Already we have seen how the Danes harried Northumbria without opposition.

The same was probably the case with the whole Anglian coast on the east.

In 840, the wickings fell on the fen country.

"The ealdorman Hereberht was slain by heathen men, and many with him among the marsh-men." All down the east coast, the piratical fleet proceeded, burning and slaughtering as it went.

"In the same year, in Lindsey, and in East Anglia, and among the Kent men, many men were slain by the host." A year later, the wickings returned, growing bolder as they found out the helplessness of the people.