The Battle of Maldon

The Battle of Maldon, 991 A.D. (although there is a great deal of confusion in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle about the date).

The Battle of Maldon took place beside the [River Blackwater]? in Essex. The Anglo-Saxons fought against a Viking invasion, a battle which ended in utter defeat for the Anglo-Saxons, led by Brythnoth, and his men. An (unreliable) account of the battle is related in an Anglo-Saxon poem of the same name.

The Viking fleet was led by a Norwegian, [Olaf Trygvasson]?. The Viking force is estimated to have been between 2000 and 4000 fighting men. A source from the 12th century, [Liber Eliensis]?, written by the monks at Ely, suggests that Brythnoth had only a few men to command: "he was neither shaken by the small number of his men, nor fearful of the multitude of the enemy".