The Anglo-Saxon defeat at Maldon led directly to the first payment of Danegeld, setting a precedent of buying off Viking raiders that weakened English resistance.
Key Facts
- Date
- 10 or 11 August 991 AD
- Location
- Near Maldon, beside the River Blackwater, Essex
- Danegeld paid
- 10,000 Roman pounds (3,300 kg) of silver
- Estimated Viking force
- 2,000–4,000 fighting men
- English commander
- Earl Byrhtnoth
- Possible Viking leader
- Olaf Tryggvason
By the Numbers
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
During the reign of Æthelred the Unready, Viking forces—possibly led by Olaf Tryggvason—launched an invasion into Essex. Earl Byrhtnoth gathered his thegns to resist the incursion near Maldon beside the River Blackwater, facing an enemy force estimated at two to four thousand men despite commanding a comparatively small English contingent.
On 10 or 11 August 991, Earl Byrhtnoth and his Anglo-Saxon thegns engaged the Viking invaders in pitched battle near Maldon. The English forces were defeated, and Byrhtnoth himself was killed. The engagement was later commemorated in the Old English poem commonly known as The Battle of Maldon, which preserves attributed speeches and vivid detail of the fighting.
Following the defeat, Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury and the aldermen of the south-western provinces counselled King Æthelred against further armed resistance. Acting on this advice, the king paid the Vikings 10,000 Roman pounds of silver as Danegeld—roughly £1.8 million in 2022 values—establishing a pattern of tribute payments that would recur and grow throughout Æthelred's reign.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Earl Byrhtnoth.
Side B
1 belligerent
Olaf Tryggvason (possible).