Ulfcytel Snillingr, or Snylling, (died 1016) was an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons were a Cultural identity, cultural group who inhabited England in the Early Middle Ages. They traced their origins to settlers who came to Britain from mainland Europe in the 5th century. However, the ethnogenesis of the Anglo- ...

nobleman. He was apparently the

ealdorman Ealdorman (, ) was a term in Anglo-Saxon England which originally applied to a man of high status, including some of royal birth, whose authority was independent of the king. It evolved in meaning and in the eighth century was sometimes applied ...

East Anglia East Anglia is an area in the East of England, often defined as including the counties of Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire. The name derives from the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of the East Angles, a people whose name originated in Anglia, in ...

from 1004 to his death at the

Battle of Ashingdon The Battle of Assandun (or Essendune) was fought between Danish and English armies on 18 October 1016. There is disagreement whether Assandun may be Ashdon near Saffron Walden in north Essex, England, or, as long supposed and better evidence ...

in 1016, although he is not called an ealdorman in any of the

charter A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

s he witnessed. Scandinavian sources refer to him as Ulfkell Snillingr, the

byname An epithet (, ), also byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) known for accompanying or occurring in place of a name and having entered common usage. It has various shades of meaning when applied to seemingly real or fictitious people, di ...

meaning ''bold''.

Background and status

Leofsige, ealdorman of Essex, was exiled for killing a shire reeve in 1002. It is not certain that any ealdorman was appointed by King

Æthelred the Unready Æthelred II ( ang, Æþelræd, ;Different spellings of this king’s name most commonly found in modern texts are "Ethelred" and "Æthelred" (or "Aethelred"), the latter being closer to the original Old English form . Compare the modern diale ...

to replace Leofsige, although

John of Worcester John of Worcester (died c. 1140) was an English monk and chronicler who worked at Worcester Priory. He is usually held to be the author of the ''Chronicon ex chronicis''. ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' The ''Chronicon ex chronicis'' is a world wi ...

's chronicle calls Ulfcytel the ''

dux ''Dux'' (; plural: ''ducēs'') is Latin for "leader" (from the noun ''dux, ducis'', "leader, general") and later for duke and its variant forms (doge, duce, etc.). During the Roman Republic and for the first centuries of the Roman Empire, '' ...

''—war leader—of the East Anglians, and he appears as leader of the East Anglians on several occasions. It may be that Ulfcytel was married to a daughter of King Æthelred (by his first wife) named Wulfhild, as suggested by a supplementary text to the ''

Jómsvíkinga saga The ''Jómsvíkinga saga'' ("''Saga of the Jomsvikings''") is a medieval Icelandic saga composed by an anonymous author. The saga was composed in Iceland during the 13th century. It exists in several manuscripts which vary from each other. There ...

''. From 1004 onwards he witnessed a large number of King Æthelred's charters, being described in these as a ''minister'', that is

thegn In Anglo-Saxon England, thegns were aristocratic landowners of the second rank, below the ealdormen who governed large areas of England. The term was also used in early medieval Scandinavia for a class of retainers. In medieval Scotland, there w ...

, rather than an ealdorman. Ulfcytel's name is of

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n origin, but no details of his family are known. It is possible that he was in some way related to the family or affinity of

Æthelstan Half-King Æthelstan Half-King (fl. 932 – 956) was an important and influential Ealdorman of East Anglia who interacted with five kings of England, including his adopted son King Edgar the Peaceful. Many of Æthelstan's close relatives were also involved i ...

which had dominated politics in East Anglia and

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

from the 930s to the 990s. In addition to the English sources, Ulfcytel also appears as a character in

Saint Olaf Olaf II Haraldsson ( – 29 July 1030), later known as Saint Olaf (and traditionally as St. Olave), was King of Norway from 1015 to 1028. Son of Harald Grenske, a petty king in Vestfold, Norway, he was posthumously given the title '' Rex Per ...

saga is a series of science fantasy role-playing video games by Square Enix. The series originated on the Game Boy in 1989 as the creation of Akitoshi Kawazu at Square (video game company), Square. It has since continued across multiple platforms, ...

in the ''

Heimskringla ''Heimskringla'' () is the best known of the Old Norse kings' sagas. It was written in Old Norse in Iceland by the poet and historian Snorre Sturlason (1178/79–1241) 1230. The name ''Heimskringla'' was first used in the 17th century, derived ...

'', and here East Anglia is called " Ulfcytel's land".

Military career 1004-1016

In 1004 the ''

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle The ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is a collection of annals in Old English, chronicling the history of the Anglo-Saxons. The original manuscript of the ''Chronicle'' was created late in the 9th century, probably in Wessex, during the reign of Alf ...

'' reports a bloody battle between the East Anglians and an army led by

Danish Danish may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark People * A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark * Culture of Denmark * Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...

king Swein Forkbeard. The Chronicle states that Ulfcytel and the "councillors in East Anglia" attempted to buy a truce with Swein, but that the Danes broke the truce and marched to

Thetford Thetford is a market town and civil parish in the Breckland District of Norfolk, England. It is on the A11 road between Norwich and London, just east of Thetford Forest. The civil parish, covering an area of , in 2015 had a population of 24,340 ...

where a part of the East Anglian

fyrd A fyrd () was a type of early Anglo-Saxon army that was mobilised from freemen or paid men to defend their Shire's lords estate, or from selected representatives to join a royal expedition. Service in the fyrd was usually of short duration and ...

engaged them. The battle seems to have been a draw as the Danes managed to escape. Two of the ''Chronicle'' manuscripts state that the Danes later "admitted that they had never met with harder hand-play ightingin England than Ulfcytel gave them". The Danes suffered heavy losses, and were probably only saved from destruction because Ulfcytel's order to destroy their ships was not carried out. They left England without causing any further devastation which has been recorded.

Frank Stenton Sir Frank Merry Stenton, FBA (17 May 1880 – 15 September 1967) was an English historian of Anglo-Saxon England, and president of the Royal Historical Society (1937–1945). The son of Henry Stenton of Southwell, Nottinghamshire, he was edu ...

, ''Anglo-Saxon England'', Third Edition, Oxford University Press, 1971, pp. 380–1 On his next appearance in the ''Chronicle'' again Ulfyctel is portrayed as the leader of the East Anglian armies. On this occasion the

Battle of Ringmere The Battle of Ringmere was fought on 5 May 1010. Norse sagas recorded a battle at ''Hringmaraheiðr''; ''Old English Hringmere-hǣð'', modern name Ringmere Heath. In his Víkingarvísur, the poet Sigvat records the victory of Saint Olaf (who ...

against the Danes near

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

in 1010 turned into a rout, caused by the flight of Thurcytel "Mare's head", and only the men of

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and North ...

stood to fight. The English dead included the King's brother-in-law, the son-in-law and grandson of ealdorman

Byrhtnoth Byrhtnoth ( ang, Byrhtnoð), Ealdorman of Essex ( 931 - 11 August 991), died at the Battle of Maldon. His name is composed of the Old English ''beorht'' (bright) and ''noþ'' (courage). He is the subject of ''The Battle of Maldon'', an Old Eng ...

, "and countless people". Ulfcytel's third and last appearance in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' is at the battle of Assandun on 18 October 1016 where he fought for

Edmund Ironside Edmund Ironside (30 November 1016; , ; sometimes also known as Edmund II) was King of the English from 23 April to 30 November 1016. He was the son of King Æthelred the Unready and his first wife, Ælfgifu of York. Edmund's reign was marred by ...

. Here he was killed; he is listed among "the chief men of the nation" by the Chronicle. According to one Scandinavian source he was killed by

Thorkell the Tall Thorkell the Tall, also known as Thorkell the High in the ''Anglo-Saxon Chronicle'' (Old Norse: Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi; no, Torkjell Høge; Swedish: ''Torkel Höge''; da, Torkild den Høje), was a prominent member of the Jomsviking order and ...

, who married his widow. Thorkell may well have married one of Æthelred's widowed daughters although it is far from certain that he married Wulfhild. Alternatively, and less plausibly, ''Saint Olaf's Saga'' states that Ulfcytel was killed by

Eiríkr Hákonarson Erik Hakonsson, also known as Eric of Hlathir or Eric of Norway, (, 960s – 1020s) was Earl of Lade, Governor of Norway and Earl of Northumbria. He was the son of Earl Hákon Sigurðarson and brother of the legendary Aud Haakonsdottir of Lade. He ...

near

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Notes

References

* * Fryde, E. et al. ''Handbook of British Chronology''. 3d ed. Cambridge, 1996. * Henson, Donald, ''A Guide to Late Anglo-Saxon England: From Ælfred to Eadgar II.'' Anglo-Saxon Books, 1998. * Higham, Nick, ''The Death of Anglo-Saxon England.'' Sutton, 1997. * Stafford, Pauline, ''Unification and Conquest: A Political and Social History of England in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries.'' London: Edward Arnold, 1989. * Swanton, Michael, ''The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.'' New York: Routledge, 1998. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ulfcytel 10th-century births 1016 deaths Earls and ealdormen of East Anglia Anglo-Saxons killed in battle Anglo-Saxon warriors