Great, I'm a Viking.

 

First it was 23&Me. Then it was Ancestry.ca. Then came MyTrueAncestry.com. All of which prove that before you go snooping, realize it's not  going to be all unicorns and princesses. Case in point - me. 

Got 23&Me kit for Christmas, 2020. It showed my line is entirely northwest European. German, Scandinavian, Brit-Scot. Genetics. 

Then I did Ancestry for genealogics. I wanted to put names to places, trace migration and such. Great luck, generational, unbroken, back to 1275 in York, some dude named Ada Dreyster. Historical records indicate he was a vassal lord to Edward 1, Longshanks, the Hammer of the Scots. Ada was thought to be either German or a Danish Viking. 

I should have stopped there. Instead I went with MyTrueAncestry.com. They mine your existing DNA tests and compare their findings with archeological DNA data banks, from unearthed graves, etc. It lit up like a pinball game. Danish Viking, Swedish Viking, Icelandic and Greenland Viking mixed with Saxons and Celts. 

I wanted to know because I have a nasty gene mutation that originated in and was spread by Vikings and can (and did) cause a dangerous blood condition. 

Apparently they got a positive match to Harald Bluetooth, King of Denmark (the Bluetooth symbol is his name in runes). 

Then it was "don't ask, don't tell" time. I'm also a match for a dude in Iceland, a 15th century murderer. He apparently took a shine to his neighbour's wife. She was like-minded. They got rid of her husband, finally standing trial and being convicted of the murder. He was beheaded, his head placed on a pike. They drowned her. Then the two were buried in unconsecrated ground. 

Great. Now how am I supposed to break that to the kids?

Comments

  1. Take heart Mound, the Viking's weren't all murderous thieves. The artifacts from the Liffy mud in the national museum in Dublin exhibit the talent of Viking artisans in wool, leather and metal. Besides , they stayed within the pale and hid there from the scary Irish.

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    Replies
    1. Hey, Rumley. You're right, they weren't all "murderous thieves." My mother's family hail from Dublin, another Viking settlement. This condition I have develops only if you get two "markers," one from each parent. My jaw dropped when my hematologist told me they were both responsible. The good part is that my children have just one marker so they can never develop the blood problem.

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  2. Given your ancestry, Mound, I'm thinking it would not be wise to provoke you in any way, shape or form.

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    Replies
    1. I just got a haircut, Lorne, having put it off until I got my first vaccination dose. Before then all I was lacking was the hide of a shaggy beast. It's funny how this all came together. First the genetics, then the genealogical data then the archeological data all coupled with the records of the reign of Edward Longshanks and a detailed blood analysis from a molecular genetics lab. Everything fell into place.

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    2. It seems as though the Vikings spread it wherever Genghis Khan didn't and they probably hit some of the same places. Most of our lines drift in and out of legitimacy and, if you go back far enough, you're more than likely to find a powerful male in everybody's ancestral woodpile.

      Delete
  3. Our ancestors were not all powerful beard or no beard !



    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lCIh2aCH_o


    TB

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. But what is life without a quest, TB? Perhaps what matters is the nature of the grail you seek. Mine is pretty modest.

      Delete
  4. .. I myself is of the most pure Irish heritage.. Blah blah - Red Hugh of Ireland. Boss is a hybrid. The well ran dry and I had no parents then married a Scot. My son (now pregnant) lived in shame then married into Peruvian stock.

    They say I'm 'Black Irish' .. Perhaps because I take a deep tan. My sister - pale with freckles did the DNA test and was shocked to find our parents spawned many 1/2 siblings - by marrying three times each and one assumes being promiscuous like all Irish are. Seems the progeny are scattered over North America - though no word from the war years and posts in London, France, Italy, Germany, Algeria.. as both were military vets overseas. Perhaps more 1/2 siblings will be discovered ??

    No DNA test for me..
    No need or want to know
    We all know the Irish saved the world.. and I am busy contributing
    along with the full tilt blarney .. & swingin my Shelaghly
    bakin my potatoes ferociously

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Irish saved the world? That's Blarney for you, eh? Black Irish, that would trace to survivors of the storm-tossed Armada, I think. Be a proud son of Eire, Sal.

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  5. If we go back far enough, we are all descended from 'immigrants'.

    In honour of your roots, Mound I offer the

    Immigrant Song

    Ah-ah, ah!
    Ah-ah, ah!
    We come from the land of the ice and snow
    From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
    The hammer of the gods
    Will drive our ships to new lands
    To fight the horde, sing and cry
    Valhalla, I am coming
    On we sweep with threshing oar
    Our only goal will be the western shore
    Ah-ah, ah!
    Ah-ah, ah!
    We come from the land of the ice and snow
    From the midnight sun where the hot springs flow
    How soft your fields so green
    Can whisper tales of gore
    Of how we calmed the tides of war
    We are your overlords
    On we sweep with threshing oar
    Our only goal will be the western shore
    So now you'd better stop and rebuild all your ruins
    For peace and trust can win the day despite of all your losing
    Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
    Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
    Ahh, ah
    Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
    Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh
    Ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh, ooh-ooh

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlNhD0oS5pk

    Will the post-pandemic world feature close packed mass gatherings?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That was eye opening, NPoV. Thanks. I was never fond of the song. Plant's screaming made the lyrics unintelligible. Too bad because the lyrics are definitely worthwhile. Again, thanks.

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    ReplyDelete

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