Battle of Lyrskov Hede

[clivethecelt]

I'm trying to set up an HC scenario (going to have to use 15mm) based on the above, but am struggling to find many details of this battle. For army lists, I'm having to use DBM to get a balance, but I can't work out whose side Sveyn Estridsson was on. Some sources suggest he fought with Magnus, some with the Wends - any pointers? I can't also work out the topography - presuming Magnus was coming from the south, where did the Wends draw up their battle line? And were they attacked from the north too? Anyone help out, please?

[Invisible officer]

King Magnus was the rival of Svend Estridsson, so at first glimpse there seem to be little reason to think that he would have been an ally at Lyrskov Hede.
The Wends had invaded Denmark but we have no sources that claim an alliance of Svend and the Wends. Hard to see how the devastation of "his" realm would have helped him to the throne of Denmark. So I would expect him on the Danish/Norwegian side. Later Svend destroyed the Jomsburg and killed Ratibor , king of the Obodrites. Another reason to see him as an enemy of the wends.

At last Magnus chose him as his heir so I think there was no real hate, just rivalry. Not enough to drive him to the Wends.

Don't forget to give Svend that special way of walking he was known for.

[clivethecelt]

Yes, that's the impression I got - but feuding with rivals seems to have been a way of life in Scandinavia and Viking-controlled parts of the British Isles at that time. Some accounts laud Svend for his part in the battle, though some report that Ratibor was killed by Magnus at a siege (Jomsborg? It may have been Magnus who razed it before landing at Hedeby) prior to Lyrskov Hede, and that his eight sons were out for revenge - they were killed at Lyrskov. I'm still puzzled about the battlesite topography, as it seems to have been north of the Danevirke, but not entirly sure ... does the Danevirke run from Hollingstedt to Hedeby, or is it further north, near Flensburg? Either way, the battle would have had wetland/marsh or a lake to the west, and wooded hills to the east, with a major arterial route (the Haervejen or Ochsenweg) running across the heath, I think.

[Invisible officer]

The reason for your confusion is the simple fact that there was a system of walls, not a single one.
Old maps show the Danevirke / Dannewal / Dannewerk between modern Schleswig and Husum. Flensburg is ca. 30 km more to the north.
But there is also a part of the system of old walls from Haithabu / Hedeby- to Hollingstedt.

The following link to a modern German map might help.
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?tit ... 1009205721

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danewerk shows some photos that give a good impression of the area.

The Danewrk was used last time in 1864 against the Germans and Austrians.

[clivethecelt]

@Invisible Officer: Thanks! The link to the German map is great; I can plan out a battle area without worrying about the Danevirke, as it's much further south than the actual battlesite. Looks like a pretty significant piece of work; I found an old document (in German) regarding this from a site at Harvard (!) which gives a good description, but I haven't translated it all - difficult, as it was written in the 1890s, and is all in Gothic script!