Eowils and Halfdan (Healfdan) were kings in Danish (

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 s ...

) ruled

Northumbria la, Regnum Northanhymbrorum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of Northumbria , common_name = Northumbria , status = State , status_text = Unified Anglian kingdom (before 876)North: Anglian kingdom (af ...

in the early tenth century. Following the death of Alfred the Great in 899 the throne was disputed between his son

Edward the Elder Edward the Elder (17 July 924) was King of the Anglo-Saxons from 899 until his death in 924. He was the elder son of Alfred the Great and his wife Ealhswith. When Edward succeeded to the throne, he had to defeat a challenge from his cousin ...

and

Æthelwold Æthelwold was a common Anglo Saxon name. It may refer to: Royalty and nobility *King Æthelwold of Deira, King of Deira, d. 655 *King Æthelwold of East Anglia, King of East Anglia, d. 664 *King Æthelwold Moll of Northumbria, King of Northumbria, ...

, a son of Alfred's elder brother. Æthelwold was unable to get significant support in Wessex and fled to Northumbria, where he was accepted as king, but he was killed by Edward's men at the

Battle of the Holme The Battle of the Holme took place in East Anglia on 13 December 902 where the Anglo-Saxon men of Wessex and Kent fought against the Danelaw and East Anglian Danes. Its location is unknown but may have been Holme in Huntingdonshire (now ad ...

in 902. In the following years there seems to have been no clear leadership in Northumbria as no kings are named on coins of the period. In 909 King Edward sent an army to ravage Northumbria, and the following year the Northumbrians retaliated by sending an army to raid across

Wessex la, Regnum Occidentalium Saxonum , conventional_long_name = Kingdom of the West Saxons , common_name = Wessex , image_map = Southern British Isles 9th century.svg , map_caption = S ...

and

Mercia la, Merciorum regnum , conventional_long_name=Kingdom of Mercia , common_name=Mercia , status=Kingdom , status_text=Independent kingdom (527–879)Client state of Wessex () , life_span=527–918 , era= Heptarchy , event_start= , date_start= , ...

. On the way back the army was intercepted near

Tettenhall Tettenhall is an historic village within the City of Wolverhampton, England. Tettenhall became part of Wolverhampton in 1966, along with Bilston, Wednesfield and parts of Willenhall, Coseley and Sedgley. History Tettenhall's name derives f ...

by an army of Wessex and Mercia and suffered a heavy defeat. 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 A ...

'' names two kings among the Danish dead called Eowils and Halfdan. In Æthelweard's ''Chronicon'', a Latin translation of the ''

'', a third king,

Ingwær Ingwær (also referred to as Ingvar, Ivar or Ivarr; non, Ívarr) was a Norse King of Northumbria. According to Æthelweard's ''Chronicon'' he was a co-king of Northumbria along with his brothers Eowils and Halfdan, though the ''Anglo-Saxon Chron ...

, is also named as killed at Tettenhall.Downham, p. 87 The defeat put an end to the threat from the Northumbrian Vikings for a generation.

References

External links

Anglo-Saxon Monarchs - Edward the Elder
* and 10th-century English monarchs Monarchs of Jorvik Monarchs killed in action Vikings killed in battle Anglo-Saxon warriors 910 deaths Year of birth unknown 10th-century Vikings {{England-hist-stub