Viking ancestry...

So what ancestry do others here have?

I have a mixed viking ancestry. All on my mother's side and my dad has traced the lineage back a couple hundred years so far. I have ancestry in Sweden, Denmark and Norway. It is the part of my heritage I identify most with.

I contest (slightly) the idea that vikings were NOT big or tall. I grew up in a Scandinavian-rich community in NW Oregon. And though not extraordinarily tall, my peers were on average about two or three inches taller than the national average (it bypassed me, lol). Unsurprisingly, my school has been very good at basketball for a number of generations. Also, the shoe size of my classmates were considerably bigger than the national average - or the apparent average in the UK where I live now. My own feet, a woman's size 6 1/2 UK (7 1/2 US) are on the bigger side of normal in the UK, but were small compared to my peers!

(sorry if this is in slightly the wrong place as I can't narrow my heritage down to one country)

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Freya Eithne Luminara on November 4, 2008 at 12:35pm: I wonder though, if the statures of other Europeans of the time were also shorter by enough to have the Vikings (even the lower ranking ones) still seem tall by comparison... Obviously, the taller ones would have seemed like giants!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Cathrine on November 5, 2008 at 3:03pm: Hi,

I am Norwegian - so I guess that makes me a 100% Norwegian Viking - nice to see you all here ",); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Patricia Lafayllve on November 6, 2008 at 12:51pm: My ancestry is, in the main, Irish and French. However, both of those trace back to Northern Europe - half of my Irish side came to Ireland from Scotland (McLauren and Stuart clans), some of my Irish side came over with William the Bastard from the Loire valley (Lowery - which is also Lauern/MacLauren), and my French ancestors came from Louis-Vizon, a small village near Lourdes (I have relatives there to this day). My paternal grandmother's great-grandfather (Cook) was born in Holland, and my my maternal great-grandmother's grandfather was born in Denmark. So I've got Dutch and Dane in me as well.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by VikingJames on November 6, 2008 at 12:56pm: I also have a mixed Viking Ancestry, from Norwegian, Icelandic, Irish and Danish on my Fathers Side, to Russian on my mothers; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by zool on November 8, 2008 at 12:57pm: I have roots in sweden and also in finland where i am located now
- but i dont feel very viking(how does it feel anyways?) because i simply do not know
my lineage back very well. I have an aunt in sweden who is 70 now (still riding on snow scooters through the bear
rich forests) - and she is the only one having some knowledge i hope she writes it down before its too late.

however, if anyone knows some cool ressources for my research i would appreciate a notification about those:-); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by William on November 23, 2008 at 7:35am: I first posted this under the "Get to know each other" entry but I think I can repost it here too:

On my father side I originate from a farm about 10 km north of the city centre of Bergen. There farming has a history back to the viking age! On my mother side there is Danish blod coming from a merchant family emigrating to Bergen in the 19th century. With this relative high percentage of original "Viking blod" I still don't feel and look like a Viking.
I'm more a product of our modern days but when that is said the Viking were also quite "modern" in their ways. It was straight to the heart of the matter without much ado, and this I think carcterize me to.
I'm sensitive and caring, but I'm willing to take the burden of standing up for a fight for what I believe in. And that was what it all started with in the old days to! So I feel the connection, not every day but it's there, definately!

And my name is William! A name the English claim is theirs! ;); ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mike on June 9, 2009 at 11:18am: A friend of mine actually comes from King Canute. when his family came to America through Canada the name ended up with a more french spelling, Curnutte.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Willa on June 15, 2009 at 4:47am: My ancestery is Norwegian, Swedish, Danish, and Germany. If that isn't quite the mix then I don't know what is. I still have family in Sweden. My grandfather came to the USA when he was 6 years old and actually was one of last one to come thru Ellis Island. Anyway one of his sisters, her husband and a cousin came to meet him a few years before he died. It was pretty cool.; ▶ Reply to This