A Viking’s Quest in my DNA
A journey told through my double helix
It is a thousand years ago. You are clothed in seal skins and standing in the prow of a Viking longboat as the sails take in a steady breeze and the waves carry you crashing up and down. The cold sun of the north shimmers off the ocean and you spot a faint trace of land in the distance. Your heart swells with anticipation. There may be battles. There may be land for your family. There may be silver. There may be death. You might leave some DNA behind.
I love the recent TV shows with Vikings as protagonists. My partner and I thoroughly enjoyed season 1 of Vikings Valhalla. And we are deep into Last Kingdom. Both feature Vikings, who are referred to as “Danes,” invading the lands that will become England. These TV Danes raid and plunder, but they also conquer and settle. Depending on which show we are watching, we are either rooting for or against the Danes, and sometimes both at once.
When I first got my DNA test over 10 years ago, I was surprised at the amount of Scandinavian DNA that the testing site said that I had. Even though I live in Wisconsin where Norwegian and Swedish last names are everywhere, my family has no direct links to those Nordic countries. I did some google searches at the time, and I was not the only one to have an unusually high amount of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark show up in my DNA…
