https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5158-8196
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Abstract
In this article, we analyze how genetic genealogy reshapes popular notions of historical identity, as it facilitates a genetically informed understanding of ethnicity and ancestry. Drawing on interviews with Swedish, British and American individuals who have employed genetic ancestry tests (GATs) to prove ancestral connections to Vikings, we explore how the desire to “be a Viking” is articulated through a convergence of pre-existing discourses around Vikings and DNA. By combining signs from genetic science and popular depictions of Vikings, our interviewees create a new discourse of geneticized Viking identity. In this new discourse, socio-historically constructed ideas about Vikings are naturalized as the innate qualities of individuals who possess a certain genetic composition. Images of “the Viking” once created for political, cultural or commercial purposes are revived in new embodied forms and can start to circulate in new social contexts, where they, by association, appear to be confirmed by genetical science.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Acknowledgements
The authors want to thank Adam Hjorthén, Charlotte Mulcare, Per-Erik Nilsson, Andreas Nyblom, Eoghan Shortall, Peter Sjölund, and Howard Williams for their help with the preparation of the manuscript.
Notes
1 We did not participate in these groups prior to the interviews.
2 Six of the interviewees were from USA, five from Sweden and three from UK. 50% were male and 50% were female. The total age span was between 33 and 76 years, and six of the interviewees were between 50 and 60 years old.
3 While haplogroups are often found center stage in discussions about GATs, they can only say something about a miniscule portion of a person’s ancestry and genetic composition. If we go back a thousand years to one potential ancestor in the Viking Age, this person would have contributed with approximately 0.04% of the entire genome of a now-living person (The Coop Lab Citation2013).
4 In the UK, several research projects have combined surnames and Y-chromosomal haplogroups in search for male lineages that are traceable to medieval times. These projects have focused on Northwestern England—historically known for its Viking influence during medieval times—and used “Viking” as a sign in their academic and public communication (Sykes and Irven Citation2000; Nash Citation2004; Scully, Brown, and King Citation2013, Citation2016; Scully Citation2018).
5 The intimate discursive connection between Vikings and whiteness is, paradoxically, confirmed by the recent media interest in reports from archaeogenetics that Viking-Age individuals could be dark-haired (e.g. Davis Citation2020). The reason why this finding gets attention in popular media is most probably that it runs counter to deeply entrenched notions of Vikings and whiteness.
6 To some extent, these disagreements seem to reflect different historical discourses around the Viking in the three national contexts. Among the American interviewees, there is a tendency to refer to the Viking as berserker and explorer. Among the Swedes, the Viking is more often described as a trader, entrepreneur and businessman. Among the Brits, finally, the Viking again appears as a berserker. While the limitation of our material does not allow for general conclusions on national differences, they would be worthy of further analysis in future studies.