Ah, Floki! If you've ever watched the show Vikings, you've seen crazy Floki. The man representing Floki in the show is this very Floki who left Norway for Iceland.

"A Norseman from West Norway named Naddoðr was en-route to the Faroe Islands and got lost accidentally landing in Iceland - seeing no signs of life and the snow falling, he named this land Snæland (snow land). Around the same period, a Swedish Viking named Garðarr Svavarsson was on his way to the Hebrides islands to claim an inheritance. He had difficulty navigating the Orkney islands and ended up drifting to Iceland. Instead of making landfall, he circumnavigated Iceland to discover this piece of land was indeed an island and spent the winter in a northern bay he called Húsavík (house bay). After returning to Norway stories were told of Garðarr's adventures. Hrafna-Flóki Vilgerðarson decided he would be the first Viking to head to Iceland and settle it. In 868 AD, Flóki dropped by the Shetland Islands on his way to the Faroe Islands where he picked up 3 ravens to help guide him. This is where he picked up the nick name Hrafna (raven) as ravens could help navigators find land. The first raven flew back to the Faroe Islands, the second raven landed on his own mast - but third raven headed due northwest and directed him straight to Iceland. Flóki decided to settle in a protected bay called Vatnsfjörður (fjord of the lakes). Hrafna-Flóki stayed for the winter and gave the land its name when climbed Lómfell, the highest mountain in the area, and spotted a fjord full of icebergs. In Landnáma (the Book of Settlements) Flóki notes "The spring proved rather cold." Ingólfur Arnarson was involved in a blood feud in Norway and fled to Iceland to settle along with his Irish thrall females. In fact Iceland was largely colonized by Norwegian men and Gaelic females - genetically at the time Iceland was settled it was roughly 50% Gaelic - today this figure remains about 30%. Ingólfur established camp in Reykjavik (translates to Cove of Smoke) but his half brother was killed by his Irish slaves. After avenging his brother's death by chasing down the rebellious slaves to the Westman islands, he returned to his new settlement which expanded quickly to become a popular destination for rulers who wanted to consolidate power - this included visitors such as the great King Harald Fairhair, the first King of Norway. Many of these listed samples are located in Vatnsdalur (VDP) near Flóki's first settlement Vatnsfjörður in the Westfjords of Iceland and date to this early settlement period. A wealthy Nordic Viking woman (VDP-A5) was buried with her boat and later six more individuals were buried alongside her. The others were typical Icelandic males being part Norse and part Gaelic. The gravesite included a silver Thor's hammer, jewelry, 30 beads, a knife and a near eastern coin dating from as early as 870 AD. The items seen here from this boat burial can be seen in the National Museum in Reykjavik. Not far to the south in Öndverðarnes the last sample shown DKS-A1 was found buried with a sword, a spearhead, a knife, shield-boss, bone-pin and fragments of iron. There are also numerous other early settlements on Iceland such as where the Swede Garðarr landed in Húsavík." (MyTrueAncestry.com 2023)

We match the DNA of four samples from this archaeological dig: VDP-A6 (925AD) and VDP-A7 Celtic Boat Burials, DKS-A1 (925AD) Norsk burial, VDP-A5 (925AD) Viking Boat Burial. All of the matched samples from this dig are male. This means we are related to the Vikings, but not the Gaelic female samples. We are closely related to VDP-A5; much more closely related to him than the others. This is likely a direct ancestor, and because he was in a Viking boat burial, he was probably a chieftain or other important citizen. 

This one is a doozy.

"On Ridgeway Hill in the County of Dorset, a mass burial was found with the remains of 54 males. These individuals had all been executed in a gruesome manner with their decapitated heads dumped together in a large pit. Interestingly enough all of the sharp blade wounds had been struck from the front, meaning these individuals had faced their enemy. Radiocarbon dating showed the bodies were from 890-1030 AD. Strontium isotopes found in the bones show these individuals were originally from Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which had been written around 890 AD, provides a year-by-year account of all the major happenings in Anglo Saxon England. Aethelred the Unready had been king from 978-1016 AD - it is quite possible these bodies died during his reign. Initially the king had paid Viking raiders off with over 10,000 pounds to stop raiding their lands. Later they began hiring Norse mercenaries to fight off the invading Vikings - however these mercenaries would switch sides frequently and proved too risky. It is surmised the individuals in the Ridgeway Hill Burial were that of a raiding ship - as Viking longships carried around 60 people. The hip bones and shoulder bones also show that of physiques consistent with ship rowers. Unlike the known victims of the Saint Brice Day Massacre, these individuals appear to have been methodically killed. These victims are all in their late teens and early twenties with minimal evidence of existing war wounds. Three of the bodies were missing heads - probably these had been impaled on spikes to scare off other would-be attackers. The killers also showed respect for the Viking invaders as they were killed by sharp forged sword while facing their enemy rather than from behind. Some bodies even showed signs of trying to block the swords blows with their hands. One of these individuals even had filed down front teeth, which was the same custom used by Harald Bluetooth!" (MyTrueAncestry.com 2023)

We match the DNA of six samples from this archaeological dig: VK264, VK258, VK449, VK259, VK263, and VK260. It would be normal practice for brothers and first cousins to raid together and that is likely what happened here. What a travesty to lose so much family in one event.

"Hedeby was founded in 770 AD as an important Viking Age stronghold in Southern Jutland. Second to Birka in Sweden, it was the most important Viking trade center in Europe. Its Old Norse name Heidabyr means heath settlement. It began as a series of jetties and workshops constructed by Danish Vikings - the first written records date from 804 AD. Hedeby was located at the crossroads of Saxon, Slavic and Frisian territories at the end of the Schlei River in a series of bays connecting to the Baltic Sea. The city quickly attained great wealth as a mercantile settlement with extensive trading ties to western Europe, Scandinavia, Slavic lands, the Byzantine east as well as the Arab World. Trade was flowing but these were dangerous times. By 790 AD, the Franks were busy expanding northwards against the Frisians and Saxons. They were allied with the Slavic Obotrites who had defeated the Saxons in 798 AD at the battle of Bornhoved. The great Charlemagne, King of the Franks, handed over Saxon lands to the Obotrites putting them on the Danish doorstep. However the Danes had been preparing for such a challenge - behold the Danevirke - a combination of walls, ramparts and marshland running across the Jutland Peninsula built specifically to mark the end of Danish lands as well as keep out invaders. The ramparts were up to 5 meters high and about 30 km long and coupled with the impassable moorland further west his sealed off Jutland from the South. In response to the arrival of the Obotrites, King Gudfred of Denmark extended the Danevirke fortifications and in 807 AD he led an invasion to destroy the Polabian Slavic settlement of Reric (of course relocating the merchants to Hedeby) and to kill the Obotrite leader Drozko. Gudfred proceeded to plunder the Frisian coast before dying himself a few years later. The Danevirke enabled the Viking metropolis Hedeby to grow as it secured the trade routes. By 1050 Hedeby was set ablaze by the Viking King Harald Hardrada during a conflict with King Sweyn II of Denmark. and what remained was razed by a Slavic army in 1066. Longships sunk to the bottom of the harbor and runestones toppled to the ground. This same year marked the offical end of the Viking Age - the population was relocated to the other side of the river and the city of Schleswig was born. Our DNA spotlight samples are from exactly this time period. The Danevirke remains today and is the largest ground monument in Northern Europe. In 1163 Danish King Valdemar I extended the wall - up to 7 meters tall now - and once again the Danevirke secured the Danish border. Over the centuries that followed the walls would repeatedly be put to use during conflicts as recently as 1850. The Viking Museum is one of the most significant archaeological museums in Germany. Seven reconstructed houses from the Viking Age have been reconstructed directly on the site of Hedeby." (MyTrueAncestry.com 2023)

We match the DNA of four samples from this archaeological dig: SWG005 (1071AD), SWG001 (1140AD), SWG002 (1175AD), and SWG004 (1070AD). This would have been toward the end of the Viking age, so it would appear that some of our ancestors became traders and moved to Hedeby.

The big man himself.

"Erik Torvaldsson, later known as Erik the Red, was born in Norway around 950 AD but emigrated to Iceland after his father Thorvald Asvaldsson was exhiled after being convicted of murder. Erik's family had settled a nice plot of land in a northern fjord. However after his thralls (personal serfs) were killed for starting a landslide on a neighbor's property, he took revenge and slew his neighbor as well as another man. Convicted for murder, Erik was banished from Iceland. Instead of returning to Norway, from where his own father was banished earlier, Erik decided to sail further west. An old norse word Hillingar was used to refer to arctic mirages which would appear on the horizon as relatively hot air rose off of ice sheets which would reveal distant land located beyond the horizon to wayward seafarers. It is even thought that Erik had seen Greenland from such a Hillingar all the way from Iceland and other Viking navigators used this technique to find land hidden beyond the horizon. Erik discovered the western coast of Greenland and spent his 3 years of banishment exploring the island before returning to Iceland with news of his discoveries and a strong desire to return in force. Erik sailed with 25 ships from Iceland but only 14 reached Greenland. Most of the immigrants to Greenland were themselves Icelanders as there were land shortages in Iceland. Erik's farmstead was located on some of the finest land in Greenland. Shown here is a reconstruction of a church found on his farm of Brattahlið at Eriksfjord. Note Erik himself remained a staunch pagan but his wife Thojdhild and many other Vikings had recently converted to Christianity. The ancient samples listed in this spotlight were found in graves around this church. Most were found in a mass grave and 3 had head wounds caused by a sword or axe - it is thought they were victims of combat. The ruins of Brattahlið can be found in the town of Qassiarsuk. Note that many of the Norse buildings in Greenland were built of stone rather than wood, due to the lack of this resources. The settlements were built a bit inland to avoid the harsh sea and wind. Greenland's settlements prospered for some time to become key exporters of walrus ivory and polar bear furs to mainland Europe. Erik's son Leif Eriksson would take in his father's footsteps as an explorer and become the first known European to set foot on continental North America 500 years before Christopher Columbus." (MyTrueAncestry 2023)

We match the DNA of two samples from this archaeological dig: VK179 and VK513 (990AD). This is a somewhat recent dig and it's likely that if DNA can be extracted from other burials, we should see more relations in time.