Vikings loom large in history and in our imaginations. Tales of the northmen raiding and plundering then moving in are the stuff of nightmares and horror films. But while stories of their daring and heartlessness make for action packed narratives, they were a real force that changed the course of history for many countries and fledgling kingdoms. Viking activity spanned hundreds of years from the early raids of the late 700s to sometime between 1066 and the mid-1200s, depending on which experts you consult.
The Vikings left a wake of destruction, taking what they wanted; both material goods and people. Their deeds altered the history of settlements and family lines, many of which were wiped out through death and enslavement. As time passed, the Scandinavians began to settle in the areas that they had formerly attacked. That, of course, added their DNA to the gene pool of those places.
While some of the history of the Vikings appears in written sources, they also left other things behind, like burials. As the science of DNA became more sophisticated, scientists were able to separate this DNA into various groups by point of origin, which is how the commercial DNA testing company, Living DNA, came up with the Viking DNA Index.
When I first paid Living DNA to see my results in the Viking DNA Index, I knew I would have some positive results. After all, my ancestors came from the Western Isles of Scotland where the northmen had once ruled. At first glance, my results were interesting but didn't do anything for my genealogy. The history was too far back. The likelihood that my DNA was connected to the Vikings of Sweden and Denmark was just a fun fact.
Then I signed of for Diahan Southard's newsletter after watching one of her webinars. Her article about Viking DNA explained the results more fully. Her enthusiasm was catching. Besides my Viking index amount was 78% compared to other members in the Living DNA database. That was more than Diahan's, so if she was enthusiastic, maybe I should have another look.
As with most history, I needed to know more and there are plenty of books written about Vikings. I own a few, most unread. Although, I remember cracking the covers of The Scots: A Genetic Journey, with high hopes. Some of the DNA population results written about in that book were Viking but, disappointingly, the concentration was on Y-DNA. That's not very helpful when tracing a maternal line. Further reading might give me clues about the Viking's in my family's past. Looks like I have my work cut out for me!
Sources:
Price, Neil Children
of Ash and Elm: A History of the Vikings. Basic Books, Hachette Book Group,
New York, 2020
Diahan Southard’s Your DNA Guide blog https://www.yourdnaguide.com/ydgblog/viking-dna
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