Editing Thorkell the Tall (section)

{{Short description|Prominent Viking mercenary}}
[[Image:U 344, Orkesta.JPG|right|250px|thumb|The [[Orkesta Runestones|rune stone U 344]] in Orkesta, [[Uppland]], [[Sweden]], was raised by the [[Viking]] Ulfr who commemorated that he had taken a [[danegeld]] in England with Thorkell the Tall. He took two others with [[Skagul Toste]] and [[Cnut the Great]].]]
[[File:Olav Trygvasons saga - Uvaeret, Hjoerungavaag - G. Munthe.jpg|right|thumb|250 px|''Storm in Hjørungavåg'' by [[Gerhard Munthe]].]]

'''Thorkell the Tall''', also known as '''Thorkell the High''' in the ''[[Anglo-Saxon Chronicle]]'' ([[Old Norse language|Old Norse]]: '''Þorke(ti)ll inn hávi'''; {{langx|no|Torkjell Høge}}; [[Swedish language|Swedish]]: ''Torkel Höge''; {{langx|da|Torkild den Høje}}), was a prominent member of the [[Jomsviking]] order and a notable lord. He was a son of the [[Scania]]n chieftain [[Strut-Harald]], and a brother of [[Jarl (title)|Jarl]] [[Sigvaldi Strut-Haraldsson|Sigvaldi]], Hemingr and Tófa.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.fafnir.fr/thorkell-inn-havi|title=fafnir.com – The encyclopedia of medieval Scandinavia|date=2018|archive-url=http://www.fafnir.fr|archive-date=12 June 2019}}</ref> Thorkell was the chief commander of the Jomsvikings and the legendary stronghold [[Jomsborg]], on the Island of [[Wollin]].{{Citation needed|date=November 2018}} He is also credited as having received the young [[Cnut the Great]] into his care and taken Cnut on raids.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Cnut and his Empire|last=Garmonsway|first=G|publisher=[[H. K. Lewis & Co. Ltd.]]|year=1963|location=London|pages=6}}</ref> The ''[[Encomium Emmae]],'' a document concerning significant individuals in the Anglo-Scandinavian court in the early 1040s, describes Thorkell as a great war leader and warrior.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title="Danes in Wessex: The Scandinavian Impact on Southern England, c. 800–c. 1100"|chapter="Thorkell the Tall and the Bubble Reputation: The Vicissitudes of Fame"|chapter-url=https://www.academia.edu/1682316/Thorkell_the_Tall_and_the_bubble_reputation_the_vicissitudes_of_fame |author-last=Williams |author-first=Ann |editor-last1=Lavelle |editor-first1=Ryan |editor-last2=Roffey |editor-first2=Simon |publisher=Oxbow Books |year=2016 |location=Oxford |pages=147, 148, 150–152}}</ref>

Thorkell notably partook in a campaign that saw him lead an army to [[Kent]] in the summer of 1009, where they proceeded to ravage most of [[Southern England]].<ref name="Peter Sawyer 75">{{cite book | author= Peter Sawyer |title = The Oxford Illustrated History of the Vikings |year = 2001 |location=London |publisher= Oxford University Press | isbn= 978-0-19-285434-6 | page=75}}</ref> This soon culminated in the [[siege of Canterbury]] in 1011 and the kidnapping of archbishop [[Ælfheah of Canterbury|Ælfheah]], who had previously converted [[Olaf Tryggvason]],<ref name="Angelo Forte 190">{{cite book | author= Angelo Forte|title = Viking Empires |date = 5 May 2005 |publisher= Cambridge University Press | isbn= 0-521-82992-5 | page=190}}</ref> and Ælfheah's subsequent murder at [[Greenwich]] on 19 April 1012.<ref name="Peter Sawyer 75"/> 

In the summer of 1015, Thorkell joined [[Cnut]] in his successful [[Cnut's invasion of England|conquest of England]], where he was promptly rewarded with the earldom of East-Anglia.