Vikings 21 samples 23andme format

The Vikings, seafaring Norse people from Scandinavia, were a formidable cultural force across Europe from the 7th to the 11th century. Their origins trace back to a mix of Northern European genetic roots, with studies showing that they were closely related to other Germanic groups but had genetic diversity from interactions with British, Baltic, and even Finno Ugric speakers. Some Vikings from Sweden, for instance, showed genetic markers linking them to the Eastern Baltic region, while those from Denmark and Norway intermingled with populations in the British Isles and beyond.

Viking culture was characterized by a fierce warrior ethos, yet it also valued craftsmanship, trade, and exploration. They constructed robust, wooden longhouses for family dwellings and intricate stave churches as places of worship, particularly after their conversion to Christianity. Viking architecture emphasized practicality, using timber from their forested homelands and sometimes stone. Their language, Old Norse, was written using the runic alphabet, with the younger Futhark being the primary script during the Viking Age. The Vikings’ beliefs were centered on a polytheistic system with gods such as Odin, Thor, and Freyja, embodying various aspects of nature, war, and fertility. These beliefs persisted alongside Christianity as the Vikings began converting around the 10th century. The Vikings left a lasting influence on European monarchies, notably through the establishment of the Norman dynasty in England, which traced its roots to Viking chieftains in Normandy. Their descendants in Normandy would go on to conquer England in 1066 under William the Conqueror, infusing Norse legal concepts, cultural practices, and language into the Anglo-Saxon framework of England. The legacy of the Vikings endures not only in European royal lineages but also in the linguistic, cultural, and societal structures of the regions they once dominated. The Russian royal family, French royal family, and English royal family all had viking roots.

For this video, I gathered the raw DNA of 21 academic viking age samples from nordland and oxford. I ran the samples through my trait predictor tool for DNA analysis.