2. War: The Battle of Maldon at Northey Island
Follow footpath south-east of Promenade Park car park, 2.5 miles.
The tidal causeway to Northey Island
The journey starts on the banks of the Blackwater. To look out over the river between the Isle of Northey and the mainland, it is hard to put aside the image of the quiet yet bleak landscape of the marshland and imagine a bloody battle that took place 1000 years ago. The Battle of Maldon is an Old English poem, of which only a fragment remains of a much longer epic that was mostly lost in fire in 1731. It tells the story of the Saxons, led by Byrhtnoth, being bravely defeated by the invading Vikings in 991AD. The poem tells of the river dividing the two armies
“Because of the river they were not able this band of men to
fight the other: there came flowing the flood after the tide;
joining in the tidal stream. Too long it seemed to him
until the time when they together with spears join in battle.
There they on the Pante stream with pride lined the banks,
East Saxon spears and the sea-raider army; nor might any harm the other
unless through an arrow’s flight death receive.
Then the tide went out. The seamen stood ready,
many Vikings eager for battle.
Then the heroes’ protector ordered that the causeway be held”
Geological research has shown that the river has since widened, beyond the flight of an arrow or even a shout, and that the mudflats that we now see were once meadows. The feature that has remained a constant is that of the causeway, connecting the island to Essex. Byrhtnoth is credited with making a key error in letting the Vikings cross it in order to do battle, therefore losing his key tactical advantage and making their defeat a heroic tragedy.
While it can be seen as a patriotic text, George Clark asserts that “the central conflict in The Battle of Maldon is not between Anglo-Saxons and Vikings but between heroism and cowardice”, referring to the men who ran away from the battle. While victory in war is obviously preferred, death in war is glorious and Byrhtnoth’s death is a heroic.
Byrhtnoth’s tomb in Ely Cathedral
Link to map of walk: http://www.battlefieldstrust.com/media/237.pdf