The Battle of Gyruum was a battle of the Viking invasions of England which was fought in 879 AD between the Northumbrian Danish army of King Guthred and the Northumbrian Anglo-Saxon army of King Ecgberht II of Northumbria near Jarrow in present-day Tyne and Wear, North East England. The battle resulted in the destruction of the Northumbrian Saxon royal army and the death of Ecgberht, turning the tide of the Dano-Saxon war against the Saxons.
Background[]
In 878 AD, King Ecgberht II of Northumbria conspired with King Wulfsige of Westmoringas to throw off the Danish yoke in Northern England and reassert Anglo-Saxon rule over Northumbria. However, the Westmorlanders were defeated at the Battle of Hripum in 878, followed by the defeat of the Northumbrian general Onna and the destruction of his army at the Battle of Alclyt in 879 AD. Following Onna's defeat, King Ecgberht decided to abandon his campaign against the Scots and sail south from Bebbanburg with his army, desperate to crush King Guthred's Danish army. However, Guthred's army replenished its ranks, and Ecgberht's army landed at Gyruum (Jarrow) and marched inland, encamping to the southwest of the town. There, Guthred decided to attack the Saxon army before it could advance south and threaten Dunholm (Durham).
Battle[]
The two armies both met in a clearing of a local woodland, and the Saxon army attacked in a diagonal formation, forcing the Danes to adjust their line of battle. As the Saxons approached, the Northumbrian Danes attacked the Saxons in detail, with each Danish unit picking a Saxon unit to attack. The superior, battle-hardened, and better-motivated Danish warriors massacred the inexperienced Saxons, although Ecgberht's royal bodyguards were able to repel several Danish attacks before Ecgberht and his men were surrounded and gradually overwhelmed and massacred. The Saxon army was crushed, and Beorhtric led the 106 remaining Northumbrian Saxons in a retreat to Jarrow, where the Danes massacred them with 15 losses of their own. The Danes proceeded to occupy the village of Jarrow itself without any resistance, pushing their boundaries northwards. Osberht the Younger would briefly succeed Ecgberht as King before he was hunted down and killed by the Danes.
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