Portland Viking Raid 982
History & Significance
Viking expansion was the historical movement, beginning in the 8th century, which led Vikings to sail most of the North Atlantic, reaching south as far as North Africa and east as far as Russia, and through the Mediterranean as far as Constantinople and the Middle East, acting as looters, traders, colonists and mercenaries. To the west, Vikings under Leif Erikson (the heir to Erik the Red) reached North America and set up a short-lived settlement in present-day L'Anse aux Meadows, Newfoundland, Canada. Longer lasting and more established Norse settlements were formed in Greenland, Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Russia, Ukraine, Britain, Ireland, Normandy and Sicily.
By the 11th century expansion largely ceased, but many areas were left with populations of Viking descent, integrated into other local populations in various ways. Some Viking descendents formed ruling dynasties or elites, while elsewhere they settled down as farmers.
There is much debate among historians about what drove the Viking expansion. Researchers have suggested that Vikings may have originally begun seeking out women from foreign lands. The concept was expressed in the 11th century by historian Dudo of Saint-Quentin in his semi-imaginary History of The Normans. Rich and powerful Viking men tended to have many wives and concubines, and these polygynous relationships may have led to a shortage of eligible women for the average Viking male. Thus the average Viking man could have been forced to perform riskier actions to gain wealth and power to be able to find suitable women. Viking men would often buy or capture women and make them into their wives or concubines. Polygynous marriage increases male-male competition in society because it creates a pool of unmarried men who are willing to engage in risky status-elevating and sex-seeking behaviors. The Annals of Ulster states that in 821 the Vikings plundered an Irish village and "carried off a great number of women into captivity".
Raiding parties offered not only the opportunity for violence and wealth, but also the chance to be noticed by their peers and superiors. They offered the opportunity to build a reputation for skill, reliability, cunning, or courage. Just as raiding leaders had more to gain than just material wealth, their followers could also gain intangible social capital by participating. Another theory is that it was a quest for revenge against continental Europeans for past aggressions against the Vikings and related groups, such as Charlemagne's Saxon Wars in which he forced pagans to convert to Christianity by killing any who refused to become baptized. Those who favor this explanation point out that the penetration of Christianity into Scandinavia caused serious conflict and divided Norway for almost a century. However, the first target of Viking raids was not the Frankish Kingdom but Christian monasteries in England. According to historian Peter Sawyer, these were raided because they were centers of wealth and their farms well-stocked, not because of any religious reasons.
The ground they fought on
The site of Portland Viking Raid 982 lies on Portland Group, bedrock that formed in the Portlandian. The rock here is limestone and calcareous sandstone.
No specific sourced detail about this raid is available from the provided material.
Frequently Asked Questions
Everything a full report reveals about Portland Viking Raid 982
This page covers Portland Viking Raid 982. A full Aubrey report for the area pulls together this battle alongside scheduled monuments and everything else the record holds within a few miles:
Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.
Scheduled Monuments near Portland Viking Raid 982
Other Early Medieval Battles
Battles near Portland Viking Raid 982
Explore the landscape around Dorset
Aubrey generates in-depth historical research for any location in the UK — drawing on Domesday records, scheduled monuments, Victorian OS maps, geological data and archaeological archives to tell the full story of a place.
- Viking expansion · Wikipedia
- List of wars by death toll · Wikipedia