For centuries, the image of the Viking has been associated with the stereotype of tall, blond, and light-eyed Scandinavian men. However, an international study led by Eske Willerslev, a professor at the University of Cambridge and director of the Lundbeck Foundation Centre for Geogenetics at the University of Copenhagen, has transformed this perception.
Through ancient DNA analysis, researchers have shown that being a Viking did not depend solely on genetic inheritance, but on cultural identity, customs, and way of life.
Genetic diversity in the Viking Age
The genomic project, considered the largest ever conducted on this population, sequenced 442 genomes from archaeological remains found in Europe and Greenland.
The results reveal that many individuals buried as Vikings had non-Scandinavian ancestry, with origins in Southern Europe, the British Isles, and even Asia. This finding breaks with the traditional view and confirms the existence of a constant genetic flow to Scandinavia, both before and during the Viking Age.
The research, conducted in collaboration between the universities of Cambridge, Copenhagen, Oslo, and other European institutions, has shown that Viking groups were much more heterogeneous than classical historiography suggested.
In fact, remains have been found with dark hair, darker skin, and brown eyes, demonstrating an unexpected phenotypic diversity.
Cultural identity beyond genetics
According to Willerslev, the results should change “the perception of who a Viking really was.”
The concept of "being a Viking" should be linked to participation in maritime, commercial, and warrior activities, rather than to a purely Scandinavian lineage. Genomic data shows that local people from different European regions adopted Viking customs and were buried as such, without necessarily sharing the same ancestral DNA.
Archaeologist Cat Jarman of the Museum of Cultural History in Oslo highlights, as an example, the discovery in Estonia of four brothers buried together in a funerary boat, accompanied by other related individuals unrelated to the direct lineage. This type of discovery confirms that Viking social organization incorporated both family ties and cultural alliances.
Viking Mobility
The study also reveals a high degree of individual mobility.
Cases such as that of two relatives found in graves in Oxford (United Kingdom) and Denmark illustrate the mobility of these groups.
It is also confirmed that the Danish Vikings tended to head towards England, the Swedes towards the Baltic, and the Norwegians towards territories such as Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland, without mixing excessively with each other.
Genetic Legacy
As for genetic heritage, researchers speak of Viking DNA traces remaining in present-day populations.
This “Viking genome” is not a single marker, but rather a set of genetic variants identified by comparing DNA extracted from Viking human remains with that of modern populations.
Thanks to this comparison, it is estimated that approximately 10% of the Swedish population and 6% of the British population retain traces of this past.
It is not a uniform heritage, but rather a diverse and attenuated one, reflecting both the breadth of its expansion and the complexity of its contacts with other peoples.
From myth to DNA: the diversity of a people
The work of Willerslev and his team, along with contributions from specialists such as Erika Hagelberg (University of Oslo), offers a new perspective on Viking identity.
The genomic results confirm that being a Viking was a way of life, linked to trade, navigation, and warfare, rather than a matter of pure genetic inheritance.
Thanks to population genetics, the image of the blond, uniform Viking is demystified and the cultural and biological richness of this society is revealed. The study is an example of how science can correct historical stereotypes and provide a more accurate, diverse, and human portrait of Europe's past.
This also demonstrates how origin and appearance aren't as important as the values you choose to live by—a lesson that can be perfectly applied today.
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