Full resolution (JPEG) - On this page / på denna sida - Scandinavian Britain - II. The Danelaw - 4. The Kingdom of York
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He was also to ask the army to give him the land
between Tyne and Wear, as a gift to St. Cuthbert and
a sanctuary for criminals. Confident in his mission,
he carried out its directions, found the boy, ransomed
him, gained the army’s consent and the gift of the
land, and proclaimed Guthred king at "Oswigedune."
Eardwulf then brought to the same place the relics
of St. Cuthbert, on which every one swore good faith
and "lived happily ever after." The relics remained
until 999 at Chester-le-Street, and there Eardwulf
re-established the bishopric.
The date of Guthred’s election is given by Symeon
as 883, but if he reigned (as the Libellus says) for
fourteen years, it must have occurred a little earlier ;
in fact in 880, not long after the death of Halfdan, if
he were the king slain at Strangford Lough. Though
there is so much legend attached to Guthred’s name,
his subsequent history shows that he was a peaceful
and Christian king, curiously illustrating the rapidity
with which Viking colonists, if not treated as enemies,
became "acclimatised." Until nearly the end of his
reign he never came into collision with Wessex : he
swore peace with Ælfred at the coming of Hástein ;
and Æthelnoth, ealdorman of Somerset, is said by
Æthelwerd to have made York the base of his operations
against Hástein. This new attitude of the
Danish colony is shown by the statement that Sigeferth
(Sigfrith jarl from Dublin ?) landed twice, and
ravaged the Northumbrian coast, after the taking of
Benfleet during Hástein’s invasion : Vikings turned
bourgeois were fair game.
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