page_title: Ubba
section_title: Battle of Arx Cynuit
hierarchical_section_title: Ubba / Battle of Arx Cynuit
caption_attribution_description: Das Gokstad-Schiff im Vikingskipshuset auf der Halbinsel Bygdøy, Oslo
context_page_description: Ubba was a ninth-century Viking, and one of the commanders of the Great 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 the Continent. 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 dux 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.
context_section_description: Most versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle locate the battle to Devon. Vita Alfredi specifies that it was fought at a fortress called Arx Cynuit, a name which appears to equate to what is today Countisbury, in North Devon. This source also states that the Vikings made landfall in Devon from a base in Dyfed, where they had previously overwintered. As such, the Viking army could have arrived in Dyfed from Ireland, and overwintered in Wales before striking forth into Devon.
  The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle does not identify the army's commander by name. It merely describes him as a brother of Ívarr and Hálfdan, and observes that he was slain in the encounter. Although Ubba is identified as the slain commander by the twelfth-century Estoire des Engleis, it is unknown whether this identification is merely an inference by its author, or if it is derived from an earlier source. For example, this identification could have been influenced by the earlier association of Ubba and Ívarr in the legends surrounding Edmund's martyrdom. In any case, Estoire des Engleis further specifies that Ubba was slain at "bois de Pene"—which may refer to Penselwood, near the Somerset–Wiltshire border—and buried in Devon within a mound called "Ubbelawe".
  The clash at Arx Cynuit culminated in a West Saxon victory. Whilst Vita Alfredi attributes the outcome to unnamed thegns of Alfred, Chronicon Æthelweardi identifies the victorious commander as Odda, Ealdorman of Devon (fl. 878). Most versions of the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle number the Viking fleet at twenty-three ships, and most versions number the Viking casualties at eight hundred and forty dead. These numbers roughly give about thirty-six and a half men per ship, which is comparable to the thirty-two oared Gokstad ship, a ninth-century Viking ship unearthed in Norway.
  On one hand, it is possible that the Viking commander at Arx Cynuit seized upon Guthrum's simultaneous campaigning against the West Saxons to launch a Viking foray of his from Dyfed. On the other hand, the location and timing of the engagement at Arx Cynuit may indicate that the slain commander was cooperating with Guthrum. As such, there is reason to suspect that the two Viking armies coordinated their efforts in an attempt to corner Alfred in a pincer movement after his defeat at Chippenham and subsequent withdrawal into the wetlands of Somerset. If the Vikings at Arx Cynuit were indeed working in cooperation with those at Chippenham, the record of their presence in Dyfed could also have been related to Guthrum's campaign against Alfred. As such, they could have been campaigning against Hyfaidd ap Bleddri, King of Dyfed (died 892/893) before their attack at Arx Cynuit.
  It is possible that the defeat at Arx Cynuit left Guthrum overextended in Wessex, allowing Alfred's forces to assail Guthrum's exposed lines of communication. Although Alfred's position may have been still perilous in the aftermath, with his contracted kingdom close to collapse, the victory at Arx Cynuit certainly foreshadowed a turn of events for the West Saxons. A few weeks later in May, the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle records that Alfred was able to assemble his troops, and launch a successful attack against Guthrum at Edington. Following Guthrum's crushing defeat, the Vikings were forced to accept Alfred's terms for peace. Guthrum was baptised as a Christian, and led the remainder of his forces into East Anglia, where they dispersed and settled. Guthrum thereafter kept peace with the West Saxons, and ruled as a Christian king for more than a decade, until his death in 890.
caption: The remains of the Gokstad ship, a ninth-century Viking ship unearthed in Norway.
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