Christian Vikings: The surprising faith of the feared sea raiders
Martyn and Hannah Whittock Tue 17 Jul 2018 11:02 BST
Almost everyone has a clear picture of 'the Vikings': fierce pagan warriors, worshipping gods such as Odin and Thor, pillaging Christian monasteries and sacrificing victims in the dreadful rite of the 'Blood Eagle'. Their raids spread terror from Ireland to the rivers of Russia, from Frisia to North Africa. And in each place their paganism was their trade-mark.
Indeed, Scandinavia and Iceland were some of the last Western European communities to convert to Christianity. Iceland did not convert until the year 1000 and Norway and Sweden contained significant numbers of pagans for even longer. King Sigurd the Crusader, of Norway, even led a 'crusade' against the south-east of the Swedish kingdom, in the early 12th century in order to forcibly convert the locals from paganism to Christianity.
https://www.christiantoday.com/life/christian-vikings-the-surprising-faith-of-the-feared-sea-raiders/129998.htm
