The Danish siege of Paris 885 – 887

[Strengthandhonour]

THE DANISH SIEGE OF PARIS 885 – 887


November 24th 885, King Sigfred * sailed up the Seine River towards Paris with 40.000 Danes in 700 large long ships and an unknown number of smaller vessels. The fleet is told to have been as long as 2 Gaelic miles, (4,5 km.) sailing up the river.

November 25th, King Sigfred went to bishop Gozlinus to ask for permission to pass Paris. When this was refused he warned the bishop that Paris would have to face the consequences, and thus Paris under the rule of duke Odo ~ was besieged.

The Northern gate into the city had a large bridge ** and was only protected by a stone tower under construction. The Vikings concentrated their attack on this bridge and tower. The fighting went on till the sun went down. During the night a wooden construction was built on top of the tower, making it 1 ½ times as tall as the day before.

A monk by the name of Abbo was inside Paris during the siege, on November the 26 885 he writes:

“The sun and the Danes greeted the tower at the same time and threw themselves into wild fights with the believers. Javelins were flying here and there through the air, and the ripping projectiles of their machines mixed in with them, and blood was flowing. The city shook, Horn-signals sounded and the citizens called for help to the failing defences. The Christians made sure to stand against blow with blow. The radiant Count Odo strengthened the exhausted, walked the tower killing enemies and got Oil and wax that was boiled in pots. Stones thrown from the tower crushed and shook the painted round-shields. Then – A round wheel thrown from the tower knocked 6 men down and sent their souls to Avernus ^. Viking riders returning from plundering the area threw themselves into the fighting, rested and with full stomachs. Soon the wounded sought the smaller ships, where the Danish women met them with scorn ^^.”

The Danes tried to burn the tower, but ample supplies of water barrels saved it. On top of the tower was now raised a yellow banner to scare the Danes, (this could have been “Oriflame”, the war-banner of Charlemagne).

The Danes drew off the attack and built a campaign version of a Trelleborg for their winter-camp +.
Towards the end of January 886, after what Abbo describes as cruelty to the people, (stuff like setting slaves free and enslaving the free) the Danes started building rams to knock down the tower. The Vikings constructed two rams, each with 16 wheels and room for 60 men inside to work it, but as they were making the third, ballista shots from the city killed both the master constructors. They then seemed to give up the idea of the rams and according to Abbo;

“They made 1000 leather-tents, on long poles, each serving as protection for 3 – 4 men. That night there was no sleeping. The Vikings were sharpening their arrow, javelins and blades and strengthening their shields.”

On the morning of January 31 886 Abbo writes:

“The old radiant sun-god rises in his swift chariot and drives away the nightly shades … Look, then the insane offspring of Satan storms from their camp to the tower, their shoulders edged with bows and steel weapons in hand. Like light bees seeking their hive to bring home thyme and cinnamon from the flowers on the trees and the beautiful field #. Thousands of lead bullets rained down over the city, and heavy catapults were showering the bridge and tower. The god of war arose and ruled on both sides. The metal bells from every church filled the empty space with loud and sad soundings. The tower tottered, the people trembled, trumpets sounded a mighty roar, and all were struck with fear. When the unfriendly people renewed the fight with uncovered faces and naked arms, their upright yew-bows were transformed to curved ones. The shield sighed when sharp rocks hit them, and chainmails were pierced by the cruel point of swords.“

The following night the Vikings brought the “leather tents” in front of the tower and took turns sleeping while others rained poisoned arrows against the tower all night. The next morning on the 1st of February 886, the Vikings started filling up the ditches and moat around the tower, at first with dirt, hay, branches of wood, and whines, and then with cattle, bulls, that they killed. Finally they started killing their prisoners and using their dead bodies to fill the moat. When bishop Gozlinus saw this, he prayed in tears to the holy mother, and an arrow quickly sought out the executioner, who fell in the moat with his victims ##.

The next day the Danes set three tall ships ablaze and sent them towards the bridge. They had only scorn and mockery for the citizens of Paris crying for help to Saint Germain, but miraculously all three ships hit the stone-foundation of the bridge, and the people of Paris were able to sink the ships before they could do any real damage.

That night Sigfred withdrew the army from the northern bridge and abandoned the rams. On February 3rd some of the Vikings went raiding east of Paris on horseback while others occupied the Southern shore of the Seine River. From the church of Saint Germain on the south side of the Seine the stories of miracles are many; the saint was apparently bound on protecting his town. One Viking lost his mind, the second he broke a window in the church, another fell off the Spire, (whatever he was doing up there). One went blind looking at the grave of Saint Germain, one fell dead went he touched the grave and one stabbed himself with his sword trying to open it.

On the night of February 5th 886, the water rose in the Seine River and washed away the southern bridge. This again was seen as a miracle of Saint Germain.

The southern bridge only had a wooden tower for protection, and on the morning of February 6th 886 the Danes set fire to a wagon full of straw, and pushed it towards to South tower. The people of Paris were completely unprepared for this, and had only one small water bucket in the tower, and they even dropped it out of the tower by mistake.

Soon the last 12 fighters in the tower sought refuge in the remains of the bridge. The Danes talked them into surrendering, and then killed them and dumped their bodies in the river. One however gets away and swims across to the city, and it is from him that Abbo knows the story of the fall of the southern tower. Paris had felt comfortable that after the miracles of Saint Germain, no one would dare attack the lands belonging to the church and monastery of the saint. The southern bridge and tower were on the monastery’s land.

The Danes now proceeded to raid all the land between the Seine and the Loire Rivers, thus cutting off all supply lines to Paris. The brave but a little foolish Abbot Ebolus, nephew to Bishop Gozlinus led a small party of men to burn down the Danish camp, but they were too few and they were forced to retreat. Abbo says he saw this with his own eyes from the wall of the city. The Danes then used the church of Saint Germain as a stable for cows, sheep, pigs and goats. But when the cooks came to get the animals, they had all died and were already rooting. (Another one of Saint Germain’s miracles).

At the end of March 886 Duke Heinrich of Saxony came to aid Paris, bringing large amounts of food and other supplies. He also stole a great number of horses from the Danish camp. But by the beginning of April Heinrich went back to Saxony.

One day around this time, count Odo was negotiating with king Sigfred outside the city. Some of the Danes tried to capture the count, and almost succeeded with Count Odo fleeing back to Paris for his life.
King Sigfred got really upset about this incident, as he was getting tired of the siege, and made new negotiations with Odo, who paid him 60 pounds of silver to leave the area of Paris. The problem now was that many of the king’s men did not want to go home. They wanted to take Paris. Sigfred said fine, have a go and he promised them to stay and watch.

After another failed attempt to take the North tower, Sigfred believed he had seen enough and went home with his 60 pounds of silver and some of the men.

The rest of the army stayed behind and continued the siege. The citizens of Paris were so despondent they were carrying the holy remains of Saint Germain around on the walls of the city for protection.

In early 887 Count Odo leaves Paris to go to the Emperor Carl the Fat to get help, and returns with the very same Duke Heinrich of Saxony who assisted the city the year before.

While inspecting the enemy lines Heinrich’s horse trips and falls. A couple of Danes spring out from hiding kill the Duke and steal his armour and weapons.

At last the Emperor himself arrives at Paris in the spring of 887 and camps at Mont Marte. He pays the remaining Vikings 700 Pounds of silver and allows them to sail, (and in effect raid) up the Seine River as far as Sens. Thus the Danes lifted the siege of Paris and went home.


* Some believe Sigfred to be identical to Sigurd Wormseye, son of Ragnar Lodbrog, although the name itself Wormseye, could have come from the fact that he went to Eu, (in Normandy), with a man named Wurm. Names and word do have a tendency to get twisted over many years, and long distances.

~ According to Abbo, Duke Odo of Paris had lost his right hand in battle, and had it replaced by an iron fist of no less strength. Abbo does however not explain how Odo was able to wield weapons.

** The northern bridge of Paris was situated where the Pont-Au-Change is now. The stone tower would have been on the Place-Du-Chatelet. The Seine River was wider at this point then than it is now, and there would have been a drawbridge of sorts to allow ships to pass the city. This will explain why the Vikings spent so much effort in taking the northern bridge, because it would allow them access further up the Seine River.

^ Avernus is an early medieval term for realm to which all heathens went when they die.

^^ I would like to know how Abbo could possibly have overheard what went on in the Danish camp by the river, while he was inside the city. It is most likely an attempt to discredit the Vikings, by saying that they cried over small injuries. It does however state the fact that women were a part of the Army on campaign.

+ Dudo, who wrote the history of the dukes of Normandy, says that he has seen, the ruins of such a Trelleborg type Campaign fortress with his own eyes. He also states that Rollo, (Rolf of Lejre) the first Duke of Normandy, (crowned 911), was leading the raiding riders at the Paris siege in 885 – 887.

# Abbo seems to be raving a bit here, but let’s give it to him; he did think that he was going to die at this point, and in shear frustration on a cold January morning with impending death by mad heathens, he visualises the heathen to be nothing more they pretty little harmless bees.

## This was of course seen as a miracle, and act of god, if you like. Personally I believe it only indicates that someone shot the executioner on the bishop’s order.

[Savage]

Those Danes, those Danes...

Always ready to invade lesser nations...And these cheerful hedonists does not go away from anything for a night at the town?...

Other sources says 80 000 men and about 4000 ships and boats, and not only Danes...But let us stick to this version of history...

Of course the Danes alone are to blame for this, the peaceful and friendly Norwegian vikings would never have been that raw and brutal...


Modern Danish viking invader in Paris.

[Frederick]

You say the Danes had 40,000 men, but I'm wondeirng, how many men did the Parisians have to defend the city? And how many men where with The Duke of Saxony when he came to aid the city?

[Franze]

I was banned temporaly in skadi for saying that the vinkings were the muslims of the north, they looted, sieged and make deaths in their way, the difference, their conversion to christianism. This passage of history is an example.
But now, I see the pagan viking spirit very hidden in the scandinavian people although they are pagan in practical terms now.