What skin color were Vikings? While most Vikings are believed to have had fair, peach-toned skin and light hair, there may also have been Vikings with darker skin. It's important to understand that when Vikings traveled to distant lands, they often brought back people from those cultures.
In addition to black and white, the Vikings also had blue, red, yellow, and various other colours to choose from. But some colours will have been harder to come by than others. Perhaps one of the most important colours in terms of its significance was the colour red.
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.
Geirmund Heljarskinn becomes the “Black Viking” – the most powerful settler on Iceland through times. Dark-skinned and with Mongolian facial features he was a pioneer in international hunting economy. Heljarskinn had hundreds of slaves; Christians from Scotland and Ireland.
“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. A mass grave of around 50 headless Vikings from a site in Dorset, UK.
'Viking' is a catch-all term for the people who came from Scandinavia, what is now Norway, Denmark and Sweden, between the eighth and 11th centuries, more properly known as the Norse, or Norsemen.
The homelands of the Vikings were in Scandinavia, but the countries of Scandinavia as we know them today did not exist until the end of the Viking Age. Wherever they lived, the Viking-age Scandinavians shared common features such as house forms, jewellery, tools and other everyday equipment.
There is evidence to suggest, however, that some Vikings had darker skin, and may have originated in Africa. The idea of black Vikings has taken hold, and while groups may have a difference of opinion on what Vikings may have looked like, it seems clear that they were not a genetically homogenous people.
While there is evidence to suggest that Vikings may have been more diverse than previously believed, including the possibility of Viking presence in Africa, the evidence for the existence of black Vikings is still extremely limited. We can therefore say that no, it is not likely that there were black Vikings.
Hjor and Ljufvina had two sons: the twins Hamund (Håmund) and Geirmund. They, too, had dark skin and were therefore nicknamed Heljarskinn; the “Black-Skinned”. Geirmund the Black-Skinned – the black Viking – never became king at Avaldsnes.
The Vikings had various eye colors, although the predominant eye color was blue or gray. However, Irish Vikings had predominantly brown or hazel eyes, and some Viking settlements were much more diverse than others.
British and Irish ancestry was present across Scandinavia at the time, while eastern Baltic ancestry was contained in central Sweden and Gotland, a Swedish island in the Baltic Sea. Southern European ancestry appeared in remains from southern Scandinavia.
And experts say surnames can give you an indication of a possible Viking heritage in your family, with anything ending in 'son' or 'sen' likely to be a sign. Other surnames which could signal a Viking family history include 'Roger/s' and 'Rogerson' and 'Rendall'.
Hjor was the last of the kings at Avaldsnes who descended from the Augvald dynasty. His wife Ljufvina was a princess of Mongolian descent and despite her dark skin and unusual looks, she reigned as queen over the Norsemen at Karmsundet. Hjor and Ljufvina had two sons: the twins Hamund (Håmund) and Geirmund.
Vikings worked long hours, carrying, and using heavy equipment which contributed to the formation of muscles, even from an early age. Another reason for the significant strength of the Vikings was their diet. Vikings were mostly hunters, not gatherers, due to their cold, harsh environment.
Bláland (noun n.) 'North Africa, Africa '
In Norse mythology, Surtr (Old Norse "black" "the swarthy one", Surtur in modern Icelandic), also sometimes written Surt in English, is a jötunn. Surtr is attested in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from earlier traditional sources, and the Prose Edda, written in the 13th century by Snorri Sturluson.
Dreadlocks were seen as both fashionable and functional by the Vikings. The men who spent much of their time in battle and traveling needed to keep their long hair from getting in the way during their raids. Once the dreads were made, they did not require much maintenance.
The emperor born in Africa
Some people from countries we now know as Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco were Roman citizens. Septimius Severus, the Roman emperor who ruled from AD 193 – 211, was an African man. He was born in North Africa in the place now called Libya.
The average height of Vikings as found by researchers and scholars, varied depending on a number of factors, including their age and gender. Typically, the average male Viking would usually be between 5 foot 7 and 5 foot 9, while the average female would be between 5 foot 1 and 5 foot 3.
Erupting out of Scandinavia in the eighth century AD, the Vikings dominated northern Europe, but their influence stretched as far as Russia, Asia, North Africa and the Middle East.
Who was a Viking? If we are speaking ethnically, the closest people to a Viking in modern-day terms would be the Danish, Norwegians, Swedish, and Icelandic people. Interestingly though, it was common for their male Viking ancestors to intermarry with other nationalities, and so there is a lot of mixed heritage.
1. Norway. As one of the countries where Vikings originated, there's tons of Viking heritage in Norway.
The Sami people
The hunter-gatherers inhabited northern parts of Europe (Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia) for around 5,000 years. They weren't reindeer hunters until much more recently, however.