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324 Eric in 954 (Olaf had already retired to Dublin) Norse rule in Northumbria was at an end. Henceforward that district was directly under the rule of the English king, and earls were appointed in his name.

We have seen that during these years there was intimate connexion between the Norsemen in Ireland and Northumbria, and that the kings of Northumbria often ruled in Dublin at the same time. Viking rule in Ireland was in a state of flux. The chief centres of influence were Dublin and Limerick, but their rulers were often at variance with one another and a succession of great Irish leaders, Niall Glundubh, Muirchertach and Brian Borumha (Boru), made bold and often successful attacks on the Viking strongholds. Brian was the greatest and most famous of these leaders, and when he became chief king of all Ireland, he built a great fleet and received tribute from Northmen and Irish alike. His power was threatened by the treachery of his wife Gormflaith, who intrigued with her brother Maelmordha, King of Leinster, and Sigtryggr of the Silken Beard, King of Dublin, against Brian. A great confederacy of the western Vikings was formed, including Sigurðr, the earl of the Orkneys, and men from the Shetlands, the Western Islands, Man and Scandinavian settlements on the Continent. Dublin was the rendezvous and thither the great army gathered by Palm Sunday 1014. Brian had collected a vast army, including Vikings from Limerick, and on Good Friday the two forces met in the decisive battle of Clontarf, just north of Dublin. For some time the fortune of battle wavered, both Brian and Sigurðr fell, but in the end the Irish were completely victorious, and the Vikings had lost their last and greatest fight in Ireland. They were not expelled from their settlements, but henceforward they led a peaceful existence under Irish authority and the Norse kingdoms of Dublin, Limerick and other cities either lost all power or ceased to exist.

After the fall of the Northumbrian kingdom in 954 England had peace for some five-and-twenty years, especially under the strong rule of Edgar, but with the weak Aethelred II troubles were renewed and from 980 onwards the whole of the English coast was open to attack. These raids were the result of a fresh outburst of Viking activity over the whole of the British Isles. Danes and Norsemen united under one banner and their leader was the famous Olaf Tryggvason. In 991 after ravaging the east coast Olaf engaged Brihtnoth, the ealdorman of East Anglia, near Maldon. The struggle was heroic and gave occasion to one of the finest of Old English poems, but Brihtnoth fell, and an ignominious peace was made whereby for the first time since the days of Alfred "Danegeld" was paid to buy off Viking attacks. Svein Forkbeard now united forces with Olaf and together they besieged London in 994: the siege was a failure, but all southern England was harried and once more a heavy Danegeld had to be paid. In 995 Olaf went to Norway hoping to gain the kingdom by the overthrow of the tyranny of Earl Hákon, while Svein returned to Denmark. The raids continued but England saw nothing