It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes.
It is also known as "brittle bone disease." Ivar the boneless, has blue eyes because he's suffering from 'brittle bone disease' named "Osteogenesis imperfecta" which is characterised by a triad of blue sclera (white portion of the eye), fragile bones and conductive hearing loss.
Blonde hair, blue eyes
Perhaps the most popular stereotype about the region's population is that everyone – men and women – is blonde-haired and blue-eyed. This is perhaps the biggest myth of them all!
All Blue-Eyed People May Have A Common Ancestor
Originally we all had brown eyes, however, according to researchers at the University of Copenhagen, it appears that a genetic mutation in a single individual in Europe 6,000 to 10,000 years ago led to the development of blue eyes.
Through DNA testing, it is possible to effectively trace your potential inner Viking and discover whether it forms part of your genetic makeup or not. However, it's not 100% definitive. There's no exact Nordic or Viking gene that is passed down through the generations.
“A lot of the Vikings are mixed individuals” with ancestry from both Southern Europe and Scandinavia, for example, or even a mix of Sami (Indigenous Scandinavian) and European ancestry.
Based on their portrayals in popular media, Vikings, largely Viking men, are assumed to have had harsh, sharp features, with long scraggly beards, and faces covered in battle scars.
Europe has the widest variety of eye color, according to Custers, who adds those of European descent are the largest population of blue eyes. Europe was the epicenter of the blue-eye gene mutation. More than 80 percent of the inhabitants of Estonia and Scandinavian countries have blue eyes.
A couple of years ago, scientist determined that BLUE EYES was a MUTATION that occurred around 6,000 years ago and it stems from A BLACK MALE AFRICAN ORIGIN. They report several archeological proofs puts this event around the BLACK SEA AREA.
In 2006, researchers discovered a 7,000 year old body from the Stone Age in the La Brana cave system in Leon in Northern Spain (Image 4). Genetic testing determined that this man had blue eyes. It was not in itself unusual, but what is remarkable is that he is the earliest known person with blue eyes.
It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes.
There are plenty of blue-eyed Asians. This probably happens when the traditional blue-eyed allele comes into a family from a (possibly very distant) European ancestor. Blue eyes then resurface in a child generations later if they inherit the allele from both parents.
Green Eyes
Green is considered by some to be the actual rarest eye color in the world, though others would say it's been dethroned by red, violet, and grey eyes.
Blue sclera is a symptom of Ivar's osteogenesis imperfecta, and it's established that the bluer his eyes, the greater the risk of breaking bones. Ivar used to ask his brothers how blue his eyes were first thing in the morning to determine if it was safe to play that day.
Essentially, green eyes are unique. Most common in Western, Northern, and Central Europe, green eyes often point to German or Celtic ancestry. Currently, they can be found most often in Iceland, the Netherlands, Scotland, Britain, and Scandinavia.
Green eyes and blonde hair are a rare combination. The high concentration of green-eyed, blond-haired people in Liqian is thought to be linked to their ancestry. The people of Liqian are thought to have possibly descended from Roman General Marcus Crassus' mysteriously missing army.
In the United States, blue eyes are becoming less common. In the 1950s, more than half the population had blue eyes. Now, it is estimated that one in six babies has blue eyes.
Common ancestor had highly-specific 'switch' embedded in DNA
“From this we can conclude that all blue-eyed individuals are linked to the same ancestor,” said Professor Eiberg. “They have all inherited the same switch at exactly the same spot in their DNA.
He says blue eyes have been linked to people coping better with seasonal affective disorder, a major depressive illness that occurs when there are long periods of low light. Notably, he says, the eye has special neurones in the retina that can detect blue light and use this to help regulate circadian rhythms.
World Atlas notes that only 8% to 10% of the global population has blue eyes. Violet eyes are even rarer, but they're a bit misleading; someone with “violet” irises is usually sporting a special shade of blue.
Estonia is the country with the most blue-eyed individuals in the world. 89% of its population have blue eyes.
The faces of men and women in the Viking Age were more alike than they are today. The women's faces were more masculine than women's today, with prominent brow ridges. On the other hand, the Viking man's appearance was more feminine than that of men today, with a less prominent jaw and brow ridges.
Surnames ending in -son or -sen are an obvious sign of Scandinavian ancestry – but other names such as 'Linklater', 'Flett', 'Scarth', 'Heddle', 'McIvor', 'MacAulay' and 'McLeod', 'Roger/s' and 'Rogerson' and 'Rendall' could also be a sign.
"The examination of skeletons from different localities in Scandinavia reveals that the average height of the Vikings was a little less than that of today: men were about 5 ft 7-3/4 in. tall and women 5 ft 2-1/2 in.
The DNA test shows that there is a strong Viking heritage on few countries in Europe from England, Ireland, and Iceland to Greenland. Samples of the DNA suggest links to Viking heritage. In Finland and Estonia, there are links for Swedish Viking heritage.