A Chronology of Viking
Raids into Wales
795
C.E. .....................Some scholars believe that Viking incursions
into Wales began in this year, suggesting that the Vikings who raided the
Church on Recru or Lombay Island had sailed there from a previous attack
upon Wales.
835
C.E. .....................The inhabitants of Cornwall (the West Welsh)
were in contact with the Viking raiders whom they contracted with to fight
against the Anglo-Saxon King Ecgberht. Ecgberht had subjugated the
Cornish in 823.
850
C.E. .....................Welsh Annals record that one Cyngen died on the
swords of "the Heathen," meaning Viking raiders.
850
to 870 C.E. ..........The southern Welsh districts of Gwent, Glamorgan
and Dyfedd suffer Norse attacks.
854
C.E. ...................Vikings referred to as Y Llu Du attacked
Môn.
855
or 856 C.E. ........Dubh-Ghenti led by a Norse-Irish chieftain named
Horm or Ormr attack Gwynedd, only to be repelled by Rhodri Mawr, who slew
Horm.
865
C.E. ...................Óláfr Cuaran and Ivarr Beinlausi,
son of Ragnar Loðbrokk, the co-rulers of Dublin raid Strathclyde (also
known as Cumbria or Cumberland)
870
C.E. ...................Óláfr Cuaran and Ívarr Beinlausi
beseige the Welsh stronghold of Alcluith, which fell after four months
to the beseigers.
871
C.E. ..................The Irish Annals record that Óláfr
Cuaran and Ívarr Beinlausi returned to Dublin after their raids
against the Strathclyde Welsh, Albans, and Saxons with two hundred ships
and English, Welsh, and Pictish captives to be sold into slavery.
875
C.E. ...................Hálfdan, son of Ragnarr Loðbrokk, attacks
Deira and Cambridge, raiding heavily among the Strathclyde Welsh and the
Picts of Galloway.
876
C.E. ...................The Norse attack in the famous Sunday Battle of
Anglesea (Gweith Duw Sul)
876
C.E. ..................The Western Host, the naval force supporting the
Danish attack upon King Alfred of Mercia and led by Ivarr Beinlausi and
Hubba, the sons of Ragnarr Loðbrokk, is off the Welsh coatline, indulging
in the occasional raiding of the Welsh as well as maintaining the campaign
against Alfred. The fleet wintered in South Wales.
877
C.E. .................Rhodri Mawr forced to flee to Ireland to shelter
from the raiders.
878
C.E. ..................Norse mercenaries in the employ of Hywel ab Ieuaf
ab Idwal the Bald destroy the Church of Clynnog Fawr and attack the Lleyn
territory in Gwynedd. Hywel had hired the Norsemen to assist in his fight
for the throne of Gwynedd.
879
C.E. ..................The gentiles or Norsemen captured Iago ab
Idwal the Bald, leaving the way clear for Hywel to become king of Gwynedd.
890
C.E. ..................Y Normanyeit Duon or black Northmen attack
Castell Baldwin in Powys.
893
C.E. ..................The Danes, led by a man named Haesten, marched up
beside the Thames, crossed over and ravaged the Severn Valley.
Welshmen rom Gwent and Glynwysing, as well as some of Anarawd's men from
Gwynedd, cooperated with Alfred the Great to battle and defeat the raiders
at Buttingtune on the Severn shore.
895
to 896 C.E. .......Danes wintering in Quatbridge in the Severn valley harry
into South Wales, including Brycheiniog, Gwent, Gwynllwg, Morgannwg and
Buellt.
902
C.E. ..................Irish capture the fortress of Dublin in Ireland,
driving the Dublin Vikings across the sea to North Wales. They were
opposed by Welsh forces under the command of either Hywel ap Cadell ap
Rhodri Mawr or his younger brother Clydog, driving the Norsemen into the
vicinty of Chester.
903
C.E. ..................A party of Danes referred to as Dub Gint
or black pagans under the command of Ingimundr attacked the Welsh in pitched
battle at Ros Meilon or Osmeliavn, perhaps near Holyhead.
904
C.E. ..................The Danes kill Mervyn ap Rhodri Mawr in a retaliatory
raid.
905
to 910 C.E. .......Eirík Bloodaxe, son of King Haraldr Harfagra
of Norway, raids Wales, Scotland, Ireland and Brittany.
913
to 918 C.E. .......A renewed Norse force re-takes Dublin, establishing
Sihtric as king. In 918 Dublin Norse raiders attack Anglesey.
915
C.E. ..................A large Viking fleet based on the Continent
under the command of Óttarr and Hróaldr ravaged Gwent as
far inland as Archenfield, capturing a bishop named Cyfeiliog ("Cameleac"
in the chronicle), who was later ransomed by the Saxon king Edward the
Elder for a sum of forty pounds.
918
to 952 C.E. .......For reasons unknown, the Norse cease raids on Anglesea
and Wales, perhaps due in part to the unified military response to raids
organized by Hywel, who had consolidated much of the northern and southern
portions of Wales under his rule, and established diplomatic relations
with the English which allowed Wales and England to support one another
against the Scandinavian onslaught.
937
C.E. ..................Welsh forces join with Scandinavian and Scottish
troops to fight against the English in the Battle of Brunanburh.
952
to 1000 C.E. ......Annual Viking raids upon the Welsh coast resume.
952
C.E. ...................Brut y Tywysogion records that Hirmawr and
Anarawd ap Gwriad (possibly the sons of King Now ap Gwriad of Glamorgan)
died at the hands of the paganaid Vikings.
961
C.E. ...................The annals record that "the sons of Abloec
ravaged Caer Gybi and Lleyn." Abloec (from the Irish Amhlaoibh)
meaning Óláfr Cuaran, ruler of the Dublin Norse. Ólaf's
sons included Gluniarain ("Iron-Knee"), Sitric Silkenbeard, Ragnall, Aralt,
Amancus, and possibly Gillapatraic. Caer Gybi is modern Holyhead, Anglesey.
It is interesting to note that Óláfr Cuaran professed Christianity
in 943, and his son Sitric's cross-imprinted coinage shows that he likewise
accepted the Christian faith, yet this did not seem to affect their decision
to attack churches and monastic institutions outside their own domains.
963
C.E. ...................The monastic establishment at Towyn or Tywyn raided
by Vikings. Aberffraw in Anglesea, royal seat of the kings of Gwynedd,
was attacked by paganaid.
968
C.E. ..................Ívarr of Limerick is driven out of Ireland
by King Mathgamhain of Munster. Ívarr's response was to sail west
to Wales to try and carve a new kingdom there. The Limerick Norse
were apparently repulsed by "the king of Britain" and the next year
Ívarr sailed back to Limerick, slew Beolan Littill and his son,
and re-established his rule on the larger islands of the Shannon.
971
C.E. ..................King Magnús Haraldsson, ruler of Man and
Limerick, leads an attack on the monastic house of Penmon in Anglesey.
972
C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson, brother of King Magnús
of Man and Limerick, attacks and conquers Anglesey. The Welsh annalists
record that a King Edgar gave "the men of Gotfrid sanction to remain in
Mona."
977
C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson succeeds his brother
Magnús as king.
980
C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson allies with King Cystennin
ab Iago of Gwynedd to support Cystennin against Hywel ab Ieuaf, who was
attempting to capture the Gwenedd throne for himself. The combined
Welsh-Danish force devastated Anglesey from where they crossed to
Lleyn and continued ravaging the peninsula until Hywel's troops faced them
in the Battle of Hirbarth, where Cysteinn was killed.
982
to 1000 C.E. .....St. David's and its religious sanctuary (medieval Menevia)
becomes an especial focus of Norse attacks.
The
Church of St. David at Menevia
982 C.E.
..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson launches a campaign into
Southern Wales, heavily raiding Dyved and despoiling the Church of St.
David at Menevia. Goðfriðr met the Welsh in battle at the Battle
of Llanwannawc or Llangweithenauc.
987
C.E. ..................Goðfriðr Haraldsson again attacks Anglesey
with his kenhedloedd duon (the black gentiles). Wales was experiencing
a time of civil war and internecine battling as the kings of the north
and south attempted to enlarge their realms at the expense of their neighbors.
King Maredudd ab Owain of South Wales attacked and killed King Cadwallon
of Gwynedd, brother of Hywel ab Ieuaf, annexing Gwynedd to his own lands.
At this stage of the hostilities, Goðfriðr was summoned by the
deposed Gwynedd royal family, and won an overwhelming victory over Maredudd
ab Owain at the Battle of Mannan. Maredudd had a thousand men slain, andother
two thousand men captured, and was forced to retreat to Ceredigion and
Dyfed. Maredudd was later forced to ransom his captured Welshmen at a penny
per head.
988
C.E. ..................The Norse raid Church of St. David at Menevia, as
well as the monastic houses of Llanbadarn Fawr near Aberystwyrth, Llandudoch
(modern St. Dogmaels) near Cardigan, Llancarfan near Glamorgan, and Llanilltrud,
also near Glamorgan.
992
C.E. ..................Church of St. David at Menevia destroyed for the
third time by the Norse raiders. Maredudd ab Owain, king of Dyfed, hired
Norse mercenaries for his retaliatory campaign against Edwin ab Einion,
king of Glamorgan.
993
C.E. ..................Anglesey was raided again by the "black pagans."
995
C.E. .................."Mannaw," probably Anglesey, was raided by King
Svein Forkbeard of Denmark.
997
to 998 C.E. .......Intense Danish attacks in the Svern district and southwest
England, perhaps caused by increased pressure put on the Hiberno-Norse
by Ard-righ Brian Boru and King Mael Seachlinn. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
reports: In this year the army went about Devonshire into the mouth
of the Severn and there harried as well in Cornwall as in North Wales and
in Devonshire; and then landed at Watchet and there wrought great evil
in burnings and man-slayings. . . . Thence they rounded Land's End and
entered the mouth of the Tamar.
999
C.E. ..................Church of St. David at Menevia destroyed and Bishop
Morgeneu slain by Vikings.
1002
C.E. ................Norse raiders attack Dyfed, but this time spare the
Church of St. David at Menevia.
1005
C.E. ...............Ard-Righ Brian Boru sends a fleet composed of Norsemen
from Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and Munster to "levy royal tribute" (i.e.,
plunder) in Wales. The haul from this expedition was to be divided in three
parts, with a third going to the King of Dublin, another third going to
the warriors of Leinester and Munster, and the remainder to professors
of sciences and arts and the needful. This may have been a clever tactic
on Brian's part to keep his fractious people from warring on one another.
1012
C.E. ................Earl Eodwin Streona of Mercia led an English attack
against the Church of St. David at Menevia making use of the Danish ships
which King Ethelred took into his service that year.
1022
C.E. ................Eileifr, a Dane in the service of King Cnut, raided
Dyfed and the Church of St. David at Menevia.
1039
C.E. ................Meurig ap Hywel, who would later become King of Morgannwg,
was captured by the Norse and later ransomed.
1042
C.E. ................King Hywel ab Edwin ab Einon ab Owen of Deheubarth
defeated Viking marauders who had been raiding Dyfed in a battle at Pwll
Dyfach. Another group of Dublin Norsemen captured King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn
of Gwynedd and held him for ransom. (Note 2)
1044
C.E. ................King Hywel ab Edwin, had been attacked by King Gruffydd
ap Llywellyn and defeated at Pencader in 1041 as a part of Gruffydd's bid
to annex portions of Southern Wales. Hywel turned to the Norse for assistance
and returned to Wales with a fleet of twenty longships to try to regain
his kingdom. Gruffydd met the Norse at the mouth of the river Towy and
defeated them, killing Hywel in the battle. Hywel was succeeded by Gruffydd
ap Rhydderch ab Iestyn.
1044
to 1052 C.E. ..King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch dealt with frequent Scandinavian
invasions, leading him to the desperate expedient of despoiling portions
of his own country, especially the coastlines, in order to make raids into
his lands less appealing to the Norse.
1049
C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch made an alliance with Norse
raiders to attack the kingdom of Gwent Iscoed which King Meurig ap Hywel
ab Owen of Glamorgan had forcibly annexed. Gruffydd led a raiding party
of thirty-six longships into the estuary of the Usk where they plundered
the surrounding countryside, then crossed over the Wye and burnt the English
manor of Dyddenhame or Tidenham. Bishop Ealdred of Worcester was incensed
by the raid and raised forces to oppose Gryffydd, however Welsh traitors
in the bishop's ranks sent word to Gryffudd, causing the Welsh king to
attack with his Norsemen to overcome the English forces.
1053
C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhydderch raids the English border
using Norse mercenaries.
1055
C.E. ................Earl Aelfgar of Mercia, after being exiled from England,
comes to King Gruffydd ap Llywellyn of Gwynedd with eighteen longships
full of Norse mercenaries. Gruffydd married the earl's daughter, and assembled
a Welsh army to supplement Aelfgar's forces. Together the armies invaded
Hereforshire and defeated the defender, Earl Ralph, razing Hereford and
despoiling the relics of King Ethelbert which had been housed there at
the church. King Edward of England responded by appointing Earl Harold
Godinsson to respond to the threat. The Welsh retreated into South Wales,
and Harold eventually negotiated a peace with then at Bilingsley near Boulston
in Archenfield, which resulted in Aelfgar's restoration to his earldom
and Gruffydd swearing to become Ethelbert's vassal..
1056
C.E. ................King Gruffydd again deals with a Scandinavian fleet
under the command of Magnús Barefoot, son of Harald Hardraða,
to press an attack into Herefordshire to attack the prelate Leofgar. Earl
Harold Godwinsson once again responded to the threat, dispersing the Norse
mercenaries, and again Gruffydd swore allegiance to the Saxon king.
1058
C.E. ................Earl Aelfar of Mercia is again banished from Mercia,
and again recruits Scandinavian forces and King Ruffydd to successfully
assist him in regaining his eardom.
1075
C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan, son of the exiled king of Gwynedd
and of Ragnhildr, grandddaughter of the Norse king of Dublin Sihtric (Siggtryggr)
Silkenbeard, had been raised in Dublin and fostered by a Norse family.
Seeking to reclaim his patrimony, Gruffydd sailed to Abermenai with a fleet
of Norse mercenaries, supplemented with men from Anglesey, Lleyn and Arvon,
plus Norman troops under the command of Robert of Rhuddlan. Gruffydd's
forces defeated the usurper King Cynwrig ap Rhiwallon of Powys and his
cousin, King Trahaearn ap Caradog of Arwystli at the Battle of the Bloody
Acre (Gwaeterw). Later Gruffydd battled his former Norman ally,
Robert of Rhuddlan, and disaffected men of Lleyn turned on Gruffydd's Norse
household troops in a treacherous night attack, probably because Gruffydd
had been brought up in a Norse environment and acted like a Norseman rather
than being the typical Welsh prince they expected. Trahaearn rallied his
forces and united with the men of Lleyn. Gruffyd assembled the men of Anglesey,
Arvon, and his Norse troops, and met Trahaearn at the Battle of Bron yr
Erw, near Clynnog Fawr. Gruffydd's Norse foster-father, Cerit, was killed
in this battle. Gruffydd's forces were defeated, and he sailed with his
remaining army to the island of Adron, which later was renamed by the Norse
as "Skerries" then returned to Wexford in Ireland.
1076
or 1977 C.E. ..Gruffydd ap Cynan appealed to King Diarmaid son of Enna,
ruler of the Dublin Norse, who supported Gruffydd with men and thirty ships.
Gruffydd's army landed at Abermenai and began harassing Trahaearn's forces.
Though he could not dislodge Trahaearn from the throne of Gwynedd, Gruffydd
did force Traehaearn to remove his people and possessions from Lleyn and
Ardudwy into the interior canton of Meirionydd, leaving Gruffydd free to
take control of Llyen, Arvon, and Anglesey. Further conquests were prevented
by squabbles among Gruffydd's Norse troops. Gruffydd refused to allow the
Norse to plunder his lands, which was part of the spoils of war which they
expected. As a result, the Dubliners forced Gruffydd to return to Ireland
with them.
1080
C.E. ................Norse "gentiles" attacked the Church of St. David
at Menevia and slew the Bishop Abraham.
1081
C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan again appealed to King Diarmaid,
who presented Gruffydd with a fleet assembled at Waterford, manning it
with Norse, Irish, and Welsh troops. Gruffydd's plan this time was to land
in South Wales and strike northwards, so the fleet landed at Porthglais,
just slightly southwest of the Church of St. David at Menevia. Gruffydd
sought a blessing for his troops from the bishop at St. David's, then Gruffydd's
forces, with his ally King Rhys ap Tewdwr of Deuhebarth, marched north
and met the enemy at a place called Mynydd Carn, engaging them in battle
just before nightfall. Gruffydd's victory was short-lived, for Roger, Earl
of Shrewsbury, with the aid of Earl Roger of Montgomery, lured Gruffydd
into a trap at Rhug in Edeirnion, taking him prisoner. Gruffydd was kept
jailed in Chester for several years. The Earl of Shrewsbury further rendered
Gruffydd's forces harmless by decreeing that each man of Gruffydd's army
would have his right thumb struck off, thus preventing them from handling
bows or the dreaded axes that were their primary weapon. ca.
1087
C.E. ..........Gruffydd ap Cynan went to the Orkneys to assemble a fleet
of Norse warriors to help him conquer the kingdom of Venedotia in North
Wales. King Goðred Mac Sytric, ruler of Man, the Hebrides and Dublin,
was willing to assist Gruffydd in his venture and provided him sixty ships
and troops to man them. Gruffydd's forces sailed first to Anglesey, where
they met Norman forces in battle. Gruffydd himself is recorded to have
fought with the Danish double-edged axe. Afterwards, as recorded in The
Life of St. Gwynllyw ca. 1100, Gruffydd's Norsemen sailed up the Severn
estuary and raided the Church of St. Gwynllyw (modern St. Woollo's Church):
In
the reign of William the old king of England, after the English had been
conquered and brought under his victorious sway, Gruffydd, the king of
Venedotia, driven by war from all borders of Britain and in dread and fear
of the attack which his enemies were plotting to make upon him, sailed
in haste to the islands of the Orcades in order to avoid his enemies whom
victory had made cruel, and because he wished to be on his guard and enjoy
protection. Remaining there in the dilemma of wanting to plunder and not
to build and of preparing to avenge his expulsion, he incited many islanders
to piracy, to fatal gain and invasion. Thus banded together and roused
to an evil purpose, and after filling twenty-four battleships with the
assembled raiders, they sailed under Gruffydd's leadership through the
Irish Sea, and, after a long and perilous voyage, arrived at the Severn
Straight that washes the shores of Glamorgan. Then sailing along the length
of the straight they sought plunder with the greatest avidity and cast
anchor in the mouth of the river Usk. Securing the fleet, they seize battle
axes and spears, and thus armed manfully scour the plains and woods. On
scouring these they collect immense booty; those of the inhabitants who
have been warned by sentries to take flight, and those taken unawares are
led to the fleet by impious hands. Seeing the church of Saint Gwynllyw
bolted and thinking that there were valuables within for safe custody,
the iniquitous pirates burst the bolt, broke in and entered. They seized
whatever article of value and use that was found; and after the unholy
theft they left the temple of God pillaged.
1088
C.E. ................Rhys ap Tewdwr, King of Deheubarth in South Wales,
was exiled from his country by the sons of Bleddyn. Rhys fled to seek asylum
in Ireland, and there Rhys employed a fleet of Norse-Irish warriors to
restore him to his throne, paying them with many captives for sale as slaves.
Returning to Wales with his Norse allies, Rhys conquered the usurper at
Penlecheru or Llych crei. Gruffydd ap Cynan again raids Wales with his
Norse warriors, looting in the Norman territories of Rhos and Tegeingl,
capturing cattle and men for slaves. Later the same year, Gruffydd again
raided Wales, landing under Great Orme's Head with three ships full of
Norse warriors. Robert of Rhuddlan was awakened from a nap in his castle
of Deganwy and told that the Norse raiders were taking the cattle from
the fields and enslaving women and children. With no time to raise his
own levies, Robert rushed to the landing point accompanied by only one
knight. The gesture was a fatal one, as Gruffydd's men captured and killed
him, spiking his head on the lead ship.
1093
C.E. ................King Rhys ap Tewdwr, King of Deheubarth, was killed
by Norman invaders of Brycheiniog. His young son Gruffydd was taken by
his kin to safety among the Norse-Irish to protect him from the Normans
and Cadwgan ap Bleddyn.
1094
C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan with his Norse household troops
and a Welsh ally, Cadwgan of Ceredigion, rallied the Welsh against Norman
invaders, eventually driving the Normans out of Wales and placing Gruffydd
at last on his ancestral throne of Gwynnedd.
1098
C.E. ................Norman earls invaded Gruffydd's lands. The Normans,
led by the Earls of Chester and Montgomery, were joined by traitorous Welshmen
from Tegeingl, who led the Normans across the Welsh border. Gruffydd was
forced to retreat to the defendable island of Anglesey. Gruffydd ap Cynan
allied with the Hiberno-Norse to protect his lands in Wales from the Normans
invading from North Wales, and received sixteen longships full of Norse
warriors. The Normans, led by Hugh, Earl of Chester, persuaded the Danes
to desert to the Norman side of the conflict in return for payment in slaves,
however failed to keep their promise to the raiders: The perjured traitors
of Danes who had betrayed Gruffydd were expecting the promises which Hugh
had given them, and captives of men, women, youths and maidens; and he
paid them like a faithful man to an unfaithful, confirming the divine ordinance,
for he had succeeded in collecting all the toothless, deformed, lame, one-eyed,
troublesome, feeble hags and offered them to them in return for their treachery.
When they saw this they loosened their fleet and made for the deep towards
Ireland. Gruffydd, Cadwgan, and Owain ap Cadwgan were all forced to
flee to Ireland. By sheer coincidence, at the same time, Magnús
Barefoot, son of Harald Hardraða, arrived in Wales, engaging the Normans
in the Battle of Anglesey Sound in which Earl Hugh of Shrewsbury was killed
by Magnús himself and the Normans driven back.
1099
C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan and Cadwgan returned to Wales after
hearing of the victory won by Magnús Barefoot. Gruffydd began a
lengthy rule, marked by peace, prosperity, and gradual expansion, making
peace with the Earl of Chester to recover Anglesey. Gruffydd always maintained
a household troop manned by Norse warriors throughout his reign, but the
Welsh finally accepted his rule anyway, preferring a man of Welsh ancestry
over the hated Normans. Gruffydd's Norse- Irish background affected Welsh
culture during this period in ther arts, music and literature. Gruffydd
himself became well-known as a patron of the arts.
1115
C.E. ................Gruffyd ap Rhys, rightful king of Deheubarth, returns
to Wales with Norse mercenaries to try and regain his throne.
1126
C.E. ................King Gruffydd ap Rhys of Deheubarth is forced again
to flee to Ireland and seek sanctuary from his Norse friends there. Other
Welsh refugees were welcomed by the court of King Murchath, including Howel
ab Ithel, Lord of Rhos and Rhufoniog, Owain ap Cadwgan, and Madog ap Rhiryd.
1137
C.E. ................Gruffydd ap Cynan dies, leaving his kingdom to his
sons, Owain and Cadwalladr, who summoned Norse mercenaries for a campaign
against the Normans in Ceredigion. Fifteen Norse ships met with the Welsh
land forces at the estuary of the Teifi, then beseiged Cardigan Castle.
The attack on the castle failed. The Norse, deprived of their expected
plunder, crossed the river and attacked the Tironian Benedictine monstary
of St. Dogmaels (Llandudoch).
1144
C.E. ................Gruffydd's sons Cadwalladr and Owain begin fighting.
Cadwalladr treacherously killed Owain's nephew Anarawd of Deheubarth. Owain
was incensed, and sent his son Hywel to invade Cadwalladr's territory.
Cadwalladr sent to Ireland for help, resulting in a Norse fleet sailing
to Abermenai, led by Þórkell, brother of King Ragnall of Dublin.
1143
or 1144 C.E. ..Cadwgan ab Owain Gwynedd hired Norse mercenaries from Ireland
to combat his brother Owain. However, when the Norse arrived in Wales,
they found that the brothers had reconciled. To ensure that they were paid
as contracted, the Norsemen seized Cadwgan and held him for ransom, receiving
2,000 slaves to release him.
1146
C.E. ...............Welshmen from south Bregh won a victory over invading
Dublin Norsemen during which King Ragnall Þórkellsson was
killed, along with a warleader named Óttarr Óttarrsson, and
Herulfr Yscherwlf.
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The
following document is reprinted here by permission
Although
Wales did not experience significant Viking settlement such as occurred
in Ireland and in England, still Wales felt the blows of the Northerners.
Wales was repeatedly raided, especially by the Norse from the Hiberno-Norse
kingdoms of Dublin and Limerick. During the period of the Viking attacks,
Wales was divided into several independent kingdoms which were constantly
engaged in internal struggles and internecine warfare, which rendered the
Welsh unable to present a united front to ward off the new threat from
overseas with complete success.
Kings
like Rhodri ap Merfyn, known as Rhodri Mawr (the Great, 844 to 878 C.E.)
and Hywel Dda (the Good, 900 to 950 C.E.) were able to rally large numbers
of Welshmen to the defense of their lands with a stubborn resistance, preventing
the formation of large Norse kingdoms such as existed elsewhere in the
British Isles. Eventually Wales became a place of pilgrimage and religious
instruction in later years for the Christianized descendants of the Norse
raiders. 
As
Christianity became more widespread in Northern Europe, eventually even
the fierce Northmen were converted to the Christian faith. Although the
Welsh did not contribute extensively to the conversion of the northern
pagans, some Scandinavians came to Wales on pilgrimage, for religious instruction,
and to enter holy orders.
