Danelaw

The Danelaw (from the Old English Dena lagu) was an area of England under the administrative control of the Vikings (or Danes, or Norsemen) from the late 9th century. The term is also used to describe the set of legal terms and definitions established between Alfred the Great and the Viking Guthrum which were set down in agreements such as the Treaty of Wedmore which established a modus vivendi between the Anglo-Saxons and the Viking in-comers.

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The area occupied by the Danelaw was roughly the area to the north of a line drawn between London and Chester.

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Five fortified towns became particularly important in the Danelaw: Leicester, Lincoln, Nottingham, Stamford and Derby. These strongholds became known as the "Five Boroughs". Borough derives from the Old English word burg, meaning a fortified and walled enclosure containing several households ? anything from a large stockade to a fortified town. The meaning has since developed further.

Old English: Old English (Englisc, Anglisc, Ænglisc) or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written in parts of what are now England and south-eastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century. What survives through writing represents primarily th...

England: :For an explanation of often confusing terms like England, (Great) Britain and United Kingdom see British Isles (terminology)....

Vikings: REDIRECT Viking...