The Raven Banner's Last Flight: Ragnar's Sons and the Siege of Wessex

In this episode, we trace the final chapter of the Great Heathen Army as Ragnar's sons push into Wessex, the last independent Anglo-Saxon kingdom. We follow the campaigns of Ívarr inn beinlausi and Halfdan Ragnarsson from the conquest of Northumbria to the fateful battles against King Æthelred and his young brother Alfred. We examine the strategic use of the burhs, the network of fortified towns that Alfred would later perfect, and the critical turning point at the Battle of Ashdown in 871. We also confront the legend of the blóðörn, the alleged blood eagle execution, and weigh the saga accounts against the more sober chronicles. And we consider how the Viking threat reshaped Wessex from a vulnerable kingdom into a militarized state, setting the stage for Alfred's reforms. Along the way, we discuss the historical uncertainty around Ragnar's own existence and how his sons' real campaigns became the bedrock of the legend. This episode draws on the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Asser's Life of King Alfred, and the later sagas to separate fact from fiction.

#GreatHeathenArmy #Wessex #AlfredTheGreat #Æthelred #Ívarr #Halfdan #BattleOfAshdown #blóðörn #AngloSaxonChronicle #VikingAge #RagnarSons #Burhs #VikingWarfare #MedievalEngland #RagnarLothbrok #VikingHistory #History #FexingoHistory

Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo