CHRISTIANIZATION OF THE NORTHMEN
Christianity first gained a foothold in Denmark through the work of Roman
Catholic missionaries sent out by Charlemagne's son, Louis the Pious. [8]
Two centuries elapsed before the Danes were completely converted. From
Denmark the new faith spread to Sweden. Norway owed its conversion largely
to the crusading work of King Olaf (1016-1029 A.D.), whose zeal for
Christianity won him the title of Olaf the Saint. The Norwegians carried
Christianity to Iceland, where it supplanted the old heathenism in the
year 1000 A.D. With the general adoption of the Christian religion in
Scandinavian lands, the Viking Age drew to an end.
[Illustration: NORSE METAL WORK (Museum, Copenhagen) A door from a church in Iceland; date, tenth or eleventh century. The iron knob is inlaid with silver. The slaying of a dragon is represented above and below is shown the Midgard serpent.]
141. THE NORTHMEN IN THE WEST
CAUSES OF THE VIKING MOVEMENT
The Northmen were still heathen when they set forth on their expeditions of plunder and conquest. Doubtless the principal cause of this Viking movement is to be sought in the same hunger for land which prompted the Germanic invasions and, in fact, has led to colonial expansion in all ages. By the ninth century Scandinavia could no longer support its rapidly growing population, and enforced emigration was the natural consequence. The political condition of Scandinavia at this time also helps to explain the Viking expansion. Denmark and Norway had now become strong kingdoms, whose rulers forced all who would not submit to their sway to leave the country. Thus it resulted that the numbers of the emigrants were swelled by exiles, outlaws, and other adventurers who turned to the sea in hope of gain.
RAIDS OF THE NORTHMEN
The Northmen started out as pirates and fell on the coasts of England, France, and Germany. In their shallow boats they also found it easy to ascend the rivers and reach places lying far inland. The Northmen directed their attacks especially against the churches and monasteries, which were full of treasure and less easily defended than fortified towns. Their raids inspired such great terror that a special prayer was inserted in the church services: "From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us."
THE NORTHMEN IN IRELAND, SCOTLAND, AND THE ISLANDS
At first the incursions of the Northmen took place only in summer, but before long they began to winter in the lands which they visited. Year by year their fleets became larger, and their attacks changed from mere forays of pirates to well-organized expeditions of conquest and colonization. Early in the ninth century we find them making permanent settlements in Ireland, and for a time bringing a considerable part of that country under their control. The first cities on Irish soil, including Dublin and Limerick, were founded by the Northmen. Almost simultaneously with the attacks on Ireland came those on the western coast of Scotland. In the course of their westward expeditions the Northmen had already discovered the Faroe Islands, the Orkneys, the Shetlands and the Hebrides. These barren and inhospitable islands received large numbers of Norse immigrants and long remained under Scandinavian control.