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.
However, the people who did those things long ago have descendants today who live all over Scandinavia and Europe. In fact, in many Scandinavian countries, there are large groups of people who dedicate their lives to living as the Vikings did long ago.
Experts have said that any surname ending in 'sen' or 'son' is likely to be of Viking descent (big news for Emma Watson, Emma Thompson, Robert Pattinson and co) – and surnames such as Roger/s, Rogerson, and Rendall also hint that there's a touch of the marauder to you.
The genetic legacy of the Viking Age lives on today with six percent of people of the UK population predicted to have Viking DNA in their genes compared to 10 percent in Sweden. Professor Willerslev concluded: “The results change the perception of who a Viking actually was.
1. Norway. As one of the countries where Vikings originated, there's tons of Viking heritage in Norway.
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.
“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.
Russians are primarily descended from Slavs. However, Russia itself was created by a group of Vikings known as the Kievan Rus. Therefore, Russians have some Viking DNA in their ancestry. However, the original Vikings who founded Russia were absorbed into the native Slavic population.
The Viking invaders may have also had a relatively high percentage of B gene, since many of the towns of Britain and western Europe that are linked to the coast by internal lines of communication such as large rivers, have a disproportional amount of blood group B when compared to the surrounding territory.
"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.
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.
The six-year-long study also found that while the Irish are descended largely from Norwegian Vikings, our closest neighbours in England were more strongly influenced by Danish settlers-- and that the Viking World may have stretched as far as Asia.
The current monarchs of the UK and Norway are also closely related. Queen Elizabeth (the daughter of King George VI) and King Harald of Norway (the son of Crown Prince Olav) are second cousins.
The Last Viking tells the dramatic story of King Harald Hardrada of Norway, one of the greatest warriors to have ever lived.
Vikings is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe.
There is evidence of Viking visits to Australia. They weren't Norsemen. We call them Explorers in English, not Vikings. Until the British arrived, none of them stayed long enough to establish a settlement, not even the Makassans.
The oldest of the blood types, Type O traces as far back as the human race itself. With primal origins based in the survival and expansion of humans and their ascent to the top of the food chain, it's no wonder Blood Type O genetic traits include exceptional strength, a lean physique and a productive mind.
One of the world's rarest blood types is one named Rh-null. This blood type is distinct from Rh negative since it has none of the Rh antigens at all. There are less than 50 people who have this blood type. It is sometimes called “golden blood.”
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. All white Europeans are descended from Vikings.
According to the traditional account presented in The Russian Primary Chronicle, it was founded by the Viking Oleg, ruler of Novgorod from about 879. In 882 he seized Smolensk and Kiev, and the latter city, owing to its strategic location on the Dnieper River, became the capital of Kievan Rus.
Slavic tribes and Viking tribes were closely linked, fighting one another, intermixing and trading. “The presence of Slavic warriors in Denmark was more significant than previously thought; this image emerges from new research” Gardeła adds in the release.
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.
Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their overseas settlements and chronologically coincides with the Viking Age, the Christianization of Scandinavia and the consolidation of Scandinavian kingdoms from about the 7th to the 15th centuries.
For more than 450 years, Norse settlers from Scandinavia lived—sometimes even thrived—in southern Greenland. Then, they vanished. Their mysterious disappearance in the 14th century has been linked to everything from plummeting temperatures and poor land management to plague and pirate raids.