7. Leif Erikson and his Vikings were pagans
Leif Erikson, whom some believe was the first European to arrive in North America, was likely born in Iceland. His father, Erik the Red, received banishment from Iceland and relocated his family to Greenland, where he established a considerable estate. Leif voyaged as both an explorer and trader as a young man. Among the areas in which he traded was Norway. While there, Leif received baptism from King Olaf Tryggvason, who then dispatched the new convert to preach the Gospel in Greenland. Leif’s father Erik received the news of his son’s conversion with suspicion, but many of his neighbors converted due to Leif’s efforts. Leif Erikson received support in his efforts, according to the sagas recorded at the time, from a Catholic priest who sailed in his ship as a member of the crew.
When Leif visited North America, which he called Vinland, he arrived as the first Christian missionary to the New World, nearly 500 years before Columbus. He established reasonable trade relations with the natives he encountered, though he referred to them in a word which loosely translated meant “the wretched”. He took two of the wretched back to Greenland, where they were taught the Norwegian language and converted to Catholicism. They were later returned to Vinland. Erikson and the settlers in the Norse communities in Iceland and Greenland are usually depicted as fierce pagan warriors and sailors. In truth, Leif Erikson was a gentleman farmer, a Catholic missionary, and dedicated to peaceful conversion of those he encountered in his travels.