Fish-Eating Norse

POD
In OTL, the worldwide Norse conversion to Christianity followed the Norse colonists to Greenland by sixteen years, resulting in the conversion of the colony in about 1000ce. Clinging to their identity as European Christians, and their lifeline to Europe, contributed significantly to the failure of the colony. Also, Eiríkur Rauði (Erik the Red, herafter Eirikur) and his colonists apparently had some irrational phobia of fish-eating, which also contributed to the failure of the colony.

In this timeline, Erikur and his chief warriors instead have an irrational hatred of Christianity and no fear of eating fish. As a result, they reject royal orders and eventually cut off their ties to Europe. This makes them more willing to adopt the behavioral changes necessary to survive in the New World and re-locate to the mainland.

Timeline
All dates are in Christian calendar for comprehensibility.


 * 982 Erikur first explores Greenland
 * 984 Erikur returns with a fleet of colonists. They settle the Eastern Settlement including Gardar Farm.
 * 986 Norse settle the Western Settlement to provide convenient hunting for walrus tusk for export.
 * 996 News reaches Greenland of the conversion to Chrisianity of Norway by Olaf I. Erikur vows to uphold and defend the worship of Odin.  Erikur sends messengers to Iceland denegrating the "new religion" of "soft, evil southerners."
 * 1001 A wave of Norse refugees arrives in Greenland with news of the conversion of Iceland, Shetland, the Faroe Islands, and the Orkneys. These refugees bring with them needed iron, labor, and also disease.  In ATL, though, the plague brought by the Norse refugees is milder than in OTL and Erikur does not die.
 * 1005 With the colony recovered and a bit overcrowded, Erikur organizes a war party to reposess the Faroe Islands from the Christians. Taken by surprise, the Faroe Norse capitulate quickly.  The Norse then land in Iceland and feul a religious civil war.
 * 1006 Danish ships arrive in the Faroes and drive out the pagan Norse, and then head for Iceland to reenforce the Christians. Erikur survives but more than half of the Greenlander's ships are destroyed.  The now universally Christian Skandanavians officially cut off all trade with the pagan Greenlanders.
 * 1008 A group of Greenlanders wanting to convert to Christianity (in order to bring back trade with Norway) rebel against Erikur's leadership. Erikur is killed but the rebels are defeated by his son, Leif. The rebels steal a ship to flee to Iceland.  This leaves the colony with only two ships, both ageing and in need of repair.
 * 1009 Leif leads a major expedition to the Labrador coast of North America for lumber. Finding both lumber and bog iron there, Leif establishes a permanent settlement named Markland and starts shipping both resources back to Greenland. The settlers have several clashes with the Dorset people there, which are quite one-sided.
 * 1012 The Dorset people of Markland are pretty much wiped out but the Norse, both with axes and with the spread of disease. These diseases (measles and the weaker form of smallpox) travel south and west, gradually infecting various Indian tribes.
 * 1016 The increasingly marginal Western Settlement is abandoned, and its farmers moved to Markland where they establish farms on the newly cleared land. Since there are too many people, an expedition heads south and establishes another small colony in South Markland (Newfoundland).
 * 1018 Exploring for better farmland, Leif discovers Vinland (the St. Lawerence river valley). He immediately recognizes this as the best land available.
 * 1019 A settlement is established at Vinland. The local skraeling (Indian) tribes attack the Norse (in retaliation for Norse cruelty) but have been weakend by European diseases and so are easily repulsed.
 * 1024 Leif makes a treaty with the skraelings, establishing trade relations and making them concede ownership of the valley to the Norse.
 * 1025 Leif dies in a fight with a kinsman. His son, Thorkell, takes over leadership of the Norse.  Recognizing the vulnerability of Vinland, he enforces the treaty and kills two other Norse caught raping Indian women.
 * 1031 Several farms in the Western Settlement are flooded from erosion caused by overgrazing. About 1/3 of the remaining population of Greenland moves to Vinland.  This leaves the Western Settlement with less than 1700 inhabitants.  Gardar Farm is given to Thorkell's cousin, Bjarni, and Thorkell makes New Farm in Vinland the "capitol" of the Norse.
 * 1034 The Norse are attacked by another group of skraelings. Having learned to communicate somewhat, they learn that this group of Indians is a seperate tribe from the ones they signed a treaty with.  The Norse make peace with the new tribe, dividing the territory of their former allies.  The Norse and new Indians then wipe out the St. Lawerence River Indians, leaving the Norse in control of scores of square miles of prime farmland.  In the fighting, Thorkell dies.
 * 1035 after a brief successional battle, Thorkell is succeeded by his nephew Thorvald.
 * 1037 battle with the Indians.
 * 1043 another battle with the Indians
 * 1044 Thorvald is killed in a fight with the Indians and succeeded by his extremely strong-willed sister Grunheld. Grunheld rules for only four years but manages to establish lasting ground rules with the Indians that stave off significant conflict for 40 years.
 * 1068 Having doubled in population and built several ships using Markland's lumber, a group of Norse go Viking to raid the Christians of Iceland.  This raid is very successful, bringing livestock, cloth, and tools much needed by the Vinlanders.
 * 1070 the Norse raid Iceland again. This time the Danish are there with a fleet and wipe out the raiders.   None return.
 * 1089 the Norse establish a new colony Alderland yet further South (in Maine). After a poor first meeting, they slaughter the Indians already there.  This enrages the Northern Indians who launch a war on both colonies and South Markland.
 * 1090 A truce is reached with the Indians. The Norse have taken many casualties but the Indians have fared worse.  Norse territory expands.
 * 1113 The Vinlanders resume raiding Iceland.  Since Norway is distracted by Skandanavian and Russian wars, they are unable to repulse the Vinlanders effectively.
 * 1250 By this point, the Norse have colonies in Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Maine.
 * 1251 Iceland reaches the point of ecological collapse and civil war. The Christian chiefs send to Norway for Royal help, but the Vinlanders get their first.  They launch a religious civil war, deposing the Christian chiefs and establishing Odinism as the religion of Iceland.
 * 1252 Norse explorers found a trading post on Cape Cod. Recognizing the value of the natural harbor, Vinlander settlers move South.  The Cape is easily defended against the periodically vengeful Indians.
 * 1254 Invading Norweigans drive out the Vinlanders and most of their pagan allies.
 * 1397 The Danish crown unites all of Christian Scandanavia.
 * 1401 The Vinlanders led by Erikur Gunnarsson invade Iceland again. Since Iceland had become an increasingly marginal colony requiring royal financial support, the Danish abandon it to the pagan Norse.
 * 1402 Erikur declares himself King of Vinland, Greenland and Iceland. Hearkening back to Erikur Raudi, he also names himself Erikur II.