[TexasRepublicans]

A while back I remember reading about his theory that the Norwegian "Vikings" were actually Christian. Other than exploding what is taken as standard history, I can't recall precisely why this was so important and controversial. Can someone explain why this discovery was so important?

[texlok]

A while back I remember reading about his theory that the Norwegian "Vikings" were actually Christian. Other than exploding what is taken as standard history, I can't recall precisely why this was so important and controversial. Can someone explain why this discovery was so important

I believe it had something to do with him saying the "Vikings" who came to North America hundreds of years before Columbus was even born came as basically "missionaries" so to speak.

[steve-b]

It depends on the exact period you mean. The era of Viking raiders spanned the period when Christianity was making inroads into Scandinavia.