Ubba (Old Norse: Ubbi; died 878) was a 9th-century Viking and one of the commanders of the Great Heathen Army that invaded Anglo-Saxon England in the 860s. The Great Army appears to have been a coalition of warbands drawn from Scandinavia, Ireland, the Irish Sea region and Continental Europe. There is reason to suspect that a proportion of the Viking forces specifically originated in Frisia, where some Viking commanders are known to have held fiefdoms on behalf of the Franks. Some sources describe Ubba as of the Frisians, which could be evidence that he also associated with a Frisian benefice.
In 865, the Great Army, apparently led by Ivar the Boneless, overwintered in the Kingdom of East Anglia, before invading and destroying the Kingdom of Northumbria. In 869, having been bought off by the Mercians, the Vikings conquered the East Angles, and in the process killed their king, Edmund, a man who was later regarded as a saint and martyr. While near-contemporary sources do not specifically associate Ubba with the latter campaign, some later, less reliable sources associate him with the legend of Edmund's martyrdom. In time, Ivar and Ubba came to be regarded as archetypal Viking invaders and opponents of Christianity. As such, Ubba features in several dubious hagiographical accounts of Anglo-Saxon saints and ecclesiastical sites. Non-contemporary sources also associate Ivar and Ubba with the legend of Ragnar Lodbrok, a figure of dubious historicity. Whilst there is reason to suspect that Edmund's cult was partly promoted to integrate Scandinavian settlers in Anglo-Saxon England, the legend of Ragnar Lodbrok may have originated in attempts to explain why they came to settle. Ubba is largely non-existent in the Icelandic traditions of Ragnar Lodbrok.
After the fall of the East Anglian kingdom, leadership of the Great Army appears to have fallen to Bagsecg and Halfdan, who campaigned against the Mercians and West Saxons. In 873, the Great Army is recorded to have split. Whilst Halfdan settled his followers in Northumbria, the army under Guthrum, Oscytel and Anwend struck out southwards and campaigned against the West Saxons. In the winter of 877–878, Guthrum launched a lightning attack deep into Wessex. There is reason to suspect that this strike was coordinated with the campaigning of a separate Viking force in Devon. This latter army is reported to have been destroyed at in 878. According to a near-contemporary source, this force was led by a brother of Ivar and Halfdan, and some later sources identify this man as Ubba himself.
Origins of Ubba and the Great Army In the mid-9th century, an invading Viking army coalesced in Anglo-Saxon England. The earliest version of the 9th- to 12th-century Anglo-Saxon Chronicle variously describes the invading host as "",Downham (2013a) p. 13; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 9, 27 n. 96; Sheldon (2011) p. 12, 12 n. 13; McLeod, S (2013) p. 64, 64 n. 16; Swanton, M (1998) p. 68 § 866; Gomme (1909) p. 58 § 866; Hervey (1907) pp. 2–3 § 866; Plummer; Earle (1892) p. 68 § 866; Thorpe (1861a) p. 130 § 866; Thorpe (1861b) p. 59 § 866. an Old English term that can translate as "big army"Downham (2013a) p. 14; Downham (2013b) p. 52; Downham (2012) p. 4; Sheldon (2011) p. 12. or "great army". Archaeological evidence and documentary sources suggest that this Great Army was not a single unified force, but more of a composite collection of warbands drawn from different regions.Hadley; Richards; Brown et al. (2016) p. 55; McLeod, S (2013) pp. 75–76, 79 n. 77; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 10, 81–82, 113, 119–120; Budd; Millard; Chenery et al. (2004) pp. 137–138.
The exact origins of the Great Army are obscure.Downham (2013a) p. 13; Woolf (2007) p. 71. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle sometimes identifies the Vikings as Danes.McLeod, S (2013) p. 64; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 10, 12–13, 120–121; Woolf (2007) p. 71. The 10th-century Vita Alfredi seems to allege that the invaders came from Denmark.Downham (2013a) p. 13; Downham (2013b) p. 53; McLeod, SH (2011) p. 140; Downham (2007) p. 64; Keynes; Lapidge (2004) ch. asser's life of king alfred § 21, asser's life of king alfred § 21 n. 44; Smyth (2002) pp. 13 ch. 21, 183, 217–218 n. 61, 224 n. 139; Conybeare (1914) p. 98 § 24 ch. 21; Cook (1906) p. 13 ch. 21; Giles (1906) p. 50; Stevenson, WH (1904) p. 19 ch. 21; Stevenson, J (1854) p. 449, 449 n. 6. A Scandinavian origin may be evinced by the 10th-century Chronicon Æthelweardi, which states that "the fleets of the tyrant Ivar" arrived in Anglo-Saxon England from "the north".Lewis (2016) p. 18; Downham (2013a) p. 13, 13 n. 23; Downham (2007) p. 64; Keynes; Lapidge (2004) ch. asser's life of king alfred § 21 n. 44; Kirby (2002) p. 173; Swanton, M (1998) p. 68 n. 5; Whitelock (1996) p. 196 n. 5; Ó Corráin (1979) pp. 314–315; McTurk, RW (1976) pp. 117 n. 173, 119; Stenton (1963) p. 244 n. 2; Conybeare (1914) p. 156 bk. 4 ch. 2 § 1; Giles (1906) p. 25 bk. 4 ch. 2; The Whole Works of King Alfred the Great (1858) p. 30; Stevenson, J (1854) p. 427 bk. 4 ch. 2. By the mid-9th century, this Ivar (died 870/873)Gore (2016) pp. 62, 68 n. 70; Downham (2007) p. 64; Woolf (2007) p. 73; Costambeys (2004b); Keynes; Lapidge (2004) ch. asser's life of king alfred § 21 n. 44. was one of the foremost Viking leaders in Britain and Ireland.Downham (2007) p. 67; Woolf (2007) pp. 71–73.
The Great Army may have included Vikings already active in Anglo-Saxon England, as well as men directly from Scandinavia, Ireland, the Irish Sea region and the Continent.IJssennagger (2015) pp. 137–138; McLeod, S (2013) pp. 76, 76 n. 67, 83–84, 84 nn. 94–95; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 28, 119–180 ch. 3, 273, 285; Downham (2007) pp. 64–65; Keynes (2001) p. 54; Woolf (2007) p. 71; Keynes; Lapidge (2004) ch. asser's life of king alfred § 21 n. 44. There is reason to suspect that a proportion of the army specifically originated in Frisia.Knol; IJssennagger (2017) p. 20; IJssennagger (2015) pp. 137–139; IJssennagger (2013) p. 83; McLeod, S (2013) pp. 76 n. 67, 83–84, 84 n. 95; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 28, 119–180 ch. 3; Woolf (2007) pp. 71–72; Woolf (2004) p. 95; Smyth (1998) pp. 24–25; Bremmer, RH (1981). For example, the 9th-century Annales Bertiniani reveals that Danish Vikings devastated Frisia in 850,Somerville; McDonald (2014) p. 210 § 850; Woolf (2007) pp. 71–72; Nelson (1991) p. 69 § 850; Waitz (1883) p. 38 § 850; Pertz (1826) p. 445 § 850. and the 12th-century Annales Lindisfarnenses et Dunelmenses states that a Viking force of Danes and Frisians made landfall on the Isle of Sheppey in 855.Lewis (2016) p. 20; IJssennagger (2015) pp. 137, 137 n. 8, 137–138; IJssennagger (2013) p. 83; Bremmer, R (1984) p. 359; van Houts (1984) p. 116, 116 n. 56; Bremmer, RH (1981) pp. 76–77; Whitelock (1969) pp. 223 n. 26, 227; Mawer (1908–1909) p. 83; Pertz (1866) p. 506 § 855. The same source, and the 10th- or 11th-century Historia de sancto Cuthberto, describe Ubba as of the Frisians.
Whilst the Old English Anglo-Saxon Chronicle calls the Viking army , the Latin Historia de sancto Cuthberto instead gives ,McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 141–142; Woolf (2007) p. 72; Frank (2000) p. 159; Anderson, CE (1999) p. 125; Björkman (1911–1912) p. 132; Arnold (1882) pp. 200 ch. 7, 202 chs. 11–12; Hodgson Hinde (1868) pp. 141, 143; Bense (n.d.) pp. 2–3. a term of uncertain meaning that is employed three times in reference to the leadership of the Viking forces. One possibility is that the word means "people from the River Scheldt".Anderson, CE (2016) pp. 462 n. 5, 470 n. 22; Lewis (2016) pp. 22–23; de Rijke (2011) p. 67; McLeod, SH (2011) p. 142; Gazzoli (2010) p. 36; Woolf (2007) p. 72; Besteman (2004) p. 105; Woolf (2004) p. 95; Frank (2000) p. 159; Van Heeringen (1998) p. 245; Björkman (1911–1912). This could indicate that Ubba was from Walcheren, an island in the mouth of the Scheldt.McLeod, SH (2011) p. 142; Woolf (2007) p. 72. Walcheren is known to have been occupied by Danish Vikings over two decades before. For example, the Annales Bertiniani reports that Lothair I, King of Middle Francia (died 855) granted the island to a Viking named Herioldus in 841.Lewis (2016) p. 7; McLeod, SH (2011) p. 143; Woolf (2007) p. 72; Nelson (1991) p. 51; Lund (1989) pp. 47, 49 n. 16; Waitz (1883) p. 26 § 841; Pertz (1826) p. 438 § 841. Another possibility is that this term simply refers to Scyldings, an ancient lineage from which Danish monarchs of the time claimed descent.
According to the same source and the 9th-century Annales Fuldenses, another Viking named Roricus was granted a large part of Frisia as a benefice or fief from Lothair in 850.Lewis (2016) p. 7; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 144, 177, 177 n. 375, 199; Reuter (1992) p. 30 § 850; Nelson (1991) p. 69 § 850; Pertzii; Kurze (1891) p. 39 § 850; Waitz (1883) p. 38 § 850; Pertz (1826) p. 445 § 850. As men who held military and judicial authority on behalf of the Franks, Herioldus and Roricus can also be regarded as Frisian . Although it is uncertain whether Ubba was a native Frisian or a Scandinavian expatriate, if he was indeed involved with a Frisian benefice his forces would have probably been partly composed of Frisians. If his troops were drawn from the Scandinavian settlement started by Herioldus over two decades before, many of Ubba's men might well have been born in Frisia.Woolf (2007) p. 72. In fact, the length of Scandinavian occupation suggests that some of the Vikings from Frisia would have been native Franks and Frisians. The considerable time that members of the Great Army appear to have spent in Ireland and on the Continent suggests that these men were well accustomed to Christian society, which in turn may partly explain their successes in Anglo-Saxon England.
Viking invasion of Anglo-Saxon England
In the autumn of 865, the Anglo Saxon Chronicle records that the Great Army invaded the Kingdom of East Anglia, where they afterwards made peace with the East Anglians and overwintered.Lewis (2016) p. 17; Somerville; McDonald (2014) p. 231 § 866; Gigov (2011) p. 19; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 11, 119; Pinner (2010) p. 28; Ridyard (2008) p. 65; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) p. 69; Keynes; Lapidge (2004) ch. introduction ¶ 11; Pestell (2004) pp. 65–66; Irvine (2004) p. 48 § 866; Kirby (2002) p. 173; O'Keeffe (2001) p. 58 § 867; Swanton, M (1998) pp. 68–69 § 866; Whitelock (1996) pp. 30, 196 § 866; Taylor (1983) p. 34 § 867; Beaven (1918) p. 338; Conybeare (1914) p. 140 § 866; Giles (1914) p. 49 § 866; Gomme (1909) p. 58 § 866; Hervey (1907) pp. 2–3 § 866; Giles (1903) p. 351 § 866; Plummer; Earle (1892) pp. 68–69 § 866; Thorpe (1861a) pp. 130–131 § 866/867; Thorpe (1861b) p. 59 § 866; Stevenson, J (1853) p. 43 § 866. The terminology employed by this source suggests the Vikings attacked by sea.McLeod, SH (2011) p. 119. The invaders evidently gained valuable intelligence during the stay,Downham (2007) p. 65; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) pp. 69–70. as the Great Army is next stated to have left on horses gained from the subordinated population, striking deep into the Kingdom of Northumbria, a fractured realm in the midst of a bitter civil war between two competing kings: Ælla (died 867) and Osberht (died 867).Lewis (2016) p. 17; Somerville; McDonald (2014) p. 231 § 867; Gigov (2011) p. 19; McLeod, SH (2011) pp. 11, 191; Gazzoli (2010) p. 37; Forte; Oram; Pedersen (2005) pp. 69–70; Irvine (2004) p. 48 § 867; Kirby (2002) p. 173; O'Keeffe (2001) p. 58 § 868; Keynes (2001) p. 54; Swanton, M (1998) pp. 68–69 § 867; Whitelock (1996) pp. 30, 196 § 867; Taylor (1983) p. 34 § 868; Beaven (1918) p. 338; Conybeare (1914) p. 140 § 867; Giles (1914) p. 49 § 867; Gomme (1909) p. 58 § 867; Hervey (1907) pp. 2–3 § 867; Giles (1903) p. 351 § 867; Plummer; Earle (1892) pp. 68–69 § 867; Thorpe (1861a) pp. 130–133 § 867/868; Thorpe (1861b) p. 59 § 867; Stevenson, J (1853) p. 43 § 867.