Scandinavia (Denmark, Norway, Sweden) – 80% These are the lands where the Vikings got their start. Over the three centuries we today call the
The DNA test shows that there is a strong Viking heritage on few countries in Europe from England, Ireland, and Iceland to Greenland.
Who are the descendants of the Vikings? Viking settlements exist in different parts of the world, including Denmark, Greenland, Iceland, Great Britain, Ireland, Scotland, Normandy and Swedish parts of Finland, Estonia and Latvia.
'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 obvious locations for the most modern-day Viking descendants are Sweden, Norway and Denmark. It was from these Scandinavian countries that the Vikings originated and anyone today who has DNA from any of these regions is likely descended from Vikings.
Elsewhere, during the period, Viking voyages didn't just spread conquest and trade, but also genetic seeds that can still be seen in people today, with 6 percent of people in the UK estimated to have Viking DNA, and in Sweden, as much as 10 percent.
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.
Viking DNA refers to the genetic material of people who lived in Viking societies, which were active in parts of Europe and Scandinavia several thousand years ago.
We can also begin to infer the physical appearance of ancient Vikings and compare them to Scandinavians today.” The genetic legacy of the Viking Age lives on today with six per cent of people of the UK population predicted to have Viking DNA in their genes compared to 10 per cent in Sweden.
No, Vikings aren't a Germanic tribe. The fact of the matter is that Germanic tribes consisted of an umbrella of various tribes that speak different languages commonly grouped together. Moreover, Vikings were only a subgroup of different peoples that included the Germans.
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. (Sorry, Chris Hemsworth and Travis Fimmel.)
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.
Not only can DNA testing confirm whether you have Scandinavian roots, but it can also provide detailed information about the wider geographic origins of your family.
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.
Everyone of European descent possesses Viking ancestors. In fact, I can assure you with complete confidence that every individual on Earth is descended from kings and queens multiple times over.
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'.
During the ninth and tenth centuries, a massive state grew to dominate much of Eastern Europe. Ancestors to Russians, Belarusians, and Ukrainians, the Kievan Rus were a combination of Slavic and Viking influences.
Historical evidence suggests that Vikings traveled to Africa, particularly Northern Africa, in the mid-9th century. There are accounts of raids along the African coast, including Morocco and Mauritania.
A small percentage of Scandinavian DNA can easily be explained by distant ancestors who settled in foreign lands. If your Scandinavian ethnicity is more than 20%, though, you probably have strong and fairly recent ties to the region.
The Baltic Finnic warriors' weapons and jewellery were indistinguishable from the ones from Eastern Sweden or Gotland. To put it simply, coastal warriors, who lived in modern Estonia, Finland and Latvia were also Vikings, and both archeological as well as written sources prove it.
Old Norse: the Viking language
Although Old Norse is recognized as a single language, there were discernible dialects that varied between regions such as Denmark and Iceland. Nonetheless, individuals from these regions could presumably still comprehend one another.
“It's pretty clear from the genetic analysis that Vikings are not a homogenous group of people,” says Willerslev. “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.
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.
From this, it was calculated that the modern English population has approximately 6% Danish Viking ancestry, with Scottish and Irish populations having up to 16%. Additionally, populations from all areas of Britain and Ireland were found to have 3–4% Norwegian Viking ancestry.
A total of 54 people from Norway
A total of 54 of these DNA analyses are from people found in Norway – 16 in northern Norway, 24 in central Norway and 14 in southern Norway. A majority of the Norwegian people were also from the Viking Age.