Scandinavian-Britain

Il6SCANDINAVIAN BRITAINdesignis as Scandinavian as that of St. Vedast's atNorwich. These examples, to which more might beadded, shows how the settlers began to assimilatethemselves to the culture they found in :Englandand as art goes hand-in-hand with manufacture andtrade, we may assume that the life of the settlers wasnot all fighting and farming, when they came throughthe initial period of trouble which we have now toreview.the ruins of the Roman station hadChester, thoughbeen seized and held by Hastein, was a place of noTheimportance at the beginning of the tenth century.Irish trade had not arisen ;White and Black Gaillwere still disputing Dublin, and the Danes of Merciadid not see, as ealdorman yEthelred did, the value ofthe position. In 907 or 908 he repaired the fortificationsand created the town, perhaps at that timeintroducing the priory of St. Werburgh, a Merciandedication. This was the first step toward the greatwork he undertook of strengthening English MerciaAgainst further encroachment, and of capturing theland of the Five Boroughs.The forward policy of Mercia developed into war.There was fighting on both sides of Watling Street.The Saxons raided over the border for five weeks;the Danes fought them at Tettenhall near Wolverhampton,and were beaten. Eadward went south tofit out a fleet against the east coast, and the Danesraided the Severn Valley, returning by way of Quatfordnear Bridgnorth, where Hastein's men had wintered,and at Wednesfield another great victory was won by