Hengestdun 838 is now available in multiplayer!

[stockwellpete]

Design notes for Hengestdun 838 AD
The south-western kingdom of Dumnonia survived intact into the early eighth century, but then eastern Devon was conquered by Wessex. Sporadic fighting continued throughout the 8th century with Wessex pushing further and further westwards. By 815, the Wessex king, Egbert, was able to mount a massive raid into Cornwall, which suggests that most of Devon was conquered by this time.

In 838, the Cornishmen allied with a largish contingent of Vikings to fight against the West Saxons. The motive was probably to stop further West Saxon expansion and keep the River Tamar as the boundary between Cornwall and Wessex.

I have called the Cornish leader Mordaf ap Hopkin as he is listed as a Cornish king in the Book of Baglan, a Welsh manuscript compiled by John Williams between 1600 and 1607. The name of the Viking leader is not recorded anywhere as far as I know.

The significance of this battle is that it is the first example of the Vikings seeking to influence political developments in Britain. Before Hengestdun they had merely raided for plunder and then sailed away.

This was the last recorded battle between the Cornish and the West Saxons and ended over a century of warfare that began at Llongborth in 710.

Army points: Cornish and Vikings 1204pts, West Saxons 1294pts.

Bibliography
Battles of the Dark Ages, Peter Marren, 2006.
Britain and the End of the Roman Empire, Ken Dark, 2000.
In Search of the Dark Ages, Michael Wood, 1981.
Viking Britain, Thomas Williams, 2017.
Warfare and Society in the Barbarian West, Guy Halsall, 2003.