Vikings 17/07/2006 Over at Syntagma, John Evans has discovered that he has viking genes. Apparently, he has "a minor medical condition which affects the small finger tendon in the palm of a hand" and this only occurs in those with remnant Scandinavian genes. Also, if you have ginger hair (John doesn't), you can be assured of viking ancestry - the gene for red hair comes from Scandinavia.In fact and as I pointed out to John, it would be hard to find anyone in Britain who does not have at least a few old viking genes lurking somewhere in their bodies. The vikings settled almost everywhere in the British Isles and soon mingled with the locals, be they Anglo Saxons or Celts.It began with the Danish raid on Lindisfarne in 793 and continued with mounting ferocity throughout the ninth and tenth centuries. By the late ninth century the vikings were settling in the north and East Anglia and it was only the victories of Alfred the Great that prevented them taking over all of England. North of Watling Street, the old Roman road that runs from London to Shrewsbury, became the Danelaw, the area of heaviest settlement by the Danes. It was Alfred's grandson, Aethelred, who conquered the Danelaw to create the kingdom that we now know as England.Meanwhile, Norwegian vikings had been attacking and settling in the west of Scotland and Ireland. At times they joined in the assault on the Anglo Saxon kingdoms and many of them settled in what is now Lancashire, thus accounting for the differences between the Lancashire and Yorkshire accents of today.The viking invasions were not halted completely until Harold Godwinson defeated perhaps the most dangerous of all their threats, the attempt to conquer England by the king of both Denmark and Norway, Harald Hardrada. At the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066, Harold beat the vikings so soundly that they never raided again.Yet that is not completely true. 1066 was also the year that William of Normandy invaded and took the kingship of England after the Battle of Hastings. And the Normans were really Danish vikings who had settled in France and learned the language and some of its customs. They still carried those relevant nordic genes, therefore.Although the Normans tried to remain separate from the local populace, over the centuries it was inevitable that their genes should enter the mass of the Anglo Saxon gene pool to some extent and so, once again, we have an infusion from Scandinavia. Add the Irish immigrations of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries in search of work in the industrialized areas of England (and remembering that they brought Scandinavian genes from the period of their own viking settlement) and it must be conceded that very few of the so-called English can be devoid of Scandinavian genes.Like all peoples, the English are a mixture, mainly Anglo Saxon in essence but with infusions from Scandinavia, France, Holland and the Celts, to name just a few. And the really strange thing is that John's little finger condition is not more common in England than appears. Perhaps it's a recessive gene.Technorati tags: Vikings; English; Anglo Saxon.
Clive
John (Syntagma) Strangely, Clive, when I was younger I had chestnut hair, which has quite a reddish coppery component. Maybe I'm Eric Bloodaxe returned to the fray. Watch out. Date Added: 17/07/2006
Gone Away And, as far as I can ascertain, I'm Anglo Saxon through and through, John. Remember that we won in the end! ;) Date Added: 17/07/2006
Mad Also of interest is that the Anglo Saxons and the Danes are genetically indistinguishable. Date Added: 18/07/2006
Gone Away Hmmm, that is interesting, Mad. So what are we to make of this "finger tendon gene"? Could it be present in Anglo Saxons too? Date Added: 18/07/2006
Mad Nah, I blame the Norwegians. They're the oddest of our little family of races :p Date Added: 18/07/2006
Gone Away Just as well we didn't get Swedes... ;) Date Added: 18/07/2006
Way First off, who identified this mysterious gene -- some highly-educated doctor? (hey, I can always use a good laugh here at the cave) Second, what effect does this odd malady have. Surely, not that tea-drinky-pinky deal? And thirdly, how should this infirmary be dealt with? Do we amputate, pierce or train the thing? Then, there are those Norwegian Vikings you mentioned -- Rumor has it that they all live together in Minnesota now, and have been tamed far beyond recognition. Most even hold jobs and are able to vote, and I do not believe a single one has ever thought of acting fierce. Well, there was that gruff oldster who got overcharged at Walmart one Saturday… Date Added: 18/07/2006
Gone Away Who identified the gene? This I do not know, Way, but would guess at some expensive specialist doctor of weird hand syndromes. And, who knows? It may well be the origin of the extended pinky for tea drinking. But Norwegian vikings in Minnesota? I heard they got as far as Nova Scotia but did not imagine they would venture as far as the Midwest. Perhaps they are still looking for Vinland... ;) Date Added: 19/07/2006
Mad I heard it was Lars Sploomdepinkyondehandy who first classified the problem... Date Added: 19/07/2006
Gone Away Oh come on, Mad, are you tendon to the ridiculous with this one? I can't put my finger on it but I suspect you're trying to palm us off here. Get a grip. :D Date Added: 19/07/2006
Mad Well I hope I gave you paws for thought, digit make you wonder? We'll have to nail the subject down at some point though. Date Added: 20/07/2006
Gone Away I gotta hand it to you - you seem to have grasped the nettle on this one. Not that I'd point the finger, but it looks like you handled everything pretty well. How does that grab you? Date Added: 20/07/2006
Fragile Industries I must stop this knucle-headed exchange before it gets wrist, I mean worse. You do know that compulsive punning is a sign of mental derangement, don't you? Fascinating reflection on the genetic stew of the British Isles. But it doesn't stop with crooked fingers (to say nothing of the teeth). It turns out that the genetic mutation responsible for resistance or immunity to the bubonic plague is also a factor for resistance or (if carried on both sides of the parental equation) full immunity to AIDS. This holds great promise for gene therapy as a cure. And one tiny village in England led to the discovery of the gene: http://www.pbs.org/wnet/secrets/case_plague/index.html Date Added: 20/07/2006
Gone Away I must be deranged then, Fragile. ;)
That is a fascinating tale - both from the point of view of the potential for immunity to HIV and as a detective story. I am reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything and it's full of stories like that. Science is a much more interesting subject than they ever let on at school. Date Added: 20/07/2006
prying1 I'm wondering if any of this has any bearing on those of English extraction having a fondness for swords. If so can I use this posting to explain to my wife why we need a pair of 'em hanging above the fireplace? Date Added: 22/07/2006
Gone Away That's easy, Paul. Everyone knows that an Englishman's home is his castle. And how can it be a castle if it hasn't got a pair of swords hanging above the fireplace? The logic is irrefutable. :D Date Added: 22/07/2006
Scot Clive, Haven't had a chance to stop by lately, but it's good to see you're still at it, good as ever. The English have always been a mixed bag of sorts, but I think that's one of the reasons they seem to have a broader--if not light-hearted--perspective on life. Date Added: 22/07/2006
Gone Away Good to see you again, Scot - and glad you're settled well in Houston (yes, it is huge, I agree). As for the English, well, we're tired, that's why we may seem to have a less than light-hearted view of life. 1,500 years of history can do that to you... ;) Date Added: 23/07/2006
Mad 1,500? Taking the short view eh? Date Added: 24/07/2006
Gone Away Since we're talking "English" here, Mad, yes. Although 1,600 would be more precise... ;) Date Added: 24/07/2006
Shanigo I am interested in starting a blog just to get my book known. How do I know if someone may steal my book off the internet. Should I write it everyday on a blog and can you make money doing that or is this just a fun thing to do. Sorry I am so ignorant of these things. I'm new at computers so give me some grace guys! Thanks. Date Added: 27/07/2006
Gone Away The problem with putting a book up as a blog, Shanigo, is not that it might get stolen but that no-one will read it. The nature of the medium is such that people read short pieces only - they do not have time for more than that. So blogging a book in chapters would be for your own interest only - few will read more than a chapter or so and it won't make you any money. Far better to try for a traditional publisher or even one of the new publish-on-demand systems. Date Added: 27/07/2006
shanigo Thank you for your answer. So you are saying, a blog is for fun and sharing. I have written several short stories that have been published on our local newspaper. They want more and I try to do them often but I would also like to get paid doing what I love. Apparently, a blog is not the answer. I don't mind sharing my stories just for interested folks at all. Maybe I can start one and just keep getting advice and comments. That helps a writer's confidence and constructive criticism is always a welcome gift for me. I appreciate your input so much. Thanks a bunch and if you have more advise, I'll be here. Shanigo Date Added: 27/07/2006
Gone Away There are many kinds of blog, Shanigo. This one is intended purely to showcase my writing, knowing full well that it won't make money. I don't put books in it but every so often I post a short story. But you have to accept that anything put up on the internet is given away, no matter what copyright warnings you may attach to it. Think of it as a free sample given in the hope that readers might buy any books you do get published.
But there are ways to make money from blogging. This comes entirely through advertising - allowing advertisers space on your blog for their click-on buttons or text. And to get the advertisers, you need to have good traffic flowing through. So you pick a subject that lots of people are interested in, write at least one short post every day and wait for Google to give you a good Page Rank (from a 5 upwards). Once you have that, the advertisers will be interested. Date Added: 27/07/2006
shanigo Thank you so much for your help. I'm new at this and do appreciate your patience. You've given me much to think about. I will consider all of this and try to get more information through more research. I've truely enjoyed this blog for sure! Date Added: 28/07/2006
Madmin ...and another baby blogger totters off into the ether, head filled with dreams of traffic and ad revenue. :D Date Added: 28/07/2006
Gone Away And thank you, Shanigo. Always a pleasure to help. Date Added: 28/07/2006
Gone Away It can happen, Mad! Date Added: 28/07/2006
karen the viking OK, I have the pinky tendon thing. Anybody else got the small 2nd incisor thing going on? It runs in my family, all of them are norwegians. Date Added: 19/05/2008
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