Quote:
Originally Posted by FuckingRotter
Like most peoples coming to ancient Britain, with the exception of the Romans and Normans, the majority of Danish visitors were settlers not raiders. They made a huge contribution to our cultural, agricultural, lingual and religious make up, many of our names and place names are Danish, and there are huge pockets of population in the Northeast that has Danish genetic roots. So before you go getting too proud of your Viking raiding roots Mr Rat, those Vikings were mostly daisy chain weaving farmers!
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The Normans WERE Vikings, they had just settled on the northern coast of France. Yes actually much of Europe owns at least a part of their culture to the Vikings as they spread their influence all the way into what is today eastern Russia and as far west as North America, establishing cities and trade routes. The initial forays were always about plunder hence the danegeld, but the succeeding voyages often did bring more traditional folk as the Vikings began to set up permanent settlements in the lands they visited. It's actually rather ironic that all my ancestors fought constantly over that little isle called England, both as invaders and as the native peoples.
Cheers all from the Stainless Steel Rat
