An Approach Given Where the Battle of Maldon Took Place
The ancient causeway linking Northey Island to the south bank of the Blackwater estuary just east of Maldon is considered by many to be the most likely site of the Battle of Maldon. This was fought on August 10th or 11th 991 between an English army led by the veteran ealdorman Byrhtnoth and a professional ship-borne army of Danes.
View across to Northey Island from the south bank of the Blackwater at low tide with the causeway uncovered (author's photograph, August 1991).
The entry for the year 991 in the a manuscript of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle seems to say after a raid on Ipswich the Danes were led at Maldon by the famous Norwegian king Olaf Tryggvason, but this entry has almost certainly been confused with the events of 994. It seems more probable that the Danes at Maldon were led by their own king, Sweyn Forkbeard, son of King Harald Bluetooth of Denmark (builder of the Danish ring-fortresses, such as Trelleborg on Sjalland, and of the royal centre at Jelling in Jutland).
The Battle of Maldon took place on August 10th, 991, near to Maldon beside the River Blackwater in Essex, England, during the reign of Ethelred the Unready. The Anglo-Saxons, led by Byrhtnoth, fought against a Viking invasion. The battle ended with the Anglo-Saxon’s defeat.
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