Airdeconut ( non, Harðaknútr) was a Norse

King of Northumbria Northumbria, a kingdom of Angles, in what is now northern England and south-east Scotland, was initially divided into two kingdoms: Bernicia and Deira. The two were first united by king Æthelfrith around the year 604, and except for occasional ...

Numismatic Numismatics is the study or collection of currency, including coins, tokens, paper money, medals and related objects. Specialists, known as numismatists, are often characterized as students or collectors of coins, but the discipline also includ ...

evidence suggests he was a Christian and he probably ruled in Northern England around the year 900.

Discovery

In 2011 a

hoard A hoard or "wealth deposit" is an archaeological term for a collection of valuable objects or artifacts, sometimes purposely buried in the ground, in which case it is sometimes also known as a cache. This would usually be with the intention of ...

of coins and jewellery was discovered near Silverdale,

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, England. One of the coins discovered in this hoard carries the name on one side, and the letters (an abbreviation of ) on the other. translates as "the Lord and King". Officials at the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

have said the inscription Airdeconut might be a rendering of the Norse name Harthacnut. Experts from the museum have identified that the coin's design relates to coins of the kings Siefredus and

Cnut Cnut (; ang, Cnut cyning; non, Knútr inn ríki ; or , no, Knut den mektige, sv, Knut den Store. died 12 November 1035), also known as Cnut the Great and Canute, was King of England from 1016, King of Denmark from 1018, and King of Norwa ...

(Sigfroðr and Knútr in Old Norse), who ruled the Viking kingdom of Northumbria jointly between 895 and 905. The coin is also significant since it suggests Airdeconut was a Christian – the reverse inscription () is arranged in a cross. This coin is the only piece of evidence for the existence of a ruler of Northumbria by the name of Harthacnut. According to Dr Gareth Williams, curator of early medieval coins at the British Museum, the discovery of the existence of Airdeconut represents the first new Medieval king in England discovered for over fifty years and the first previously-unknown Norse king discovered since 1840.

Historical background

It is likely that Airdeconut was one of several kings who shared power in Viking Northumbria at the start of the tenth century. The period was one of political instability – the ruling Vikings of Dublin were expelled in 902 and some of them came to England. Several of these later reigned over Northumbria as kings in York. There was much conflict between the Anglo-Saxons of Mercia and Wessex and the Vikings of Northumbria in this period. It culminated in the

Battle of Tettenhall The Battle of Tettenhall (sometimes called the Battle of Wednesfield or Wōdnesfeld) took place, according to the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'', near Tettenhall on 5 August 910. The allied forces of Mercia and Wessex met an army of Kingdom of Nort ...

in 910 when a combined Wessexian-Mercian army dealt a decisive defeat to a Viking army raiding in Mercia, killing several northern kings including

Eowils and Halfdan Eowils and Halfdan (Healfdan) were kings in Danish (Viking) ruled Northumbria in the early tenth century. Following the death of Alfred the Great in 899 the throne was disputed between his son Edward the Elder and Æthelwold, a son of Alfred's e ...

Downham Downham is a district of south-east London, England, within the London Borough of Lewisham. It borders the London Borough of Bromley, and is located north of Bromley and south of Catford. Downham was named in honour of Lord Downham, who was ...

, pp. 87–89

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