Maritime record MWX2190 - Viking fleet

120 Danish Galleys foundered in 877 at Swanage in a storm. Which were en route from Wareham to raise King Alfred's blockade of Exeter. Loss Date: 01/01/877

The reported loss of some 120 Danish galleys at Swanage changed the course of English history. Having sailed into Wareham, the Danes fought the West Saxons for months until a truce was negotiated, when Saxon money was exchanged for hostages and the Danes gave Alfred a solemn oath to leave Wessex. The enemy in fact departed but made for Exeter instead. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is ambiguous about the sequence of events, the wrecks either being the result of fog or gale force winds, and the vessels may have been reinforcements rather than the original force which had landed at Wareham. The failure of the full Danish fleet to reach Exeter caused the remainder to accede to Alfred's demands and quit the city for Gloucester, which was in Mercian territory. (1-2) The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is ambiguous as to whether 120 ships were lost from the English side or the Viking side, since it exists in 6 versions, A to F: 877 (877 MS C): In this year the enemy army from Wareham came to Exeter; [and the naval force sailed west along the coast] (a) and encountered a great storm at sea (b) and 120 ships were lost at Swanage. (3) [(a): omitted in MSS. B and C; (b) in A,D,E; B and C state a fog]. It is unclear therefore whether the version as reconstructed in A, D and E refers to the `great storm being encountered by a separate English force in pursuit; the reading in B and C appears to indicate the ships of the `enemy army. Alternatively, `naval force may refer to Viking ships taking a parallel course to the Viking land troops. `...the county is not mentioned again until towards the end of the long struggle of nearly fifteen years during which the Danes were fighting for the conquest of England. In 876 Guthrum, with his division, which had wintered in the Midlands, `stole away from Cambridge to Wareham. Probably he embarked in Orwell Haven and went by sea. That Guthrum, or some of those with him, knew the strength of the Wareham position affords reasonable presumption that they must have learned the topography of the district as the result of small raids not noticed by the chroniclers. Notwithstanding a solemn undertaking to leave the kingdom, part of the Danish army escaped and occupied Exeter; the remainder held Wareham until the spring of 877, when they left by sea to raise the blockade instituted by Alfred and relieve their beleaguered comrades in the western capital. The relieving fleet was caught by a storm and driven into Swanage Bay where 120 ships were wrecked. The Danes in Exeter thereupon surrendered...(4) (This source cites the following source; Traditions of Danish slaughter still linger in the neighbourhood of Wool (Moule, Old Dorset, 139)) (Taken from the `Dorset Maritime History section of this web site.) A large painting illustrating this event entitled `King Alfred's Longships by Colin Gill is situated in St. Stephens Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, London.(5)

A large painting illustrating this event entitled 'King Alfred's Longships defeating the Danes 877' by Colin Gill is situated in St. Stephen's Hall, in the Palace of Westminster, London. The event is interpreted as King Alfred's naval force of longships defeating the supply ships of the Danish invaders. (6)

Interpretation of wreck event:

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle is ambiguous as to whether 120 ships were lost from the English side or the Viking side, or both, since it exists in 6 versions, A to F. It is also ambiguous as to whether the losses occurred because of weather or because of a naval battle, i.e. whether the storm and the consequent loss of 120 ships form part of the same incident, or form a conjunction of different events, with an ellipsis for the battle.

It is unclear whether the version of events as reconstructed in the A, D & E manuscripts of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refers to the 'great storm' being encountered by a separate English force in pursuit; the reading in B & C appears to indicate the ships of the 'enemy army'. Alternatively, 'naval force' may refer to Viking ships taking a parallel course to the Viking land troops.

The apparent later interpolations in source (7) appear to describe battle being joined (8), which must be one of the sources for the painting. (9)

Date of Loss Qualifier: Approximate date of loss

Additional sources cited in Shipwreck Index of the British Isles:
Guide to Purbeck Coast and Shipwrecks, Legg, p76

<1> Larn, Richard, 1992, United Kingdom shipwreck index, Extracted 23 November 1992 (Index). SWX5030.

<2> 1975, Dorset magazine : the county magazine vol. 48, n/a (Article in serial). SWX4573.

<3> Larn, R, and Larn, B, 1995, Shipwreck index of the British Isles, volume 1 : Isles of Scilly, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset Section 6, Dorset (AJ) Vol 1 (Monograph). SWX4541.

<4> United Kingdom Hydrographic Office, 1992, Hydrographic Office wreck index, p48 (Index). SWX4837.

<5> World Wide Web page andlt;http://www.pbenyon.plus.com/Naval.htmlandgt; [Accessed 24-Mar-2003] (Digital archive). SWX4879.

<6> http://www.parliament.uk/worksofart/artwork/colin-gill/king-alfred's-long-ships-defeat-the-danes-877/2600, > accessed on 14-AUG-2013 (Digital archive). SDO20637.

<7> Giles, J A (trans and ed), 1847, De Rebus Gestis Aelfredi (Monograph). SDO20638.

<8> De Rebus Gestis Aelfredi (Monograph). SDO20639.

<9> NRHE Compiler's comments, 14-AUG-2013 (Verbal communication). SDO19863.

<10> Le Pard, G, 1995-2003, Dorset Coast Forum Maritime Archaeological Database, 307 (Digital archive). SWX8707.

<11> National Record of the Historic Environment, 900404 (Digital archive). SDO14739.

Record last edited

Mar 31 2024 7:06PM