"By the mid 800s, Britain had been consistently and pervasively ravaged by Viking attacks. Seemingly able to strike at will from nearly any direction, the early island kingdoms had been wholly ineffective in preventing these incursions, though sporadic efforts had been made to engage them at sea. The result was a despoiled and impoverished land with a dejected population that needed a new approach to confronting the haunting attacks of the Scandinavian raiders. They would find this in a new king in 871."