The Battle of Maldon: A Heroic Poem. The Battle of Maldon was composed in a style already centuries old, and one of the most characteristic features of this style is a highly standardized body of descriptive terms or formulas. This island was (as it still is) connected to the mainland by a causeway which was covered at high tide. In August AD 991, a large fleet of Viking ships, led by the Norwegian Olaf Trygvasson, came to the River Blackwater, near Maldon in Essex, to be met by a smaller force of Englishmen. The poem’s author is unknown, and only 325 of its lines survive, without its original beginning or end. The printed text of Thomas Hearne (1726) remained until recently the only known source for the poem. Ten Questions on the Battle of Maldon. The Battle of Maldon has no surprising or fancy military outfits or strategies. THIS week Maldon Nub News takes a fresh look at the famous Battle of Maldon. 'The Battle of Maldon' is the name conventionally given to a surviving 325-line fragment of Old English poetry. Battle of Maldon 10th August 991. The Battle of Maldon seems to have been written not long after the engagement itself, although the poet has no doubt put his own words into the mouths of the warriors. https://www.thoughtco.com/viking-invasions-battle-of-maldon-2360865 Maldon; The Battle of Maldon. Ca. 1935, a transcript of the Cotton MS by John Elphinston was found in Oxford, Bodleian MS Rawlinson B 203. The Battle of Maldon: An Old English Poem. In August 991 Byrhtnoth, ealdorman of Essex, encountered an army of vikings camped on Northey Island in the estuary of the River Blackwater near the town of Maldon, Essex. The Battle of Maldon on 11th August 991 is celebrated as a defining moment in the town’s history, the subject of one of the great poems in our literature, and part of a uniquely British tradition of glorious defeats. 59 These have been paid before, during Alfred’s reign, but this is the first time under Æthelred’s reign and triggers a growing discontent in Anglo-Saxon England. The battle of Maldon actually took place between the Vikings and the Anglo-Saxons. Ealdorman Brihtnoth’s army, which fought at the battle of Maldon, was mainly a militia force from Essex. The actual battle of Maldon occurred in 991 and pitted valorous Anglo-Saxon warriors against the Danish Vikings. “The Battle of Maldon” is an Old English poem written to honor the eponymous battle, which raged in 991 next to the River Blackwater in Essex, England. At most perhaps 3-4,000 strong, it was raised following the Viking attack on Ipswich and marched to challenge the Viking forces as they advanced on Maldon. 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