Who was the first black Viking? (2023)

Was there ever a black Viking?

Although Vikings hailed from Sweden, Norway, and Denmark – and these were essentially White areas – it has been noted that there were, indeed, a very small number of Black Vikings. This makes sense considering that the fact Vikings travelled the globe is well documented.

Geirmund Heljarskinn becomes the “Black Viking” – the most powerful settler on Iceland through times. Dark-skinned and with Mongolian facial features he was a pioneer in international hunting economy. Heljarskinn had hundreds of slaves; Christians from Scotland and Ireland.

Where did black Vikings come from? One theory that could place Africans in Scandinavia holds that the origins of Scandinavian people came from the Nile Valley region, and included taller Bantu Africans as well as Twa Africans, who were known to be short in stature.

Such is the case of Jarl Haakon (Caroline Henderson), ruler of Kattegat during the events of Vikings: Valhalla season 1 and the first Black Viking ruler in the universe of Vikings.

DNA from the Viking remains was shotgun sequenced from sites in Greenland, Ukraine, The United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Poland, and Russia. The team's analysis also found genetically Pictish people 'became' Vikings without genetically mixing with Scandinavians.

“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.

Vinland was the name given to part of North America by the Icelandic Norseman Leif Eríkson, about 1000 AD.

Some were likely surprised, though, to see that one of the new characters populating the show and leading the community in Kattegat is a Black woman, Jarl Estrid Haakon, played by Caroline Henderson. Now, Henderson has revealed what she'd tell anyone who has complaints about her role in the series.

Historical accounts make it clear that when they raided coastal towns from the British Isles to the Iberian Peninsula, the Vikings took thousands of men, women and children captive, and held or sold them as slaves—or thralls, as they were called in Old Norse.

The skin on the skeletons has looked much like it does on most of today's Danes. Genetic studies have shown that even back then there was a healthy mix of blonds, redheads and dark-haired people, just like today.

Why is there a black queen in Vikings?

While other characters are based on real people, Estrid Haakon is an invented character, whose Viking grandfather met her royal African grandmother while in the great trading city of Alexandria, Egypt. They fell in love and returned to Kattegat, eventually passing on ruling duties to her.

History confirms that the Moors ruled in Europe — primarily Spain and Portugal — for almost 700 years. They were known for their influence in European culture, but not many people know that the Moors were actually Europeans of African descent.

Erik the Red's reputation is probably one of the most bloodthirsty among all of the Vikings. The son of Thorvald, Erik is chiefly remembered for being the Viking who founded the first settlement in Greenland. His father Thorvald left Norway with his young son Erik, around 10 years old, because of 'some killings'.

The background behind the character is that her Viking grandfather fell in love with her royal African grandmother in Alexandria, Egypt and returned to Kattegat which Haakon rules over in the show.

The term "Black Danes" is derived from the Irish term "Dubgaill" (dark/black foreigners) which the Irish people used to refer to certain groups of Vikings. Various theories exists about the meaning of the phrase, from their hair color, the color of the shields, or the color of their sails.

Not only did many of the studied Vikings turn out to not be blond or blue-eyed, their genetic admixture shows they weren't a distinct ethnic group but rather a mix of various other groups, "with ancestry from hunter-gatherers, farmers, and populations from the Eurasian steppe."

The Vikings maybe brought a few red-hair genetic variants over with them, but the majority of redheads were already here.” Previously it has been argued that Scotland's poor climate was responsible for the high frequency of the ginger mutation.

The most important or identifiable haplogroup for Vikings is I1, as well as R1a, R1b, G2, and N. The SNP that defines the I1 haplogroup is M253. A haplogroup is a group of similar haplotypes that share a common ancestor.

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. Professor Willeslev concluded: "The results change the perception of who a Viking actually was. The history books will need to be updated."

Who were the Vikings? The Vikings were an ancient warrior tribe who were natives of Scandinavia from basically threes countries- Denmark, Norway and Sweden. The group is still listed among the most furious fighters in history and are known for having conducted raids in several parts of eastern and western Europe.

How tall was the average Viking?

"The examination of skeletons from different localities in Scandinavia reveals that the average height of the Vikings was a little less than that of today: men were about 5 ft 7-3/4 in. tall and women 5 ft 2-1/2 in.

We know now that Columbus was among the last explorers to reach the Americas, not the first. Five hundred years before Columbus, a daring band of Vikings led by Leif Eriksson set foot in North America and established a settlement.

The Spanish were among the first Europeans to explore the New World and the first to settle in what is now the United States. By 1650, however, England had established a dominant presence on the Atlantic coast. The first colony was founded at Jamestown, Virginia, in 1607.

It is commonly said that "Columbus discovered America." It would be more accurate, perhaps, to say that he introduced the Americas to Western Europe during his four voyages to the region between 1492 and 1502.

Geirmund the Black-Skinned in Ireland

Geirmund is known as the most renowned Viking of the West. Archaeological finds reveal that the county of Rogaland was the area of Scandinavia with the closest contacts with Dublin during the 9th century.

Ahmad Ibn Fadlan, an Arab lawyer and diplomat from Baghdad who encountered the men of Scandinavia in his travels, wrote that Vikings treated their female chattel as sex slaves. If a slave died, he added, “they leave him there as food for the dogs and the birds.”

Absolutely — but some characters are composites of several real people, and some have been moved around in time. Others, like Kattegat ruler Jarl Estrid Haakon (Caroline Henderson), are invented for the series. (Though that character's husband, Haakon Sigurdsson, is a real person.)

A small number of Vikings had black—or brown—skin, according to reliable historical evidence. For centuries, dark-skinned people either willingly traveled to Scandinavia or were forcibly taken there as slaves. Over time, some assimilated with the Vikings through farming, marriage, combat, and other cultural factors.

Eiginmaður/eiginkona = Husband/wife. Often shortened to maður and kona, and in these short forms even couples that are only dating may sometimes use them.

There is no record of Vikings sharing their wives. If anything, the available evidence suggests that Viking men of high status often had several female partners apart from their wives. This left low-ranking Viking men at a disadvantage when securing partners for themselves.

Were Vikings blonde or ginger?

Red- or blonde-haired Vikings? Genetic research has shown that the Vikings in West Scandinavia, and therefore in Denmark, were mostly red-haired. However, in North Scandinavia, in the area around Stockholm, blonde hair was dominant.

Posted Sept. 22, 2020, 8:05 a.m. It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes.

Vikings were mostly blond (with Danes specifically being mostly red-haired) according to skeletal DNA studies, but identifying as “Viking” wasn't limited to people with Scandinavian ancestry (vikingr just means “pirate” after all). In fact, Vikings were likely more dark-haired than Scandinavians are today.

It helped keep the harsh glare of the sun from damaging one's eyesight while also increasing the dramatic sex appeal of the wearer.

For more than 450 years, Norse settlers from Scandinavia lived—sometimes even thrived—in southern Greenland. Then, they vanished. Their mysterious disappearance in the 14th century has been linked to everything from plummeting temperatures and poor land management to plague and pirate raids.

Henry III (The Black) King of Germany. Henry was the son of the emperor Conrad II and Gisela of Swabia. He was more thoroughly trained for his office than almost any other crown prince before or after.

In classical antiquity, Greek and Roman writers were acquainted with people of every skin tone from very pale (associated with populations from Scythia) to very dark (associated with populations from sub-Saharan Africa (Aethiopia).

Perhaps the epitome of the archetypal bloodthirsty Viking, Erik the Red violently murdered his way through life. Born in Norway, Erik gained his nickname most likely due to the colour of his hair and beard but it could also reflect upon his violent nature.

Who did the Vikings fear most?

They were particularly nervous in the western sea lochs then known as the "Scottish fjords". The Vikings were also wary of the Gaels of Ireland and west Scotland and the inhabitants of the Hebrides.

The Viking reputation as bloodthirsty conquerors has endured for more than a millennium but new research shows that some Norsemen approached the British islands with more than a little trepidation.

However, in Vikings: Valhalla, Haakon is the ruler of the fictional land of Kattegat. Speaking to Newsweek, Henderson explained her character was inspired by both male and female characters from the Viking era. She shared: "Haakon is fictional, purely fictional.

According to Vikings' historian Fred Zamberletti, the first general manager of the team, Bert Rose, chose the colors purple and gold. He found the inspiration from his own alma mater – the University of Washington, which had adopted the same colors back in 1892.

Kattegat, where the series Vikings is set, is not a real place. Kattegat is the name given to the large sea area situated between Denmark, Norway and Sweden. Thanks to Vikings, many people assume Kattegat is a village in Norway but this is not the case.

They may have had a reputation for trade, braids and fearsome raids, but the Vikings were far from a single group of flaxen-haired, sea-faring Scandinavians.

The first Danes were hunters and fisherman who probably entered the country migrating from Southern and Eastern Europe by the end of the last Ice Age around 10,000 BC. By 3000 BC, farms had begun to appear on the flat, fertile land we now call Denmark.

The people of Denmark are known as Danes. They are Nordic Scandinavians, many of which are blond, blue-eyed, and tall. In the southern part of the country, some people have German ancestry. Danes have one of the highest standards of living in the world.

The skin on the skeletons has looked much like it does on most of today's Danes. Genetic studies have shown that even back then there was a healthy mix of blonds, redheads and dark-haired people, just like today.

22, 2020, 8:05 a.m. It turns out most Vikings weren't as fair-haired and blue-eyed as legend and pop culture have led people to believe. According to a new study on the DNA of over 400 Viking remains, most Vikings had dark hair and dark eyes.

What does Viking DNA look like?

Not only did many of the studied Vikings turn out to not be blond or blue-eyed, their genetic admixture shows they weren't a distinct ethnic group but rather a mix of various other groups, "with ancestry from hunter-gatherers, farmers, and populations from the Eurasian steppe."

"The examination of skeletons from different localities in Scandinavia reveals that the average height of the Vikings was a little less than that of today: men were about 5 ft 7-3/4 in. tall and women 5 ft 2-1/2 in.

Thorkell the Tall | Biography, History, & Facts | Britannica.

They were particularly nervous in the western sea lochs then known as the "Scottish fjords". The Vikings were also wary of the Gaels of Ireland and west Scotland and the inhabitants of the Hebrides.