Lord Aethelwulf (died June 794) was a Northumbrian nobleman during the late 8th century AD. The brother of King Aethelred I of Northumbria, he was killed at the Battle of the Tyne in 794.
Biography[]
Aethelwulf was a son of Aethelwald Moll and the brother of Aethelred I of Northumbria, and he helped his brother with his accession to power. Aethelred had Aethelwulf fight all of his battles for him, sending for him in 794 after Ragnarr Lodbrok's Viking warband sailed up the River Tyne to raid Northumbria. Aethelwulf planned to lure out the Vikings by appealing to their greed, but, before he could set his plan in motion, his camp was surprised in a night attack. Aethelwulf prayed in his tent as his men were massacred outside, and Hrafna-Floki Vilgertharson trapped him underneath his tent by cutting its strings. Aethelwulf was then taken prisoner by Ragnarr, who sought to use him as a bargaining chip in danegeld negotiations with his brother. Aethelred promised to pay the Vikings 2,000 pounds of silver and gold, but he ambushed them at their camp while they attempted to collect a faux ransom payment from a cart. The Vikings repelled this attack, and Ragnarr then confronted Aethewulf, who told Ragnarr that he was of no use to him dead, and could instead persuade his brother to send the ransom. However, Ragnarr said that he still had his axe to negotiate with, and he then had Aethelwulf executed and sent back to his brother on the cart employed in the ruse. Sure enough, Aethelred paid the 2,000 pounds of silver and gold, but he swore vengeance against Ragnarr.
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