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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: January 6, 2025
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First submittedApril 17, 2020
Times taken11,335
Average score41.7%
Rating4.70
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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
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38 Comments
Augerd
+10
Level 65
May 1, 2020
Nice quiz, hope it get featured.

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

moonshot
+2
Level 58
Feb 13, 2021
Really cool quiz!
QuizBoy786
+3
Level 53
Feb 16, 2021
Nice Quiz!
NoahGBurns
+4
Level 38
Feb 26, 2021
Love the quiz. I prefer post-1066 medieval history, but love all English history, brilliant quiz!
Iamnotreallyhere
+5
Level 69
Feb 14, 2022
Are you sure I can't have Sven for forkbeard? Couldn't remember how to spell Sweyn
JonOfKent
+3
Level 60
Feb 15, 2022
Good point. Thanks!
YantheMan
+2
Level 66
Apr 5, 2022
I've usually seen it spelled "Svein", but I was able to figure it out
JonOfKent
+3
Level 60
Apr 6, 2022
No bother - I'll add it.
PitifulExcuse
+1
Level 65
Jan 5, 2025
Svein still not working. That's how it's spelt in Frank Barlow's History of the Feudal Kingdom of England
JonOfKent
+1
Level 60
Jan 6, 2025
Oh, sorry. Don't know what happened there. I've submitted the change.
arjaygee
+2
Level 73
Sep 24, 2023
Nice use of type-ins, what with the many alternate spellings for some of these names.
DonTheLamplighter
+3
Level 86
Sep 25, 2023
"The Unready" probably isn't the most flattering nickname, but I'd prefer that to "The Martyr" if given the choice.
Quizmaster
+10
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".

maur85
+2
Level 73
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.
MovieQuizGuy
+1
Level 63
Feb 18, 2025
And it didn't turn up in any texts until a couple hundred years after he died, right?
Tramp
+7
Level 78
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.
Quizmaster
+7
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2023
The French kings kept it up much longer. I particularly like Louis XI, the Universal Spider.
Cage59
+3
Level 72
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

Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Sep 25, 2023
Those will work now
Jango
+4
Level 63
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...
JonOfKent
+1
Level 60
Sep 27, 2023
Thank you!
Zefyrinus
+1
Level 73
Oct 12, 2023
What happened in 1015?
duckwantbread
+4
Level 65
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.
kitshef
+1
Level 87
Oct 12, 2023
You could add “The Glorious” for Æthelstan and “The Great” for Cnut.
Jacktheguy
+3
Level 93
Oct 12, 2023
Rearrange some of the letters in Cnut and it certainly would be great :D
JonOfKent
+2
Level 60
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.

sjj93gg
+1
Level 56
Oct 13, 2023
Most of those 10th century kings just merge into one: a real lack of imagination with the names!
sjj93gg
+2
Level 56
Aug 31, 2024
I just scrolled down to make that comment, only to find that I had already done it!

Edwy does stand out though - he apparently had a threesome with a mother and daughter on his coronation day. I don't think King Charles was quite as "adventurous" during his recent coronation...

sjj93gg
+2
Level 56
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.
JonOfKent
+2
Level 60
Oct 13, 2023
Yes, why not. I've put in that change.
jojo8
+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.
Minutiae
+1
Level 74
Dec 14, 2023
Ethelred accepts while Ethelstan doesn't (which threw me). Wondering if there's a reason for that?
Quizmaster
+1
Level ∞
Dec 15, 2023
Ethelstan will work now
JonOfKent
+1
Level 60
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
reverendmeat
+1
Level 85
Feb 14, 2025
Why does it start with Alfred? Too many Aethels otherwise?
JonOfKent
+2
Level 60
Feb 16, 2025
I think it's generally reckoned that Alfred was the first undisputed king of a country called England (as opposed to being king of Wessex, or Mercia or wherever, and being pre-eminent among the other Anglo-Saxon kings). You definitely could start it earlier - my own book of the kings and queens of England starts with Egbert - but most people seem to start with Alfred.
Liamdoesquizzes
+1
Level 49
Apr 14, 2025
Some people say it was actually William the Conqueror that was the first true king of England
JonOfKent
+2
Level 60
Apr 15, 2025
Yes, it does often seem that way (like with all the monarchs' numbers restarting with him), and I've never been able to work out why. There doesn't seem to be any reason to it
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