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[[File: Olav_Tryggvason_Trondheim.jpg|300px|thumbnail|left|State of Olav Tryggvason in Trondheim, Norway]]__NOTOC__The Vikings are known today for being piratical raiders of Europe, capturing whatever goods they could, including people, in lighting raids and then returning to their homes in Scandinavia. Churches and monasteries were among their favorite targets because the structures were usually not very well protected yet they often held great amounts of gold and other treasures. To the early Vikings, these churches represented nothing more than potentially lucrative targets – the religious connotation meant little to them one way or another. The Vikings followed an Indo-European religion that many of the people of Europe practiced before they became Christians. The Vikings believed that gods and goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Freya, and Tyr watched over them as they went into battle and traversed the seas in their long ships. But by the late eleventh century the old gods were becoming a thing of the past and the Vikings were embracing Jesus.

To the early Vikings, these churches represented nothing more than potentially lucrative targets – the religious connotation meant little to them one way or another. The Vikings were among some followed an Indo-European religion that many of the last Europeans to embrace Christianity people of Europe practiced before they became Christians. The Vikings believed that gods and goddesses such as Odin, Thor, Freya, and the manner in which Tyr watched over them as they did so, went into battle and traversed the reasons for seas in their conversion, were complexlongships. Europeans began sending missionaries to the north in But by the ninth late eleventh century and gradually , the various Viking kingdoms began to convert. Most old gods were becoming a thing of the early Viking rulers converted due to political past and economic ties with Christian Europe and then forced their subjects to follow suite. The conversion process was uneven across Scandinavia and there the Vikings were heathen/pagan reactions to Christianity, but by early twelfth century the process was complete and Scandinavia was integrated into greater Western Civilizationembracing Jesus.

The Vikings were among some of the last Europeans to embrace Christianity and the manner in which they did so, and the reasons for their conversion were complex. Europeans began sending missionaries to the north in the ninth century and gradually the various Viking kingdoms began to convert. Most of the early Viking rulers converted due to political and economic ties with Christian Europe and then forced their subjects to follow suit. The conversion process was uneven across Scandinavia and there were heathen/pagan reactions to Christianity, but by the early twelfth century the process was complete and Scandinavia was integrated into greater Western Civilization. ====Denmark and the First Christian Missions====

Due to its close proximity to the Holy Roman Empire and the rest of Europe, Denmark was the first of the Viking lands to accept Christianity. The Christianization of Denmark began when missionaries, such as Ansgar, began visiting the land in the early ninth century. Ansgar was a German monk who would later become the archbishop of Bremen. <ref> Rosedahl, Else. <i> The Vikings.</i> Translated by Susan M. Margeson and Kirsten Williams. (London: Penguin, 1998), p. 159 </ref> An eleventh -century monk named Adam of Bremen wrote in his <i>History of Archbishops of Hamburg-Bremen</i> that the pope gave the archbishopric of Hamburg-Bremen ecclesiastical authority in Scandinavia in the mid-ninth century. <ref> Sawyer, Birgit. “Scandinavian Conversion Histories.” <i>Harvard Ukrainian Studies</i> 12/13 (1989) p. 47</ref> The missionary efforts moved slowly until they achieved official status from a Viking king in 965.

“The Emperor “Emperor Otta and the Danish king met in Morsö. Then a holy bishop, Poppa, made known the true faith to King Harald; the bishop bore glowing iron in his hand and showed King Harald his and unburned. After that, King Harald let himself and all the Danish army be baptized.” <ref> Sturlason, The History of Olav Trygvason, XXVIII</ref>

The sagas depict the conversion of Scandinavia taking place from a “top -down” perspective, where the kings and jarls converted first, often for political reasons as Harald did, and then obliging their subordinates to follow suitesuit. A closer examination of the accounts reveals that the conversions usually followed a three -step pattern: first , the convert would renounce the old ways, then the convert would publicly identify as a Christian, and finally , the convert would follow the rituals and inwardly adopt the new faith. <ref> Abram, Christopher. “Modeling Religious Experience in Old Norse Conversion Narratives: The Case of Óláfr Tryggvason and Hallfreðr vandræðskáld.” <i>Speculum</i> 90 (2015) p. 119</ref> The first two steps were often superficial and done in name only – new converts to Christianity often did so under the threat of death or to gain a new ally.

====King Olav Tryggvason’s Saga====

“But in Norway , those who had taken up Christianity fell back to the blood offering just as they had also done before in the north of the land.” <ref> Sturlason, The History of Olav Trygvason, LIII</ref>