A Thing Of Vikings Chapter 7: A-Viking
Burh— Old English fortified settlement or fortification, as a response to the threat of Viking raids of the 8th to 11th centuries. Conceived of as a network of forts containing detachments of local defense militia and roads (known as herepaths) connecting them, they were intended to act as a place to shelter the populace against Viking attack, as well as allowing the English forces to concentrate quickly in the event of a raid or invasion. Until the 1040s, and the domestication of dragons by the Norse, the burh and herepath system was notably effective in repulsing Viking raids.
—A History Of Old England, 1451, Oxford Press
AO3 Chapter Link [7/154]
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