In Europe, the Viking Age is generally described as beginning in 793 CE when Norse raiders attacked and looted the Christian monastery at Lindisfarne in Britain. The Norse raiders, commonly known as Vikings, have generally been described by Christian writers as anti-Christian pagans. While they were pagans in that they had their own religious pantheon, the description of the Vikings as anti-Christian probably stems from Christian paranoia and the Christian self-image of being a persecuted religion.
↧