Viking invasion of Britain
The first raiders from the north who set foot in England were from Norway. They sacked and killed monks at Lindisfarne and at Jarrow the following year. The Norwegian Vikings then established colonies in the Shetland and Orkney Islands. They also settled in Ireland. The Vikings from Norway only came back to England in the 10th century and from their settlements in Ireland. The Swedes, called the Rus, were to later expand eastwards into Russia. In 835 there was a raid at the mouth of the River Thames by Danish Vikings. For the next thirty years these attacks on England continued. In 850 Canterbury and London were attacked by a Danish band led by Rorik. He was defeated and killed the next year by Athelwulf of Wessex. Only twice had a Danish army spent the winter in England: in 850 and 854.