Vikings from Norway and Denmark first raided the British Isles in the late eighth century. The attack on the monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 is often given as the start of the Viking Age. Over the next two hundred years they came as raiders, traders and finally settlers. They founded the city of York (their "Jorvik") and a great swathe of north-eastern England, the Danelaw, came under Danish law and custom.
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King Alfred the Great of Wessex (reigned 871–899) defeated the Viking leader Guthrum at the battle of Edington in 878 and is the only English king known as "the Great". Later kings, notably Cnut, ruled both England and parts of Scandinavia. Norse influence on the English language is still visible in everyday words such as sky, egg, husband, knife and law.
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