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I hear from my friend that blondes became more common in certain European countries as a result of Vikings invading those places, killing off all the men, and sleeping with all of the women.
The one I remember hearing is that the Vikings were intrigued by the red haired women in Scotland and Ireland, returning many to Scandinavia, and that explains the red hair among that population today.
That might be part of it, but blond hair is more a result of light skin adaptations through millions of years of evolution, based on northern Europe climate. The ratio of blonde to brunette still seems to generally follow earths latitude (with some exceptions based on diet) - England and the Baltic regions fall into this. Vikings also raided into the Mediterranean and parts of the middle east (although no settlements) and you don't see the same ratio.
That might be part of it, but blond hair is more a result of light skin adaptations through millions of years of evolution, based on northern Europe climate. The ratio of blonde to brunette still seems to generally follow earths latitude (with some exceptions based on diet) - England and the Baltic regions fall into this. Vikings also raided into the Mediterranean and parts of the middle east (although no settlements) and you don't see the same ratio.
This. The Vikings themselves descend from Germanic peoples, and Germanic tribes also infiltrated much of Europe. If you're looking for the "original source" of blonde hair, it's just the result of adaption to northern climate. Any northern area is going to have higher numbers of lighter hair, skin, and eyes as a natural occurrence, doesn't mean it came from some other population of people.
IMO from pictures of Icelanders, I think they must be generally overall the best looking people on the planet. Therefore I don't think those blond Vikings needed to look too hard to find beautiful blond women.
Gold and good land you could take (raiding then settling) was probably more of a factor than the reason offered by your friend.
Northern England was raided by Vikings. Vikings offering bribes led to the expression about not taking Danegeld--the tax that was paid to the invaders to try to keep they from invading. Turned out to be a lie, of course.
Even today if you go to the northern English county of Yorkshire you will see a larger number of people than usual who are tall and blond haired. It's said to be from the Viking influence long ago. In Yorkshire 5.9% of the people today have Viking heritage. It's highest in Scotland with the island of Shetland being 29.2% Viking descended.
Vikings raided Britain for about three centuries and until they arrived the population was Anglo Saxon, Celts, and descendants of the Roman conquerers. So, I would say, yes, the lighter hair in parts of Europe is due to Viking ancestry.
Some more substantiating evidence:
In areas of Europe settled by Vikings there are more people today with blonde hair.
it’s probable that the Viking excursions from the late eighth century helped to spread blonde hair through Europe. As well as the Scandinavian countries, those European nations with the highest concentrations of blondes tend to be those where Vikings settled. The Baltic countries, parts of Russia as well as the low countries, were all settled by Vikings, with the intermarrying between locals and Vikings increasing the blonde population. And according to ‘The History and Geography of Human Genes’, the lightest pigmentation of both hair and eyes in Europe is found close to the Baltic Sea, with levels of darkness increasing in a nearly concentric ring around this region.
Slavic people have had a significant portion of blondes as well going all the way to what is now Russia since the Roman Empire and before. Germanic Vikings didn't have a monopoly on being blonde nor spreading the gene pool for blondes.
Last edited by marino760; 10-22-2019 at 02:28 PM..
Blonds have been abducted and enslaved, for thousands of years. I wrote about twenty paragraphs detailing this, but deleted them, out of fear of triggering somebody. In any event, the Viking Era was relatively brief. The history of Northern Europeans kidnapped/seized and sold to the south and east, began at the dawn of civilization, and continues to this day. So truly, slavery has played a far greater part in the spread of blondness, than did the Viking Expansion.
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