Scandinavia Converts Earlier

Just looking through wikipedia I found that attempts to convert Scandinavia had started earlier than I thought. What would it take for these missionaries to be succesful? What would be the effects?
 
Scandinavia didn't have the social stability to "convert" as a unit any earlier. The all-at-once adoption of Christianity around the 1000s went hand in hand with the consolidation of the kings' power.

So you'd need the people, in small, local communities, to decide that Christianity was best. This happened in Ireland. Maybe an Irish-inspired monastic movement? Maybe Irish missionaries go to Scandinavia way back in the 8th century?

Celtic Christianity in Scandinavia. I like it. Maybe not the likeliest thing to happen, but I like it.
 
There have been found archeological evidence of early Christian influence - Catholic and Orthodox - in Scandinavia, actually dating back to about 200 AD!

One early Danish King Harold Klak was baptized 826 by the Emperor Louis the Pious. Harold Klak wanted Imperial support for his party in the ongoing strife between fractions of the Danish royal family.

Missionary's from the British Isles were in Denmark in the early 8. century.

Convertion in Scandinavia was very much dictated by the need of Kings to get reliable administration even if the Great Army of the 9. century was shipped off without it. But to run the country on a prolonged business the package of Church and educated clerics to form state admin was desired by Kings.

Intersting thing is that the Saxons didn't convert during the Frankish onslaught even if it could have strenghtened their "state" and its efforts to stay out of Charlemagne's sphere.
Also Viking traders usually were baptized, several times if need be, to be able to trade in Christian lands.

So it would be quite difficult to guess at what would further early conversion if noone could see the need for it.
Quite possibly it does only develop alongside the forming of stable Kingdoms.
 
Many early missionaries were not especially clever, you do not tell'
a viking that he cannot go fishing on a sunday and live to tell about
afterwards, generally the early missionaries lacked "fingertoppskänsla"
this word cannot be translated to English but it generally means that
you have to have a certain feel for the community you are working in,
sorry I cannot translate better than that, the Germans have a similar
word "fingerspitzengefuhl" if that is any help.
 
Scandinavia didn't have the social stability to "convert" as a unit any earlier. The all-at-once adoption of Christianity around the 1000s went hand in hand with the consolidation of the kings' power.
Or, one could interpret that as meaning that the consolidation of the kings' power was a direct result of converting to Christianity. In most Scandinavian cases succession and borders stabilized after conversion in the tenth and eleventh centuries.
 
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