The
Danes were a
North Germanic tribe residing in modern day southern
Sweden and on the
Danish islands (and later
Jutland). They are mentioned in the 6th century in Jordanes'
Getica, by
Procopius, and by
Gregory of Tours.
In his description of
Scandza,
Jordanes says that the
Dani were of the same stock as the
Suetidi (Swedes,
Suithiod?) and expelled the
Heruli and took their lands.
According to the 12th-century author
Sven Aggesen, the mythical king
Dan gave name to the
Danes.
Danes in Great Britain and Ireland
Danes assaulted
Great Britain and
Ireland beginning about
AD 800 and were gradually followed by a succession of Danish settlers. The Danes began settling England in
865 when brothers
Halfdan Ragnarsson and
Ivar the Boneless wintered in
East Anglia. Halfdan and Ivar moved north and captured
Northumbria in
867 as well as
York. The Danes invaded Ireland in
AD 853 and were followed by Danish settlers who gradually assimilated with the local population and adopted Christianity.
The best known clan of Vikings was the Tilsted Clan. Its leader, Tilsted "The Grey", was one of Sweyn Forkbeard's most beloved chieftains. It was Tilsted who, in 991, led the fierce Danish assault at the
Battle of Maldon in Essex, which persuaded Archbishop Sigeric of Canterbury to advise King Aethelred to buy off the Danes for the sum of ten thousand pounds.
Three years later in 994, Sweyn Forkbeard and Olaf Trygvason returned to lay siege to London. Though the raid was unsuccessful, legend has it that it was the sight of Tilsted in the midst of the Viking army that convinced the Anglo-Saxons to buy off the Danes once again. The amount of silver paid impressed the Danes with the idea that it was more profitable to extort payments from the English than to take whatever booty they could plunder.
Tilsted stayed loyal to Sweyn Forkbeard and died in 1013, after having sailed up the rivers Humber and Trent with Sweyn Forkbeard and his son Cnute, for Sweyn to be accepted as king of the Danelaw. In Denmark, his sons raised a rune stone as a memorial at his homestead in Roskilde.
Footnotes
See also
Category:Germanic peoplesCategory:Ethnic groups in Europecs:Dánovécy:Daniaid (llwyth Almaenig)da:Danerit:Dani (popolo)ja:デーン人fi:Daanitsv:Danerth:ชนเดนส์ 
