Go west: Contextualizing Scandinavian royal naval expeditions into the Insular world, 1013–1103

Abstract

Scholarly attention has focused on the explanation for raids at the start of the ‘Viking Age’, not on the motivations for royal expeditions of the eleventh century. This article examines Sven and Cnut’s invasion of England, the Norwegian prince Magnus Haraldsson’s presence in the Insular world, Harald harðráði’s attempted invasion of England, a series of failed Danish interventions in England, and Magnus Barelegs’s expeditions to Orkney and the Irish Sea region. It argues that Scandinavian kings and princes capitalized on political weaknesses in the Insular world, but their expansionist ambitions were often hampered by internal conditions in their own kingdoms.