Christian History Home > Issue 60 > The Fury of the Northmen
The Fury of the Northmen
The Viking invasions destroyed the glory of Celtic monasticism.
Georgia Beaverson | posted 10/01/1998 12:00AM
Ann. 793—In this year dire forewarnings came over the land of the Northumbrians and miserably terrified the people; these were extraordinary whirlwinds and lightnings, and fiery dragons were seen flying in the air. A great famine soon followed these omens; and soon after that, in the same year, the havoc of heathen men miserably destroyed God's church on Lindisfarne."
The "miserable heathen" portrayed in this account from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle were the Vikings. Popular legend portrays them as swift, merciless marauders; pagans who attacked the holy places of Ireland, Scotland, and elsewhere without regard for anything but accumulating wealth. No wonder Celtic monks prayed regularly, "From the fury of the Northmen, O Lord deliver us."
In the late eighth century, Ireland was a land of petty chieftains, all of whom fought vigorously and frequently to become High King. Ireland's economy had not yet risen above that of a pastoral society, and it possessed no true towns or cities.
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