The Danes and the Northumbrians

The Danes were so panicky that they apparently drowned in large numbers because of how scary Sir Ralph was. The target list stands out, and I think it's telling us something that might account for the strangeness of having a massive fleet hit these four towns but only do it as a quick strike before moving on. And at this point, I've got to stop, because either we're missing part of the story, or someone is terribly misinformed. Because come on, 240 ships brimming with soldiers drawn from experienced raiding kingdoms were getting slapped around by every local levee that they encountered.