The Vikings came from the north on ships with striped sails and animal faces on raised stems and brought death with them. And the inhabitants of the land that today we call England could only suffer and hate. They were disunited and did not believe in themselves. Only in the 10th century did someone appear who shattered the myth of the invincibility of overseas invaders - King Alfred the Great. He united his people and taught them to resist the threat from the north.