How much did the "Vikings" really influence the UK?

**JerryS.** · 09-21-2020, 01:47 PM

I have Colonial American English, mid 1800s Scottish, and late 1800s NW German. whenever a DIY model has a Scandinavian reference population I tend to get a fair representation of Scandinavian, thought I have no direct Scandinavian ancestry. My Scottish has been referred to as Scotch-Irish by some old family members (though I rarely get any Irish reference pops); it is suppose to have some Highlands origin, traced from Scotland to PEI and Ontario briefly before enter the states. My English has been traced to the Virginia colony mid 1700s. my German is traced from Bremen (Northwest Germany) in the late 1800s, so much so that my maternal grandfather's family had to be investigated in some fashion before he could enlist in WW2. the popular for profit companies have usually given me only a small amount of generic Scandinavian with no specific nation listed, and I guess that is reasonable considering the history of the North Sea region. However, lately every DIY model that has a Scandinavian or North-Germanic reference shows around great grandparent level if not higher percentage for that region, even with other Germanic or English references. I've purposely over fitted some models with English and German to see if this Scandinavian still shows-it does. So, for those learned folks out there, how much (DNA) influence did the Vikings really have in the North Sea region outside of their homeland? BTW, my paternal haplogroup is I1 which is Scandinavian routed, though I traced my father's father's etc to mid 1700s England. would that I1 still have such an influence?

**PaleoEuropean** · 09-21-2020, 02:03 PM

Scotland and Ireland were more impacted on a peasant level than other places due to the fact the early Vikings that settled came from all walks of life as where the English Vikings tended to be more just the noble and warrior class. Norse-Gaels assimilated into the local populations.

**~~Rocinante~~** · 09-21-2020, 02:09 PM

Originally Posted by PaleoEuropean

Scotland and Ireland were more impacted on a peasant level than other places due to the fact the early Vikings that settled came from all walks of life as where the English Vikings tended to be more just the noble and warrior class. Norse-Gaels assimilated into the local populations.

Many viking samples are carrying R-L21, so indeed i think it affected more Ireland and Scotland in a peasant level. East english coast were the place that was truly colonized per se, there is a decent quantity of I1 with scandinavian clades.

**PaleoEuropean** · 09-21-2020, 02:13 PM

Originally Posted by Rocinante

Many viking samples are carrying R-L21, so indeed i think it affected more Ireland and Scotland in a peasant level. East english coast were the place that was truly colonized per se, there is a decent quantity of I1 with scandinavian clades.

A lot of Vikings weren't Scandinavians though, some were Wends, Gaels, Celts, Germans, Frisians; they were a diverse bunch.

**~~Rocinante~~** · 09-21-2020, 02:17 PM

Originally Posted by PaleoEuropean

A lot of Vikings weren't Scandinavians though, some were Wends, Gaels, Celts, Germans, Frisians; they were a diverse bunch.

Didn't know about that, i thought they were 100% a germanic tribe, meaning that most of them were going to be I1, I2, R-U106 and R-DF19. Cool.

Edit: and some clades of R1a of course.

**CordedWhelp** · 09-21-2020, 02:20 PM

I’d say you likely have a little Norwegian from your Scottish blood. Could also just be common-relatedness with your German heritage.

**Grace O'Malley** · 09-21-2020, 02:29 PM

There seems to be a good amount of L21 in West Norway. A lot of the samples from this Viking study appear to be L21 but Scandinavian. I don't think L21 is all down to slave activity. Anyway it will be interesting to see how more of these samples pan out.

Anyway the Viking study appears to confirm that it was Danes that went to England and Norwegians that went to Ireland. From the paper.

The maritime expansion of Scandinavian populations during the Viking Age (about 750–1050) was a far-flung transformation in world history1,2. Here we sequenced the genomes of 442humans from archaeological sites across Europe and Greenland (to a median depth of about 1×) to understand the global influence of this expansion. We find the Viking period involved gene flow into Scandinavia from the south and east. We observe genetic structure within Scandinavia, with diversity hotspots in the south and restricted gene flow within Scandinavia. We find evidence for a major influx of Danish ancestry into England; a Swedish influx into the Baltic; and Norwegian influx into Ireland, Iceland and Greenland. Additionally, we see substantial ancestry from elsewhere in Europe entering Scandinavia during the Viking Age. Our ancient DNA analysis also revealed that a Viking expedition included close family members. By comparing with modern populations, we find that pigmentation-associated loci have undergone strong population differentiation during the past millennium, and trace positively selected loci—including the lactase-persistence allele of LCT and alleles of ANKA that are associated with the immune response—in detail. We conclude that the Viking diaspora was characterized by substantial transregional engagement: distinct populations influenced the genomic makeup of different regions of Europe, and Scandinavia experienced increased contact with the rest of the continent.