The VIKINGS

© MMXV V.1.1.1
by Morley Evans

I’ve been learning a little about Wales about which I know next-to-nothing.

There were never times that were better or worse than these times today and there never were people who were better or worse than these people today. As always, virtue must struggle to triumph over evil.

I know that Wales was defeated by Edward I (Longshanks) in 1284 after which England began colonizing Wales. Castles were built to keep the Welsh under control. For some unknown reason Welsh longbow archers volunteered their services which Edward I used to defeat the Scots. This all began in 1066 when William, Duke of Normandy (a Viking), defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings. In fact, we should not lose sight of the fact that the process of colonizing the British Isles continues and is not resolved to this day — a thousand years later.

Battle of Stamford Bridge (1066)

At the Battle of Stamford Bridge, Harold, the King of England, slaughtered a large invading Viking army from Norway. This occurred only a few days before Harold lost his kingdom to William, Duke of Normandy, (another Viking) who changed the course of history on October 14, 1066, at the Battle of Hastings.

These are our ancestors. They were not nice people. Our ancestors were among the most violent people on the planet which is why we are the top dogs today and have been at the top for over a millennium.

My paternal grandfather was English, though my Aunt Charlotte, who was born in Bangor, Wales, said A.W. Evans’s ancestors must have been Welsh because his name was Evans. My Mother’s mother’s name was Bruce. Their family legend maintains the Bruce are direct descendants of Robert the Bruce whose ancestors arrived in the British Isles with William I in 1066 when the Bruce were les Bruc. My Bruce ancestors emigrated from Enniskillen in Ireland to Canada around 1900. They must have been descendants of Scots who were put in Ireland in the 17th century by William of Orange to keep the Irish under control. Since they had neither money nor power, my Bruce ancestors must have descended on a line that did not inherit, unlike James Bruce, the 8th Earl of Elgin, the 12th Earl of Kincardine, KT, GCB, PC, and the 42nd Governor General of Canada.

William the Conqueror was assisted by many in France who wanted a piece of the action. Notable were the Frenchmen from Brittany. They were Britons who had been displaced from the British Isles by the Saxons, a Germanic tribe like the Angles. The British descendants of the Angles and Saxons are called AngloSaxons. The original Britons were the Celtic tribes but they may have displaced someone we don't know about yet. The Vikings too were descendants of Germanic tribes who had moved into Scandinavia early in the Dark Ages, displacing people who were there.

What happened to the Vikings? They became the Normans, then the English, then the British. After William the Conqueror had colonized the British Isles and established an iron-fisted feudal system, he and his successors ran England from their base in Normandy — which also controlled half of France until the fourteenth century when the French began to reclaim their country. The Vikings settled Iceland, Greenland and Newfoundland. The Vikings established a trade empire with Constantinople, founded the Ukraine and gave their name, "the Rus", to Russia. The Vikings entered the Mediterranean at Gibraltar, captured Sicily, the southern half of Italy and setup a kingdom in present-day Lebanon. The Vikings waged war on the Muslims in the Crusades.  Vikings and their allies are in business today. They have been operating the empire since 1901 from Washington, DC, as Americans.

Richard, Coeur de Lion

The Prince of Wales and the Royal Honours.
Early Britain