Guthorm's Invasion of Wessex:
A Great Misfortune for the Vikings

Finally, in the days before Easter, which in the year 878 was March 21st, Ragnarsson's twenty-three ships took sail and advanced on the north Devon coast for the attack on Wessex. The ealdorman of Devon, named Odda, retreated with his people to a strong hillfort on Countisbury Hill. There, the fort looked out over the coast and the road eastward. There they waited, watching the ships and looking for Vikings on the road. The ships waited also, hoping to starve the people out. The Saxons knew they had to do something before all their food and water ran out.

One early morning, they attacked and slew most of the Danes. It is said that even Ragnarsson was killed in the battle that day. The threat of a pincher attack was over. Now Guthorm and his army would have to fight for Wessex on their own or forget Wessex and settle in land already won somewhere else.