Vikings the Plague

[Deleted]

Why Did the Vikings start raiding the Empire ? started out due to over crowding Scandinavia a large land mass mostly mountains with a growing population so the logical thing to do was branch out , the Vikings soon found out found out that England was easy pickings a lot of wealthy monasteries with unarmed monks so here was wealth and land too , however Alfred the Great found the Vikings to be a pain in the ass and set out to do something about it , it took awhile 25 years but in the end he had the Vikings singing in soprano .

[Sir John]

The Vikings dominated the Isle of Man for many years, and most inter-married with the buxom Manx lasses.

One of which was probably my wife's ancestor, as was Fletcher Christian's family.

SJ

[Swampy]

I think it was due to famine in their part of the world.

SJ, I like the buxom part.

[Deleted]

The Hanover's were not nice people and a rose by any other name is still a rose .

[Sir John]

Which side of the blanket are you referring to?

[Deleted]

The Goths from Gotland Island in the Baltic Sea, now part of Sweden, faced severe over crowding and held a national ballot to choose people who would leave, duly paid for what they had to leave behind by the remaining citizens. Those who left travelled through Europe and did their Viking raids along the way, some of them choosing to settle in lands they reached peace agreements with.

My great grandfather sailed to Australia from Gotland in the 1800s and two of his nephews followed him a few years later.

Visby Gotland was at one time the major trading port of the Baltic Sea and merchants from many parts of Europe had businesses there.

I understand that the Goths travelled far and wide including through Russia pulling their long boats with Horses exploring and seeking wealth creating opportunities.

[Deleted]

Have you heard of hemochromotosis? It is also known as iron overloa disease but its cause it genetic, in several forms depending on type of gene and if there are two types present.

People who have this accumulate iron in their blood and organs which causes corrosion, like the "rust" marks that appear on Lettuce, that is iron.

It developed within Viking men, evolution as demands on the human body required stamina (rowing and fighting) and ability to lose blood and keep going for longer. Downside, lower life expectancy for certain gene combinations. Also iron assists with fast muscle development and recovery.

So wherever the Vikings mated their descendants are at some risk of having the gene/genes passed onto them down the line to present day.

[griffin]

Thanks Premier 1 that was some interesting information. Besides England, parts of Ireland, Isle of Mann, and Wales were also subject to Viking raids and creation of Viking settlements.

DNA tests can show significant portions of these nations having Viking genes.

Paul

[Sir John]

My Wife's Isle of Man family tree goes back to 1583, five years before the Spanish Armada. Many of those ships went north of Scotland and headed via the Irish Sea to home. Many foundered on the Isle of Man and the Spaniards also intermarried with the 'Manx Maidens'.

These ancestors give my wife her extreme patience! Though she sighs a lot.


SJ

[Deleted]

I can understand that SJ