Totally unexpected Sweyn Forkbeard became very ill(He was probably suffering from a hereditary heart disease) and on the 3. February he died in his headquarter at Gainsborough. With his neglected wife Gunhild, he had 2 sons. The oldest son, Harald 2 was crowned king of Denmark, Harald 2 had been the ruler of Denmark while Sweyn Forkbeard was in England. The youngest, 17 year old Cnut the great was given the royal scepter and took command of the viking army in England.
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| Cnut the great leading an army |
When the Anglo-Saxons heard that the feared Sweyn Forkbeard was dead, they called Ethelred the unready home to England from his refuge in Normandy and his son Edmund Ironside now led an army prepared to fight the Danish again. Cnut the great had to leave England fast, but before he sailed back to Denmark, he cut of nose,ears and hands of Sweyn Forkbeards hostages in Sandwich.He swore that he would return to England again. Thorkil the tall broke with king Ethelred the unready and sailed to Denmark where he joined Canute the great.
Ireland
23 April: A battle between Irish and vikings resulted in that Clontarf monastery was raided, the Irish king Brian Boru gathered an army and won the battle against the vikings, but was killed by the Danish viking leader of Isle of Man, Brodir, after a group of fleeing vikings had discovered the Irish king. Brodir killed dozens of Irishmen. But Clontarf was a bloodbath of vikings so Brodir chickened into the forest. According to Njal’s Saga, he accidentally ran into King Brian Boru, who was waiting to hear the outcome of the battle.First Killing Brian Boru’s guards, and then Brodir personally killed the king.
The Saga tells that Brian Boru’s brother Wulf the Quarrelsome later tracked Brodir down, nailed his intestines to a tree, and forced him to walk around it until they were all pulled out.Sigurd the stout, Earl of Orkney also died during battle.
Norway
Holmgang declared illegal.
Orkney
Sumarlidi Sigurdsson and his brothers Brusi and Einar Wry-Mouth ruled Orkney following the death of their father, Sigurd Hlodvisson who died at the Battle of Clontarf.
Spain
Viking raids in Spain
