Editing Northumbria (section)

===Scandinavians and the Danelaw===
From around 800, there had been waves of Danish raids on the coastlines of the British Isles.<ref name="asc865"/> These raids terrorized the populace, but exposure to Danish society brought new opportunities for wealth and trade.<ref name=fleming213>{{harvnb|Fleming|2010|pp=213–240}}</ref> In 865, instead of raiding, the Danes landed a large army in East Anglia, and had conquered a territory known as the [[Danelaw]], including Northumbria, by 867.<ref name="asc865"/><ref>{{harvnb|Roger of Wendover|1842|pp=298–299}}</ref> At first, the [[Scandinavia]]n minority, while politically powerful, remained culturally distinct from the English populace. For example, only a few Scandinavian words, mostly military and technical, became part of [[Old English]]. By the early 900s, however, Scandinavian-style names for both people and places became increasingly popular, as did Scandinavian ornamentation on works of art, featuring aspects of Norse mythology, and figures of animals and warriors. Nevertheless, sporadic references to "Danes" in charters, chronicles, and laws indicate that during the lifetime of the Kingdom of Northumbria, most inhabitants of northeast England did not consider themselves Danish, and were not perceived as such by other Anglo-Saxons.<ref>{{harvnb|Hadley|2002}}</ref>

The synthesis of Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian and Christian and Pagan [[Motif (visual arts)|visual motifs]] within the Danelaw can be illustrated by an examination of stone sculpture. However, the tradition of mixing pagan and Christian motifs is not unique to the Danelaw, and examples of such synthesis can be seen in previous examples, such as the Franks Casket. The [[Franks Casket]], believed to have been produced in Northumbria, includes depictions of Germanic legends and stories of the founding Roman and the Roman Church and is dated to the early eighth century.<ref>{{harvnb|Karkov|2011|pp=149–152}}</ref> The Gosforth Cross, dated to the early tenth century, stands at {{convert|4.4|m|order=flip}} and is richly decorated with carvings of mythical beasts, Norse gods, and Christian symbolism.<ref>{{harvnb|Berg|1958|pp=27–30}}</ref> Stone sculpture was not a practice of native Scandinavian culture, and the proliferation of stone monuments within the Danelaw shows the influence that the English had on Viking settlers. On one side of the Gosforth Cross is a depiction of the Crucifixion; whilst on the other are scenes from Ragnarok. The melding of these distinctive religious cultures can further be seen in the depiction of Mary Magdalene as a valkyrie, with a trailing dress and long pigtail.<ref>{{harvnb|Richards|1991|pp=121}}</ref> Although one can read the iconography as the triumph of Christianity over paganism, it is possible that in the process of gradual conversion the Vikings might have initially accepted the Christian god as an addition to the broad pantheon of pagan gods.<ref>{{harvnb|Richards|1991|pp=123}}</ref> The inclusion of pagan traditions in visual culture reflects the creation of a distinctive [[Anglo-Scandinavian]] culture. Consequently, this indicates that conversion not only required a change in belief, but also necessitated its assimilation, integration, and modification into existing cultural structures.<ref>{{harvnb|Carver|2005|pp=36}}</ref>