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Anglo-Saxon and Viking Kings of England

How many of the Kings of England from before the Norman conquest can you name?
Quiz by JonOfKent
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Last updated: October 13, 2023
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First submittedApril 17, 2020
Times taken6,785
Average score41.7%
Rating4.69
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Nickname
Reign
King
"The Great"
886–899
Alfred
"The Elder"
899–924
Edward
924–939
Æthelstan
"The Magnificent"
939–946
Edmund
946–955
Eadred
"All-Fair"
955–959
Eadwig
"The Peaceable"
959–975
Eadgar
"The Martyr"
975–978
Edward
Nickname
Reign
King
"The Unready"
978–1013
1014–1016
Æthelred
"Forkbeard"
1013–1014
Sweyn
"Ironside"
1016
Edmund
1016–1035
Cnut
"Harefoot"
1035–1040
Harold
1040–1042
Harthacnut
"The Confessor"
1042–1066
Edward
1066
Harold
+7
Level 40
May 1, 2020
Nice quiz, hope it get featured.

For me the kings of England, especially the Danish/ Norse ones, are fascinating.

+2
Level 55
Feb 13, 2021
Really cool quiz!
+3
Level 54
Feb 16, 2021
Nice Quiz!
+4
Level 37
Feb 26, 2021
Love the quiz. I prefer post-1066 medieval history, but love all English history, brilliant quiz!
+5
Level 69
Feb 14, 2022
Are you sure I can't have Sven for forkbeard? Couldn't remember how to spell Sweyn
+3
Level 56
Feb 15, 2022
Good point. Thanks!
+1
Level 66
Apr 5, 2022
I've usually seen it spelled "Svein", but I was able to figure it out
+3
Level 56
Apr 6, 2022
No bother - I'll add it.
+2
Level 65
Sep 24, 2023
Nice use of type-ins, what with the many alternate spellings for some of these names.
+3
Level 84
Sep 25, 2023
"The Unready" probably isn't the most flattering nickname, but I'd prefer that to "The Martyr" if given the choice.
+9
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2023
Apparently "unready" at the time meant "poorly advised".

And Aethelred means "well advised". The nickname was a pun on his given name. He was "Well advised the poorly advised".

+1
Level 72
Oct 12, 2023
Well, in hindsight the St Brice's Day Massacre could and should have been avoided. Giving Vikings an excuse for violence is not a course of action that will have you go down in history as Æthelred the Wise.
+7
Level 76
Sep 25, 2023
I wish British monarchs would have kept up the tradition with the titles. Something like Henry the Wifeslayer or Charles the Sausage-Fingered would have been pretty cool.
+5
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2023
The French kings kept it up much longer. I particularly like Louis XI, the Universal Spider.
+3
Level 69
Sep 25, 2023
Cnut - you should also accept Knud (Danish) and Knut (Norwegian - and my actually my own name)

Similar to the other Sweyn/Sven comment

+1
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2023
Those will work now
+2
Level 64
Sep 27, 2023
Jon, loved this quiz. Especially after such a rash in recent days of US states that are whiter, blacker, pinker, happier, crappier, sadder, more boring...
+1
Level 56
Sep 27, 2023
Thank you!
+2
Level 50
Oct 12, 2023
I think the dates for Alfred might be wrong - it says 889AD instead of 899AD
+1
Level 73
Oct 13, 2023
+1
+1
Level 56
Oct 13, 2023
Ahh well spotted! I've submitted an update. Thanks.
+1
Level 71
Oct 12, 2023
What happened in 1015?
+3
Level 63
Oct 12, 2023
The Unready was king again. Forkbeard successfully conquered England in December 1013 and exiled The Unready. Unfortunately for Forkbeard though he ended up dying only 5 weeks after conquering England, so The Unready returned to England and reclaimed his throne.
+1
Level 83
Oct 12, 2023
You could add “The Glorious” for Æthelstan and “The Great” for Cnut.
+3
Level 89
Oct 12, 2023
Rearrange some of the letters in Cnut and it certainly would be great :D
+2
Level 56
Oct 13, 2023
Really? I've never heard of Athelstan the Glorious. Can you give me any kind of reference for that?

I'm trying to use only nicknames that have been widely used in England - I daresay they have all been called something or other at some point - which is also why I've left out "the Great" for Canute as he seems to be mainly known as "the Great" in Denmark. I expect he was known in England as "Canute the annoying invader" or something less polite.

+1
Level 45
Oct 13, 2023
Most of those 10th century kings just merge into one: a real lack of imagination with the names!
+1
Level 45
Oct 13, 2023
Could the name of the quiz change "Saxon" with "Anglo-Saxon"? This period of English history is referred to as Anglo-Saxon. Saxon can be ambiguous, as there were not just Saxons in England, and there was a political entity on the continent called the Duchy of Saxony which was contemporary with pre-Conquest England, and Saxon refers to that. Also, the people of England pre-1066 referred to themselves as English for the last century or two before 1066.
+1
Level 56
Oct 13, 2023
Yes, why not. I've put in that change.
+2
Level 65
Oct 14, 2023
Fantastic quiz. Eadred and Eadwig are always the ones I have trouble remembering, but then I suppose they're probably the least important of the lot.
+1
Level 73
Dec 14, 2023
Ethelred accepts while Ethelstan doesn't (which threw me). Wondering if there's a reason for that?
+1
Level ∞
Dec 15, 2023
Ethelstan will work now
+1
Level 56
Dec 18, 2023
Yes it's a weird thing - they are both really Æ, but Æthelred is invariably modernised as Ethelred - never Athelred - and Æthelstan as Athelstan, never Ethelstan. I suppose there is a reason for that, although I have no idea what it is