Illuminated manuscript from the "Life of Edmund", unknown artist, (circa 1130) depicting the autumn of AD 865/866 when Ivar Ragnarsson (nicknamed the Boneless), with his brothers Halfdan Ragnarsson (Halfdene) and Ubbe Ragnarsson (Hubba), led the Great Heathen Army in the invasion of England. Two ships at the front have reached land and Vikings are walking across planks from theirs boats to the shore. The Great Heathen Army was a Viking army originating in Denmark which pillaged and conquered much of England in the late 9th century. Unlike many of the Scandinavian raiding armies of the period, surviving sources give no firm indication of its numbers, but it was clearly among the largest forces of its kind, comprising a number of ships reaching into the hundreds, and many thousands of men.