Murder in Anglo-Saxon England

'The raiding army became much stirred up against the bishop, because he did not want to offer them any money... They pelted him there with bones and the heads of cattle.'

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The records pertaining to the Anglo-Saxon period contain many stories of murder, particularly regicide, many of which include details of witchcraft and poisoning, or of betrayal of the worst kind, leaving us with the impression that this period was one of lawlessness and rebellion. But how many of these tales are true, and how do they square with a period known to have had lengthy, detailed law codes and harsh punishment for unlawful killing? Putting these stories together in one volume allows for the analysis of each tale in its historical context and allows for the examination of the sources, filtering out the bias, and leading to a greater understanding of the period so erroneously labelled the Dark Ages.

That said, while not a lawless period, it was one of violence, as the murder of Archbishop Aelfheah described above left, pelted to death by Cnut's drunken army, attests. Several eleventh-century murders are attributed to the 'most evil man in English history', Eadric Streona. Was the 'Viking' practice of killing by blood eagle, with reference to King Aelle of Northumbria, an alleged victim, a myth or real?