Danelaw: Map & History
The Danelaw was the part of England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danish laws applied.
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The Danelaw was the part of England between the late ninth century and the Norman Conquest under Anglo-Saxon rule in which Danish laws applied. The Danelaw originated in the conquest and occupation of large parts of eastern and northern England by Danish Vikings in the late ninth century. The term applies to the areas in which English kings allowed the Danes to keep their own laws following the early tenth-century Anglo-Saxon conquest of Danish-ruled eastern and northern England in return for the Danish settlers' loyalty to the English crown. "Danelaw" is first recorded in the early 11th century as Dena lage.
Modern Countries Once Part of Danelaw
At its mapped extent, Danelaw covered territory in 1 present-day country. The period shown is when the mapped borders include that country, and the note says how much of it.
Largest Present-Day Cities in Its Territory
Each opens on the live map inside Danelaw's borders of that time.
Derived by testing mapped cities against this polity's dated territorial polygons, so the list is indicative and follows the borders in the source dataset.
Danelaw in Depth
Legacy
The influence of this period of Scandinavian settlement can still be seen in the North of England and the East Midlands, and is particularly evident in place-names, endings such as -howe, -by (meaning "village") or -thorp ("hamlet") having Old Norse origins. There seems to be a remarkable number of Kirby/Kirkby names, thought to stem from Old Norse kirk ("church", compare Old English: cirice, cyrice for church) and -by ("village"), some with remains of Anglo-Saxon buildings, indicating both a Norse origin and early church building.
Old East Norse and Old English were still somewhat mutually comprehensible.
Geography
The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester, excluding the portion of Northumbria to the east of the Pennines.
Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Nottingham, Derby, Stamford and Lincoln, broadly delineating the area now called the East Midlands. These strongholds became known as the Five Boroughs. Borough derives from the Old English word burh (cognate with German Burg, meaning castle), meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households, anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.
Background
From around 800, there had been waves of Norse raids on the coastlines of Britain and Ireland. In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in East Anglia, with the intention of conquering the four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England. The armies of various Danish leaders had collaborated to make one combined force under a leadership that included Halfdan Ragnarsson and Ivar the Boneless, the sons of the legendary Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok. The combined army was described in the annals as the Great Heathen Army. In 867 they captured Northumbria and its capital, York ("Jórvík"), defeating both the recently deposed King Osberht of Northumbria and the usurper Ælla of Northumbria.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Danelaw (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Danelaw Map Over Time
Dated world maps on which Danelaw appears, with the other states of the time.
Danelaw Timeline
Key historical inflections from foundation to peak territorial expansion
Expansion to peak recorded area of 55,257 km² in 882 CE.
Danelaw: Frequently Asked Questions
When did Danelaw exist?
Danelaw is dated to 878 CE – 959 CE, in the Early Middle Ages era.
How large was Danelaw at its peak?
At its peak in 882 AD Danelaw covered about 55,257 km².
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