Onlafbald and Scula (

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

: 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 s ...

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 School Aycliffe is a village in County Durham, England. It is a short distance west of Newton Aycliffe, and east of Heighington. Its name derives from a Viking called Scula, who owned land in that part of South Durham. School Aycliffe is spli ...

, a village in County Durham, which is derived from his name (

: ''Skúli''). Following the Battle of Corbridge in about 918, the victorious Hiberno-Norse king Ragnall occupied lands between the River Tyne and the

River Tees The River Tees (), in Northern England, rises on the eastern slope of Cross Fell in the North Pennines and flows eastwards for to reach the North Sea between Hartlepool and Redcar near Middlesbrough. The modern day history of the river has bee ...

. 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 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 has been the Bishop of Durha ...

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 to

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 its ...

; and Onlafbald received a similarly large tract, which included the rest from

Eden Eden may refer to: * Garden of Eden, the "garden of God" described in the Book of Genesis Places and jurisdictions Canada * Eden, Ontario * Eden High School Middle East * Eden, Lebanon, a city and former bishopric * Camp Eden, Iraq O ...

to the

River Wear The River Wear (, ) in North East England rises in the Pennines and flows eastwards, mostly through County Durham to the North Sea in the City of Sunderland. At long, it is one of the region's longest rivers, wends in a steep valley through ...

. 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 God in Christianity is believed to be the eternal, supreme being who created and preserves all things. Christians believe in a monotheistic conception of God, which is both transcendent (wholly independent of, and removed from, the material ...

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 ...

and Odin.

Notes

References

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

See also

Notes

References