Modern descendants of Norsemen include the Danes, Icelanders, Faroe Islanders, Norwegians, and Swedes, who are now generally referred to as "Scandinavians" rather than Norsemen.
In the old Viking country on the west coast of Norway, there are people today who live by their forebears' values, albeit the more positive ones.
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.
The most well-known Viking physical traits include fair or red hair, light eyes, and tall stature. Though these features were found among many of the Vikings, it is important to note that not everyone who had these traits was descended from them.
“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 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.
New research shows that the Irish definitely have their fair share of Viking heritage–in fact, the Irish are more genetically diverse than most people may assume. The Irish have Viking and Norman ancestry in similar proportions to the English.
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 Viking DNA patterns are rarely found outside Scandinavia
Around 930,000 descendents of warrior race exist today - despite the Norse warriors' British rule ending more than 900 years ago.
The remarkable lineage of Ragnar Lothbrok continues to thrive through his descendants, who are some of the most legendary Viking warriors and rulers.
Thor and Odin are still going strong 1000 years after the Viking Age. Many think that the old Nordic religion - the belief in the Norse gods – disappeared with the introduction of Christianity. However, it did not, but was instead practised secretly or under a Christian cloak.
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.
Harald Hardrada is known as the last Norse king of the Viking Age and his death at the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 CE as the defining close of that period. Harald's life was an almost constant adventure from a young age.
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.
Early Viking Age raiding parties were an activity for locals and included close family members. The genetic legacy in the UK has left the population with up to six per cent Viking DNA.
WOMEN AS VALKYRIES AND SHIELD-MAIDENS
Women that fought were in the Norse literature called vakyries or shield-maidens (skjoldsmøyer). There were several kinds of female warriors. – Some were divine beings, like the valkyries sent by Odin to pick up the warriors that were slain on the battlefield.
The best-known Viking explorer is, of course, Lief Erikson, the first European to set foot in the Americas, beating Columbus to the continent by over 400 years.
The most important Vikings in Clan Sturlungar - the Chieftains - were Sighvatur Sturluson and his son, Sturla. The major Chieftains in the latter clans were Gissur Þorvaldsson and Kolbeinn ungi Arnórsson. These were the most powerful Viking clans in Iceland, forever seeking more power in my country.
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.
There is still debate about whether the Dutch are related to the Vikings, but most experts believe they descended from a common ancestor. The first recorded mention of the Dutch comes from Pliny the Elder in A.D. 77, who described them as pirates who attacked Roman settlements on the North Sea.
Tacitus relates that according to their ancient songs the Germans were descended from the three sons of Mannus, the son of the god Tuisto, the son of Earth. Hence they were divided into three groups—the Ingaevones, the Herminones, and the Istaevones—but the basis for this grouping is unknown.