The Vikings
About AD 790, the Vikings started to invade England. The Norsemen, who came from Norway, mainly settled in Scotland and Ireland. The north and east of England were settled by the Danes. The Vikings were excellent traders and navigators. They traded in silk and furs as far as Russia. In 1016, England became part of the Scandinavian empire under King Cnut. By 1066, England was again facing invasion from the north and the south. In September, King Harold II marched north to defeat his half-brother, the king of Norway, at the Battle of Stamford Bridge. Just three weeks later, he himself was defeated and killed at Hastings by another invader of Viking origin, William, Duke of Normandy, from northern France.
Michael Vaughan-Rees, Geraldine Sweeney, Picot Cassidy: In Britain. 21st Century Edition, Cornelsen Verlag, 2000, page 10