In the time of Erik Bloodaxe in the 950s, Northumbria ruled from York to Lothian. If it had managed to survive, this Northern English kingdom might have eclipsed Scotland, which might never have become more powerful than the Western Isles did, and a divided island of Great Britain might have been decided upon the old Mercian/Northern border.
Would its greater power have meant that unlike Scotland it was a more equal rival to England? They would be on and off at war, over the centuries. Would one have swallowed the other, would it have been Castille and Aragon? Or would it have been more like Norway and Sweden, or Portugal and Spain? Where one conquered the other for a while, but never permanently?
What of Wales and Ireland? Would the Welsh kingdoms have been a Northumbrian ally, or written off? Would Ireland have ended up divided between the two, or freed of a united English onslaught have formed as a Norse/Celtic kingdom to stand equal to the two?
Northumbria was tied by trade with Spain, with the Baltic, and through York it was an international centre, on its own right. The Viking invasions of the 980s-1000s in England had their origins in a weak England - would this have happened? Would Edward have been overthrown if England was not united? If not, England would not have had the child king of Ethelred. Nothing is pre-decided.
Would its greater power have meant that unlike Scotland it was a more equal rival to England? They would be on and off at war, over the centuries. Would one have swallowed the other, would it have been Castille and Aragon? Or would it have been more like Norway and Sweden, or Portugal and Spain? Where one conquered the other for a while, but never permanently?
What of Wales and Ireland? Would the Welsh kingdoms have been a Northumbrian ally, or written off? Would Ireland have ended up divided between the two, or freed of a united English onslaught have formed as a Norse/Celtic kingdom to stand equal to the two?
Northumbria was tied by trade with Spain, with the Baltic, and through York it was an international centre, on its own right. The Viking invasions of the 980s-1000s in England had their origins in a weak England - would this have happened? Would Edward have been overthrown if England was not united? If not, England would not have had the child king of Ethelred. Nothing is pre-decided.