Who defeated the vikings?
Alfred the Great defeated the Danes (a tribe often generically labeled “viking”) under Guthrum at the Battle of Edington in 878. Brian Boru defeated Mael Morda mac Murchada whose army included a contingent of Norse (also called “viking”) mercenaries lead by his cousin Sigtrygg at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. I don’t know if you want to count this one since it was a mixed Irish/Norse army and the Irish and Norse were so intermarried at this time that the two leaders were cousins. Oh, and although Boru’s forces won, he was actually killed by fleeing Norsemen at the battle’s end. The Saxon King Harold Godwinson defeated the Norse King Harald Hardrada at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. ***** It should be clear that the “vikings” were not a single organized force or culture. As Panama Joe has pointed out, the term “viking” really means “pirate” or “raider”, although it is often used loosely today to mean the entirety of Norse, Dane, Swede, Gotlander, Ruser and Icelandic culture in
