Northern Settlers in Britain and Ireland. Historical and DNA Notes.
Contents:
1. Before the Vikings in Britain.
2. Britain. The Vikings are Coming! DNA from South-East Europe and Turkey.
3. The Vikings and the Israelite Tribe of Asher.
4. Viking Settlements.
5. Vikings in Britain.
6. Vikings in Ireland.
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1. Before the Vikings
Britain and Ireland had been populated by a mixture of disparate peoples all of whom seem to have shared Celtic Culture similar to that of the Continent.
The Romans after 43 CE conquered had became known as England and Wales. Roman occupation lasted until the Anglo-Saxon Conquest in the 450-500s CE. The Angles and Saxons included Jutes, Frisians, Vandals, and related peoples. They also occupied parts of Scotland. The Angles and Jutes were themselves basically Scandinavian peoples. The saxons who invaded England were a people who had kings of their own and dwelt on the sea-shores. They were related to the Frisians and quite different from the Gemranic peoples who were later termed "Saxons."
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2. Britain. The Vikings are Coming! DNA from South-East Europe and Turkey.
After 800 CE raids by Vikings from Scandinavia increased.
Note on DNA.
Brit-Am in its historical researches takes note of DNA findings. These often produce results showing that the DNA in many coutries has changed over the centuries. This could be attributed to Genetic Drift or other factors. The most obvious solution however is that DNA changes over time, the changes take effect suddenly at key points and effect large segments of the population all at once. This claim will probably be rejected by all the experts but it probably fits the known facts better than any other.
The Vikings
The Vikings were active from the 700s to 100s CE. They came from Scandinavia i.e. present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden,
They included others from southeast Europe and present-day Turkey who had recently arrived in Scandinavia.
DNA studies confirm this, cf.
DNA from the South!
Sweeping DNA Survey Highlights Vikings. Surprising Genetic Diversity
A new study suggests Viking identity didn't always equate to Scandinavian ancestry by Tara Wu
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/dna-analysis-reveals-vikings-surprising-genetic-diversity-180975865/
The results showed that Viking identity didn't always equate to Scandinavian ancestry. Just before the Viking Age (around 750 to 1050 A.D.), for instance, people from Southern and Eastern Europe migrated to what is now Denmark, introducing DNA more commonly associated with the Anatolia region. In other words, writes Kiona N. Smith for Ars Technica, Viking-era residents of Denmark and Sweden shared more ancestry with ancient Anatolians than their immediate Scandinavian predecessors did.
Other individuals included in the study exhibited both Sami [Laplander] and European ancestry.
See:
Population genomics of the Viking world
Ashot Margaryan, Daniel J. Lawson, Eske Willerslev
Nature volume 585, pages390-396 (2020)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2688-8
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 Era.
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3. The Vikings and the Israelite Tribe of Asher.
It is not certain what the name "Viking" means. One theory is that "Viking" derives from the word vik, meaning "creek, inlet, small bay."
re
The Syntax of Old Norse by Jan Terje Faarlund; p. 25 Archived 1 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine ISBN 0-19-927110-0; The Principles of English Etymology By Walter W. Skeat, published in 1892, defined Viking: better Wiking, Icel. Viking-r, O. Icel. *Viking-r, a creek-dweller; from Icel. vik, O. Icel. *wik, a creek, bay, with suffix -uig-r, belonging to Principles of English Etymology By Walter W. Skeat; Clarendon press; p. 479 Archived 20 April 2016 at the Wayback Machine
This had been related to the Tribe of Asher, cf.
In the Song of Deborah in the Book of Judges, it is written how the Tribes of Dan and Asher did not join in the war against the enemies of Israel:
"Why did Dan remain in ships? Asher continued on the sea shore, and abode in his breaches" (Judges 5:17). "breaches" means "Inlets, Coves." This is what the Vikings were.
We associate many of the Vikings with the Tribe of Asher.
See:
Biblical Asher. The Tribe of Asher in Biblical History. Part Two. Asher in the Land
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/asher1/asherh2.html
See:
Viking Origins-1. Israelites on Boats
https://hebrewnations.com/articles/16/vikings1.html
The Vikings "raided, pirated, traded and settled throughout parts of Europe. They also voyaged as far as the Mediterranean, North Africa, the Middle East, and North America. "
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4. Viking Settlements
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vikings
Expert sailors and navigators aboard their characteristic longships, Vikings established Norse settlements and governments in the British Isles, Ireland, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, Greenland, Normandy, the Baltic coast, and along the Dnieper and Volga trade routes in what is now European Russia, Belarus and Ukraine (where they were also known as Varangians). The Normans, Norse-Gaels, Rus' people, Faroese and Icelanders emerged from these Norse colonies. The Vikings also voyaged to Constantinople, Iran, and Arabia. They were the first Europeans to reach North America, briefly settling in Newfoundland (Vinland). While spreading Norse culture to foreign lands, they simultaneously brought home slaves, concubines and foreign cultural influences to Scandinavia, profoundly influencing the genetic and historical development of both. During the Viking Age the Norse homelands were gradually consolidated from smaller kingdoms into three larger kingdoms: Denmark, Norway and Sweden.
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5. Vikings in Britain.
The Vikings in Britain: a brief history
https://www.history.org.uk/primary/resource/3867/the-vikings-in-britain-a-brief-history
# Our names for days of the week come mainly from Norse gods - Tuesday from Tiw or Tyr, Wednesday from Woden (Odin), Thursday from Thor and so on. Many of their other words have also become part of English, for example egg, steak, law, die, bread, down, fog, muck, lump and scrawny. #
.# ... in England, the Vikings took over Northumbria, East Anglia and parts of Mercia. In 866 they captured modern York (Viking name: Jorvik) and made it their capital. They continued to press south and west. The kings of Mercia and Wessex resisted as best they could, but with little success until the time of Alfred of Wessex, the only king of England to be called 'the Great'. #
The Vikings also settled in Normandy, France, intermarried with the locals. They became the Normans who conquered England in 1066.
In Britain, the Vikings had first established themselves in the isles of Orkney and Shetland. In 867 the Danes conquered Northumbria, in 869 they took East Anglia. Alfred, the Anglo-Saxon king (871-886) of Wessex after a hard struggle fought the Danes off and stabilised his kingdom. in 878 the Danes of northern England renewed their attacks. King Aethelred the Unready (978-1016) began paying the Danes a ransom ("Danegeld"). In 10002 hr attempted to massacre all the Danes in England. After a struggle the Viking leader, Cnut, became King of all England (1016-1035). Cnit ruled over England, Denmark, and Norway. In 1042 the heir to the Anglo-Saxon dynasty, Edward the Confessor (son of Aethelred the Unready), became king of all England including the Viking parts. This was a peaceful succession. He was succeeded by his brother-in-law, Harold Godwinson, in 1066. In that same year he repulsed at York an invasion by Harald Hardrada from Norway who also claimed the throne of England. Two weeks later he faced an invasion from Normandy by William the Conqueror who defeated him and became king in his stead. The Normans were also of Viking origin but they had intermixed with Bretons (from Brittany in France), and others. Many Frenchmen also joined the forces of William. The mother of William the Conqueror seems to have been of Jewish stock.
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6. Vikings in Ireland.
Viking raids on Ireland began in ca. 795 with a raid from Norway. In the first wave of invasion they established settlements (including Dublin) on the coast and would advance inland often by sailing up the rivers. They intermarried with the locals producing a class of people known as "Gal-Gaels." The second wave stabilized the first one. The third wave in 917 established towns and an international trading network based on silver and slaves. Local Irish kings began to fight back and the Vikings suffered defeats. Brian Boru, High King of Ireland, defeated the Vikings at the Battle of Clontarf in 1014. This began the decline of Viking power in Ireland. The towns that the Vikings had founded continued to prosper. Trade became an important part of the Irish economy. Tge Norse from Norway continued to rei\gn in Dublin until it was captured in 1052. Magnus Barefoot, King of Norway, attempted to regain control of former Norse areas but was persuaded to desist. Norse and local Gailic forces then united and tried to pacify
Ulster but will little success. There followed a period where under High Kings such as Toirdelbach Ua Conchobhair Ireland became a prosperous, powerful, influential entity. From 1167 onwards using mixed force of Normans, Flemings, and Welsh the Norman rulers of England attempted the conquest of Ireland. They were partially successful but their forces and the settlers they sent over assimilated into Irish culture and society. This state of affairs continued until he 1500s and renewed English attempts at conquest and subjugation.
In Ireland,
# Dr Brian McEvoy found that most men with Irish-Viking surnames carried typically Irish genes. This suggests that Viking settlements may have had a Scandinavian elite but with most of the inhabitants being indigenous Irish. #
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ireland_(800%E2%80%931169)
https://www.wesleyjohnston.com/users/ireland/past/pre_norman_history/vikings.html
The Vikings who first attacked Ireland were Norwegian while those in Britain were usually Danish.
The Vikings left many placenames in Ireland including: Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford, Wexford, Strangford, Leixlip, Carlingford, Youghal, Howth, Dalkey and Fingall [an area of modern-day Dublin]. A few of their words were also adopted into the Irish language.
https://www.museum.ie/en-IE/Press-and-Media-Information/Latest-Media-Releases/First-genome-sequences-of-Irish-Vikings-reveal-tie
Irish Vikings derive much of their genetic ancestry from Norway.
English Vikings show sharp ancestral differences with their Irish counterparts, with much stronger Danish influences.
Many Vikings had brown hair, not blonde, including the famous Eyrephort warrior from Co. Galway.
Viking identity in Britain and Ireland was not limited to those of Scandinavian ancestry.
An individual buried in the Viking tradition from Ship Street Great is mostly of local origin.
https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/genealogy/irish-have-viking-dna
'Plenty of clues already showed that Vikings had been to Ireland, including ruins, artifacts, and Norwegian 'family names' The [genetic] signatures that turned up in Ireland are most similar to those from the north and west coasts of Norway, where Vikings were most active," Cavalleri told National Geographic in 2017.