Aella of Northumbria

Ælla (or Ælle) (fl. 866; d. 21 March 867) was King of Northumbria, England in the middle of the 9th century. Sources on Northumbrian history in this period are limited, ancestry is not known and the dating of the beginning of Ælla's reign is questionable.

In addition to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, Ælla is also mentioned in Scandinavian sources, such as the Norse sagas. According to the latter, Ælla captured the semi-legendary Swedish-Danish Viking leader Ragnar Lodbrok, whom Ælla put to death in a pit of snakes. The historical invasion of Northumbria in 866 occurred in retaliation for Ragnar's execution, according to Ragnarssona þáttr ("The Tale of Ragnar's Sons"). While Norse sources claim that Ragnar's sons tortured Ælla to death with a blood eagle, Anglo-Saxon accounts maintain that he died in battle, at York, on 21 March 867.

Ælla became king after Osberht (Osbryht) was deposed. This is traditionally dated to 862 or 863 but evidence about Northumbrian royal chronology is not decisive about dates prior to 867 and it may have been as late as 866. Almost nothing is known of Ælla's reign; Symeon of Durham states that Ælla had seized lands at Billingham, Ileclif, Wigeclif and Crece, which belonged to the church. While Ælla is described in most sources as a tyrant and not a rightful king, one source states that he was Osberht's brother.

The Great Heathen Army, composed mostly of Danish Vikings, landed in Northumbria in mid-866 and had captured York by 21 November.

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