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Home / Historical Periods / Viking Age Scandinavia / Christianisation of Scandinavia

Phase

Christianisation of Scandinavia

Christianisation of Scandinavia unfolded gradually between the tenth and eleventh centuries through kings, missionaries, trade, violence and political advantage. Norse pagan beliefs did not disappear overnight, and local practice often changed unevenly. Conversion was tied to royal power and integration with Christian Europe.

It mattered because religious change altered law, kingship, burial, art and identity. It also creates strong fictional conflict between old gods, new faith, ambition and family loyalty. Viking novels and series often use conversion as a personal and political turning point for warriors, queens, priests and settlers.

Viking Age Scandinavia links to Bernard Cornwell's Uhtred novels through the wider Norse world, but it also has its own fiction by Frans G. Bengtsson, Giles Kristian, Linnea Hartsuyker, Tim Severin and other writers of Norse and seafaring series. These stories often follow raiders, traders, settlers, kings, shieldmaidens, explorers and families moving between Norway, Denmark, Iceland, the British Isles and the North Atlantic. A separate Scandinavian entry helps avoid treating all Viking fiction as Anglo-Saxon England only.

Series

Series about Christianisation of Scandinavia (1 series)

The Light of the North Saga in Order

by J. C. Duncan 5 books 4.6

The Light of the North Saga is an alternate-history epic in which a united Christian crusade is launched against the pagan kingdoms of Scandinavia in the early twelfth century. Across Denmark and Sweden, warriors, refugees, rulers and craftsmen are drawn into a widening conflict over faith, conquest and…

Books

30 Best Novels About the Christianisation of Scandinavia

Bestselling authors first, then star rating.