The A to Z of the Vikings 22. This book provides a comprehensive work of reference for people interested in the Vikings, including entries on the main historical figures involved in this dramatic period, important battles and treaties, significant archaeological finds, and key works and sources of information on the period. It also summarizes the impact the Vikings had on the areas where they traveled and settled. There is a chronological table, detailed and annotated bibliographies for different themes and geographical locations, and an introduction discussing the major events and developments of the Viking age | 188 MARKLAND Hebrides were conceded to SumarliSi in 1156 representatives of the SuSreyar met. The continuity of this assembly down to the present day is unique in the context of Scandinavian colonies in the west and testifies to the impact of Scandinavian settlement on Man. MARKLAND Land of Forest . Land to the north of Vinland that was first sighted by Bjarni Herjolfsson according to the Saga of the Greenlanders although according to the Saga of Erik the Red Leif the Lucky was the first to discover Markland. Markland is described as a heavily forested land which was a good source of timber for the inhabitants of treeless Greenland and it has been identified with Labrador. MERCIA VIKINGS IN. Anglo-Saxon kingdom in the English Midlands which rose to prominence in the eighth century under its king Offa 757-796 . The territorial boundaries of this kingdom appear to have fluctuated but at its greatest extent in the century before Viking raids began Mercia stretched from the Welsh borders in the west to the kingdom of East Anglia in the east and from the Humber in the north to the Rivers Thames and Avon in the south embracing a number of distinct peoples. Beorhtwulf king of Mercia is recorded as unsuccessfully confronting a large Viking fleet around Canterbury and London in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle for 851. Just two years later Mercia was forced to ask for West Saxon help against the Welsh an alliance that was confirmed by the marriage of Mercia s new king Burgred 852-874 to the daughter of thelwulf king of Wessex. The kingdom of Mercia suffered its first real taste of Viking attacks following the arrival of the Great Army in 865 and these fatally weakened the kingdom and ultimately brought it under the leadership of the West Saxon kings. In 867 the Viking army attacked Nottingham even with the support of thelred of Wessex and his brother Alfred the Great Burgred was forced to come to terms with the Vikings. Further deals with the Vikings were struck in 871 and 872 but
