Onlafbald and Scula (

Old Norse Old Norse, Old Nordic, or Old Scandinavian, is a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlemen ...

: Skúli) were two early 10th-century

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

chieftains, notable for receiving lands through successful campaigning in what is now northern England. Onlafbald is also said to have been killed by the spirit of the 7th-century English saint

Cuthbert of Lindisfarne Cuthbert of Lindisfarne ( – 20 March 687) was an Anglo-Saxon saint of the early Northumbrian church in the Celtic tradition. He was a monk, bishop and hermit, associated with the monasteries of Melrose and Lindisfarne in the Kingdom of ...

, after he profaned the long-dead saint. The legacy of Scula is preserved in the place name of School Aycliffe, a village in County Durham, which is derived from his name (

: ''Skúli''). Following the

Battle of Corbridge The Battle of Corbridge took place on the banks of the River Tyne near the village of Corbridge in Northumberland in the year 918. The battle was referenced in the ''Annals of Ulster'' and the ''Chronicle of the Kings of Alba''. The battle was ...

in about 918, the victorious Hiberno-Norse king

Ragnall Ragnall is a village and civil parish in Nottinghamshire, England. At the time of the 2001 census it had a population of 102, increasing to 146 at the 2011 census. It is located on the A57 road one mile west of the River Trent. The parish churc ...

occupied lands between the River Tyne and the River Tees. Some of these lands had formerly been in the possession of an English noble named Ælfed, son of Brihtulf, who had received them from

Cutheard Cutheard of Lindisfarne (died 915) was Bishop of Lindisfarne from 899 to around 915, although the see was administered from Chester-le-Street.Fryde, et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology'' p. 214 Cutheard was responsible for purchasing the vi ...

Bishop of Lindisfarne The Bishop of Durham is the Church of England, Anglican bishop responsible for the Diocese of Durham in the Province of York. The diocese is one of the oldest in England and its bishop is a member of the House of Lords. Paul Butler (bishop), Pau ...

after he had fled Viking devastations in the west, to resettle on the eastern coast. Ragnall divided these new acquisitions between two of his followers, Scula and Onlafbald. Scula received a massive tract of land which comprised the estates from

Castle Eden Castle Eden is a village in County Durham, in England. The population of the parish at the 2011 census was 642. It is situated a short distance to the south of Peterlee, Wingate, Hutton Henry, the A19 and Castle Eden Dene. The village is fam ...

Billingham Billingham is a town and civil parish in the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees, County Durham, England. The town is on the north side of the River Tees and is governed by Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council. The settlement had previously formed i ...

; and Onlafbald received a similarly large tract, which included the rest from Eden to the River Wear. These lands lie on the coast, and it has been suggested that the two men were also granted the surrounding interior-lands as well. Onlafbald is said to have uttered profane blasphemies against the English saint

(d.687); after which the spirit of the saint miraculously tortured the pagan chieftain until he acknowledged the power of the Christian god and died on the spot. In some accounts he is said to have invoked the power of his own gods, namely

Thor Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...

and Odin.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Onlafbald And Scula 10th-century Vikings History of County Durham Viking warriors

See also

Notes

References