250. Alfred the Great: Fury of the Vikings

Alfred the Great is under invasion from the Vikings.
Join Tom and Dominic as they discuss Alfred's anointment by the Pope in Rome, his duality as both a fearsome warrior and a man of poetry, plus his unbelievable escape from a Christmas ambush from Viking invaders.
The second episode in this two part series, Alfred the Great: Return of the King, will be available on Thursday. If you want to hear it right now, just head to restishistorypod.com and sign up to The Rest Is History Club.
Dominic's book, 'Adventures in Time: Fury of the Vikings', is available to buy now in all good bookshops.
Twitter:@TheRestHistory@holland_tom@dcsandbrook Email: [e-mail]
Producer: Dom JohnsonExec Producer: Jack Davenport

[@nomorephones]

Thank you lads. Absolutely love your show. Cheers from Israel.

[@tehonlyFreeman]

This was so good, gonna have to listen to the other episodes you've done

[@toneydavis9802]

I feel priveledged to have access to your knowledge and wit. I thoroughly enjoy these podcast.I have purchased the children's book as a Christmas present for my Grandson of 11. When he visits at Christmas he and I will read together.

[@watcherofthewest8597]

Great show you guys have! this should be in the top 5 of history podcasts! Keep at it! I wish I were in an Oxford study with a pipe or a pub listening to this!

[@Time_Is_Left]

What are your other 4? Would be curious to take a look if I haven’t

[@watcherofthewest8597]

@@Time_Is_Left the only one I'd put above this one is Dan Carlin. I said top 5 just because there are so many I haven't heard. But these guys are great, so let's say 2nd best!

[@Jacob-sb3su]

@@Time_Is_Left Dan Carlin is king, Daliel Bolelli History on Fire is also good, theres a good series (albeit old) by Mike Duncan, For more relaxed stuff: OverSimplified history, crash course world history(and all the crash course series on history really, its highschool lvl but its good to start and funny). Overly Sarcastic Productions is also good! For military leaning: Kings and Generals, and the best of the bunch when it comes to military history and ancient warfare Historia Civillis

[@Johnconno]

You smoke the Kif?

[@michaelk19thcfan10]

Perhaps Thomas Hardy referring to the area where his most famous novels take place by the ancient name of Wessex adds to the deep roots of the location.

[@darrelgustafson2507]

The vikings got a bad rap. They were really just a bunch of rowdy tourists who occasionally roughed up the locals.

[@DennisDithmar]

Another great show, with a bunch of brilliant points. TIP: If you want to understand "Vikings" a bit better, stop using the term "Viking" (which basically just means soldiers/raiders) as a people, and look a bit back at the real peoples who went looking abroad and why they did it. The Danes, the Angles, the Cimbers, the Jutes, the Teutons - all ppls from Jutland. There are an equal amount of Norse tribes in Norway to look at. And then the Swedes of course. One of their main tribes called Goths. They didn't go Viking, but went Rus. What they acomplished are truely amazing, moving down thru Europe splitting into Visigoths and Ostrogoths. All these scandic tribes are not just Vikings. And please stop using the term "socalled Danes". It is much more logical to talk about "socalled Brits" than doing it with Danes.

[@Dude0000]

It’s from the point of view of the Anglo-Saxons and Alfred, so Viking is the correct term, isn’t it? And I always understood Viking to mean pirate.

[@DennisDithmar]

@@Dude0000 Fair enuff. That's what we were taught in school. But in every other episode, the TRIH-team digs a bit deeper than that. Ie in episodes about the Persian rulers - the Persians are called Persians and not socalled Persians. Dane and Norse vikings raided - then settled, then ruled. Then they were kicked out by Anglo-Saxons. Angles originating from Jutland and Saxons originating from upperwest corner of todays Germany. The Anglo-Saxons were then defeated by the Normans. Originally DK/NO-vikings who raided, settled and then ruled Normandy. It is quite OK with me, that vikings are portrayed as raiders if you wish. They did indeed raid, pillage, rape and plunder. But then they settled and ruled. So at least rise above calling them "socalled Danes". When the ships arrived on the socalled British Isles, the locals weren't screaming "Vikings!!!" They were screaming "The Danes are coming." They had the proper respect for a tribe, just a tad earlier being a united kingdom, than the UK (pun intended). With a (later) flag just a tiny-bit older than the Union Jack. And they were never ruled by Romans.

[@Dude0000]

@@DennisDithmar ‘Viking’ is just a modern term to differentiate them from others, like, as you said, the Normans who were of very similar origins. Mycenaeans, for example is a term we use for late Bronze Age Greece, which was certainly not used by them nor their contemporaries. It’s just for modern day people to identify different cultures over, not only geographical location, but time, too.

[@DennisDithmar]

@@Dude0000 You keep missing my point. Call them Vikings all you want. That's what they are to most people. But can't you see it feels wrong to me, that Danes are called "socalled Danes"? Imagine coming from the UK, hearing an episode about The Black Prince, and the hosts calling him "socalled English"? The suggestion looking at them as Danes or Norse is merely an option to learn a bit more about them, than just "rape and plunder".

[@RabidBogling]

@@DennisDithmar They say "so called" Danes because the Anglo-Saxon chronicle and other sources refer to all Scandinavians as Danes. They didn't make a distinction, yet there may have been Norwegians and Swedes within the Great Heathen Army. They aren't saying it to diminish the Danes as a people or to be snobbish in some way.

[@Johnconno]

The Vikings weren't black or blonde bearded, they were just in their own league of Filthy.