemagne ordered a strengthening and reconstruction of the castle at Hamburg. As a defense against Slavic and Viking intrusions

954 - Eric Bloodaxe killed in ambush

England Eric Bloodaxe was expelled from York and he was killed in an ambush. According to English sources, Eric died a death on the road, “treacherously killed by Earl Maccus”. But Scandinavian sources tell another tale: Eric met his enemies as the leader of an outnumbered army and there on the high, wind-scoured pass, he died the glorious death. A poem paid for by his wife told that Eric arrivied at Valhalla, welcomed by Valkyries, to feast by Odin’s side. Erik Rex - Bloodaxe coin Eric Bloodaxe was the son of Harald Fairhair and the Danish royal daughter Ragnhild and he succeeded his father on the Norwegian throne, but because of his cruel and atrocious rule he was driven out of Norway and his younger brother Haakon chosen as king of Norway. Stainmore After the murder on Eric Bloodaxe, Northumbria was again brought back to Edred the Anglo-Saxon king and England was united. The widow of Eric Bloodaxe, Gunhild sailed to Denmark with her sons. They received a warm we...

789 and before the infamous Lindisfarne raid

150 A comb found in Vimose, Denmark, features runes on a bone comb, which was the man's name Harja. The name is thus the oldest Norse name.Archaeologists in Denmark have discovered a small knife inscribed with the country’s oldest runic inscription, hirila, meaning ‘Little Sword’ 400 Oldest runestone in Øverby,SE Norway. 500 Radiocarbon dating reveals that the first walls of Dannevirke was build around 480-500 and some older walls were from around 400. In September 2021 a treasurehunter found a 1 kilo gold treasure of coins and jewels buried outside Jelling. 512 The Greek Procopios a secretary at the Byzantine general Belisarius told that emperor Anastasius Dicorus gave permission to Heruli to settle in Illyria, because the Longobards had driven them out from the area between Donau and Dniester. Here they killed their king Onchon and sent some of their people back to Thule to recruit a new king among their fellow tribesmen. They had free passage through the land of the ...

859 - Vikings attacked Spain & burned the mosques of Sevilla and Algeciras

Claus Deleuran: Bjorn Ironside and Hastein Spain A 3 year long viking raid began. Hastein and Bjorn Ironside led 62 dragon ships south to explore the Mediterranean area. They were first driven off from the west coast of Spain by the local Asturians and later suffered a minor defeat against Umayyad Caliphate of Córdoba at Niebla. Claus Deleuran: Vikings looting But then a long series of successful raids happened first: Lisbon, Portugal and then they went through the Straits of Gibraltar sacking Algeciras and burnt down the great mosque in the town and plundered the surrounding countryside. Algeciras became the fleet’s base, and ships sailed over to Morocco, hunting for thralls. Their target was the Princedom of Nakur, a town several kilometres from the coast, near today’s Al-Mazimma . The Vikings terrorised the inhabitants for several days and took Prince Said ibn Idris and numerous women and children prisoner, to be released later in return for ransom money. In Spain th...

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