Here are 10 ways the Vikings are still part of our lives today.
- Place Names: Normandy and Beyond
Many places bear names with Viking roots, with Normandy being a prime example. The region in the northwest corner of France is named after the “Northmen” or “Norsemen” who settled there, when King Rollo was gifted the duchy in return for his protection of the coast.
Other cities like Dublin, York, and Kiev stand as living testaments to the Vikings’ far-reaching expeditions and their role in urban development across Europe.
- Bluetooth: An Unexpected Connection
If you’ve ever connected a wireless device via Bluetooth, you’ve invoked the name of a Viking king. Harald Bluetooth, who ruled in the 10th century, was renowned for uniting disparate Danish tribes, much as the Bluetooth technology unifies various devices.
The Bluetooth logo is in fact a combination of the runic characters for Harald’s initials.
- Popular Culture: The Norse Legacy
Vikings fascinates us. They have a great story and have captured the imagination of authors and screen writers alike. From Marvel’s Thor to the History Channel’s “Vikings,” the Norse seafarers continue to inspire books, movies, and video games, keeping the Viking spirit alive in our collective imagination.
- Days of the Week: Lørdag and More
The Norse gods continue to rule our week, with days like Thursday (‘Thor’s Day’), Tuesday (Tyrs day) and Wednesday (Wodins/Odins day) carrying their names. ‘Lørdag,’ the Norwegian and Danish word for Saturday, finds its roots in ‘laugardagr,’ the Old Norse word for ‘bathing day”, which in itself is a testiments to the norse preoccupation with cleanliness.
- Words and Language: Echoes of Old Norse
The Vikings ruled much of England for hundreds of years and that influenced the English language. There are allegedly around 1000 words in English that derived from Old Norse. Without the influence of Old Norse, we wouldn’t be able to say phrases such as ‘They are!’, since both words originate from the Viking language. So do them and their. And also knife, window, slaughter, sky, egg and many, many more words. The viking speech patterns are indeed embedded in our everyday conversations, a linguistic heritage often overlooked.
- DNA: Genetic Imprints
Have you ever taken a DNA test?If you for instance belong to the Haplogroup R1A or R1B, you are likely to have Viking or pre-Viking DNA. Those are predominant DNA lineages in Scandinavia and northern Germany. In the iron age there was an exodus, where the tribes of Jutes, Angles and the Saxon migrated from the homelands in Denmark and Germany to England. They brought some DNA along with them. And so did the Vikings a couple of hundred years later, when they arrived and beat up their distant relatives, the Anglo-Saxons, and many settled down in their lands.
Viking voyages weren’t just about plunder; they also resulted in substantial gene flow. A multitude of Europeans can claim Viking ancestry, with their DNA bearing the indelible mark of these ancient adventurers. English and Irish of course and in turn, when many of them went to America, the Viking DNA followed along.
- America: Pre-Columbian Discoveries
Speaking of America, centuries before Columbus, Leif Erikson and his fellow Vikings crossed the icy North Atlantic to land in what they named ‘Vinland. This is now known as Newfoundland in Canada. This bold exploration broadened the geographical knowledge of the Middle Ages.
- The Sagas and Stories: A Lasting Legacy
The sagas — epic narratives of heroes, gods, and conquests — remain a vibrant part of world literature. They offer us rich insights into Viking life and continue to inspire modern storytelling.
- Russia: The Varangian Influence
The Rus people, who gave Russia its name, were likely Scandinavian Vikings, known as Varangians. Their influence helped shape the early statehood of Russia and the development of cities like Novgorod and Kiev.
Not home at English Wikipedia, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
- Graffiti: A Viking in Hagia Sofia
A tiny, but surprisingly lasting, piece of the viking world that survives to this day, is grafitti. High in Istanbul’s Hagia Sofia, a cathedral-turned-mosque-turned-museum, is a piece of Viking writing. “Halvdan was here,” it reads in runic script. You can almost visualize the bored Varangian guard, enduring endless ceremonies, finding a way to pass the time by scribbling his name in the marble stone.