Æthelred returned from exile and executed a stunning comeback: he personally led a campaign to re-conquer England, expelling Cnut the Great’s Viking army in Lindsey. Scandinavian sagas credit Æthelred with two more victories at this time: a recapture of London and a great victory at a place called Ringmere Heath, both with the help of Olaf Haraldsson.
A military life
Contrary to his modern reputation, Æthelred closely followed the military practices that had been established by the aggressive English kings of the tenth century. He mirrored Edgar and Eadred by harrying within his own kingdom, attacking Rochester in 986.
ÆAthelred plundered the Norse-influenced Kingdom of Strathclyde in 1000, just like Edmund had done in 946. Æthelred’s naval attacks on the Isle of Man and Normandy at the turn of the millennium also set new boundaries for how far English aggression could extend.
The first real crisis of his reign came in 991, when the Norwegian warlord Olaf Tryggvason
