Ubba Lothbrokson - Viking Jarl - IX Century

Description from original post (created 2013-02-18 15:08):

Skin for the Dark Ages Medieval contests. It represents a Viking Jarl, Ubba Lothbrokson, a really-existed Viking warchief who was involved in the invasion of England of the IX Century.

The armor and the helm are as most accurate as possible. I am quite satisfied with the result, considering it's my second skin ever.

Ubba Lothbrokson

Ubba Lodbrokson, or Lothbrokson (pronunciation in Old Norse is the same), was a Danish warchief during the Viking Age. He was one of the sons of the famous danish leader and adventurer Ragnar Lothbrok, and along with his brothers Halfdan and Ivar the Boneless, a leader of the Great Heathen Army (or Great Danish Army).

In 878, a party of Vikings landed on the English coast. There they observed that a number of Saxons had taken refuge in the fort of Cynwit. Ubba was originally part of the Danish invasion of England. Ubba was one of the main leaders of the invasion, also was his brother Ivar. The Vikings proceeded to besiege the fort, expecting the English to surrender eventually from lack of water. Instead of waiting to die of thirst on top of the hill, the Saxons attacked suddenly out of the fortress at dawn, taking the Danes by surprise and winning a great victory. Ubba was killed by the Saxons under the leadership of alderman Odda of Devon at the Battle of Cynuit in Sommerset.
Ubba was famous for his brutality and his bearing of the Raven banner, probably the most famous Viking banner of all time.

Fonts:
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubbe_Ragnarsson
Bernard Cromwell, The Last Kingdom
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle

The Great Heathen Army
Aso known as the Great Army or the Great Danish Army, was a combined Viking army that originated in Denmark and invaded England in 865 AD. Since the late 8th century the Vikings had settled for mainly "hit and run" raids on centres of wealth such as monasteries. The Great Armys' size and intention was quite different; rather than raid, its purpose was to conquer.

The name is derived from the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, of 865 that described it as the Great Heathen Army. The army was a combined force of Danes led by the sons of Ragnar Lodbrok against the four remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdoms in a campaign that lasted 14 years. Unlike many of the Scandinavian raiding armies of the period, surviving sources give no firm indication of its numbers but it was clearly among the largest forces of its kind.


The invaders initially landed in East Anglia where the king provided them with horses for their campaign, in return for peace. They spent the winter of 865-66 at Thetford, before marching north to capture York, known at that time as Eoferwic, in November 866. During 868 they marched deep into Mercia and overwintered in Nottingham. At Nottingham they were besieged by a joint force from the kingdoms of Mercia and Wessex. With no progess being made on the siege the Mercians agreed terms with the Danish army. The army then moved back to York where they stayed for the winter of 869-70. In 870 the Great Army returned to East Anglia conquering it and killing its king. They moved to winter quarters in Thetford. In 871 the invading Vikings moved on to Wessex, where Alfred the Great was content to pay them to leave. The army then marched to London and overwintered there in 872 before moving back to Northumbria in 873. They again returned to Mercia conquering it in 874. By this time only the kingdom of Wessex had not been conquered by the invading Vikings. It was towards the end of 875 when the army started their second invasion of Wessex. However after a few setbacks Alfred the Great defeated them at the Battle of Ethandun. Following the battle a treaty was agreed whereby the Danes were able to remain in control of much of northern and eastern England, estabilishing the Danelaw in Northumbria around the town of York.

Fonts:

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Heathen_Army
Bernard Cromwell, The Last Kingdom
The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle