3. Blood Eagles: The Great Heathen Army
3/24/202651 min
Emboldened by their forays, the Vikings escalate their raiding. Using shield walls, berserker shock troops and opportunistic tactics, the Norsemen’s military capacity grows. We experience life inside a Viking winter camp, as pirates become occupiers. A massive invasion force - the Great Heathen Army - overwhelms England. The only hold-out is the Kingdom of Wessex, whose ruler - Alfred - must deal with this unstoppable foe…
A Noiser podcast production. Narrated by Iain Glen.
Featuring Lars Brownworth, Ben Raffield, Elizabeth Rowe, Pragya Vohra, Davide Zori.
Written by Roger Morris | Prod...
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First 90 secondsIain Glen· Host0:00
[dramatic music] It's 836 AD. A battle is in progress in the Kingdom of Wessex. A fleet of thirty-five Viking longships has put in at Carum, modern-day Carhampton on the Somerset coast, not far from Minehead. They've been met by an army led by King Egbert. [men yelling] Egbert is a formidable military leader. Under his reign, Wessex, a large southern territory, has become the most dominant of the English kingdoms, a position secured by defeating neighboring Mercia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle will dub Egbert Bretwalda, overlord of Britain. It is the first step towards the position that his grandson, Alfred the Great, will one day claim, King of all the English. [men yelling] The battle rages. Sword blades crash. Spears probe for gaps between shields. Battle axes shatter skulls. A hail of arrows blocks out the sun. For the Viking warriors, death holds no fear. If they survive the battle, they will live to fight another day. If not, a glorious afterlife in Valhalla awaits. They throw themselves into the fray, pushing against the mass of the enemy with their shields.