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SCANDINAVIAN ANTIQUITIES OF DUBLIN. 25
and Norway, invaded England and conquered Nor- BOOK L
thumberland, but they differ widely respecting the
cause and consequence of that invasion. The
generally received legend is, that Regnar Lodbrog,
having invaded Northumberland with a small Danish
fleet and army, was defeated and captured by Ella,
then the reigning sovereign, and by his orders
thrown into a cave where he was stung to death by
serpents ; and further, that Ivar, to avenge his
father's death, invaded Northumberland, seized Ella,
inflicted on him the craelest tortures/ and then
became King
of Northumberland. 2
adopted as this legend is, it chiefly
Yet, generally
rests on the
authority of the Lodbrog Quida, the supposed deathsong
of Regnar, and on an " Icelandic
"
fragment
not written before the twelfth century. Its story of
Ella's victory and Regnar's death in Northumber-
land is not to be found in more trustworthy Northern
history, nor is it to be found in any old English
Chronicle or early English history. The Saxon
Chronicle has no allusion whatsoever to the supposed
events. It neither alludes to the alleged cruelty of
Ella, or the consequent vengeance of Regnar' sons.
It neither mentions Regnar's name, nor does it
assign any
cause either for the invasion of East
Anglia in 86G, or for that of Northumbria in A.D.
867, neither does Ethelwerd, William of Malmes-
bury, Simeon of Durham, Florence of Worcester, or
Henry of Huntingdon ; and Asser, who lived at the
period, and wrote soon after it, only mentions Regnar
1 [Islendzkir AnnaL, p. 5. Tur- trans.) ii., p. 30.]
ner's Anglo-Saxons, second edition,
* Langcbek, Rer. Scrip., vol. ii.,
i., 223. Lappcnbcrg (Thorpe's p. 278. Sax. Gram.
CHAP ' IL