Do British people feel close to Vikings?
Posted by batukaming@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 61 comments
[removed]
Posted by batukaming@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 61 comments
[removed]
Crafty-Reality-9425@reddit
Americans never seem content with calling themselves 'American'. For some reason they like to tell you that they are Italian-American, Irish-American, African-American etc. Considering most Americans think that their country is the centre of the universe, I find their need to elaborate their generational heritage a bit confusing.
SeaMines@reddit
Early Anglo saxons were very similar imo. They shared (early) Norse mythology before converting to Christianity, and although the image is that vikings wore horned helmets, that's a myth and they would have looked similar to any other Germanic population. But there we're talking over a thousand years ago I don't think you can compare modern populations to vikings.
Neddlings55@reddit
Americans are too stupid to even know no one has a Viking heritage.
What they have is Scandinavian/Nordic ancestry/heritage.
pineapplewin@reddit
Viking is a job title
SeaMines@reddit
They were just pirates really
Neddlings55@reddit
I know.
Americans dont apparently.
Principal_Noodle@reddit
As a Southerner - they weren't really doing too much in my next of the woods. I think they're cool, I read loads of the myths and history when I was in school, and there's a good chance my surname literally means 'son of Viking'... but that don't mean I identify with them.
(Surname is Higgins, one etymology is from the Irish O'hUiginn possibly meaning son of viking... I don't think I'm Irish either though, just a recent ancestor was.)
MinervaWeeper@reddit
Not like that, but there is a lot of history in some areas that means the Vikings and their legacy of settlements and impact on language are close and well known - particularly in York
Key-Disaster-3682@reddit
People from the UK aren’t as arsed about arbitrary heritage like the yanks tbh
Opening_Barf@reddit
I barely care that I’m British
Legitimate-Lock9965@reddit
i generally feel shame for being british
Unique_Violinist_532@reddit
Why
Legitimate-Lock9965@reddit
the people mainly
RoleMysterious8756@reddit
We’re all just citizens of the world.
Key-Disaster-3682@reddit
I care bro 🥹
alicex2005@reddit
Don't ask a Redditor. They'll say things like "we have personalities beyond heritage" while expecting us to be somehow morally accountable and apologetic for it.
maersyl@reddit
I live in York, the former Viking capital. There's a lot of Viking history here, including the world's biggest fossilised human shit. There's a Viking festival each year and a lot of Viking themed things around here.
It's a bit of a gimmick, but it's fun.
Civil-Fan-3586@reddit
I live near York. That's probably the strongest hotspot of viking heritage in the whole UK 😁.
prustage@reddit
My father was tall blond, bearded and came from a North England village where many of the local features have viking names. My mother, however was small plump, dark haired pale skinned and came from the Celtic area of Wales. My wife's family came over with the Normans from northern France.
My kids could claim all this ancestry.
But they don't.
Because it is not special and is typical of most people here. That's because we are British and not Americans.
CollinsonTwin@reddit
About as close as I do the Picts, the Celts, the Saxons, the Romans, the Normans etc.
Spirited-Web-4444@reddit
The same, but I would almost never consider the Nordics as well, when we should
TrifectaOfSquish@reddit
Generally no except for the people who are a bit....off...
justeUnMec@reddit
Parts of the East coast and into Shetland, and of course York - sure, there's an interest in the history. People might joke about it and you're aware of it in place names. You're also aware that raiders came and sacked monasteries and villages along the coast and generally terrorised people, while some became the colonial power. But after that, these mostly coastal communities traditionally maintained ties with Scandinavia through maritime trade, fishing, and later offshore industries so have more recent links and exchanges up to the present day.
But the above is mostly about a sense of place and history; what we generally don't do is that pseudoscientific "my temperament is this way because its in my genes passed down by one ancestor centuries ago who may have been from that part of europe" crap that some yanks go in for.
Jpmoz999@reddit
I mean, I used to like Zakk Wylde?
Tacklestiffener@reddit
My next door neighbours are Danish if that counts.
OddSign2828@reddit
No, because we have personalities beyond our heritage.
CategorySolo@reddit
Try saying that to a New York Italian, mamma Mia thats a spicy ragu
OnlymyOP@reddit
I'e never understood why US Citizens are weirdly obsessed by this.
This means nothing to British people as the UK, as historically it's been successfully invaded over the Centuries most notably by The Romans, Anglo Saxons, The Vikings and the Norman, so DNA from all four will be part of an average UK Citizen's genetic makeup
OwineeniwO@reddit
It's because almost all of them are descended from immigrants, not from a thousand years ago but a few hundred years ago and many have cultural differences that reflect it.
Hextooth@reddit
Nope, nor do I feel close to the Anglo Saxons or the Celts.
kaanbha@reddit
Almost all British people have absolutely no idea whether their personal bloodline came from Vikings, Celts, Saxons, Normans, Romans or any of the other countless waves of immigrants and conquerors that have occurred over the centuries.
As a result, only a very strange person in the UK would feel pride of their suspected viking heritage.
Intelligent_Bug_9456@reddit
It’s either vikings or Peaky Blinders. Depending on whether you are sales assistant at Curry’s or a scaffolder.
peppermint_aero@reddit
Don't forget Britain had had many successive waves of immigration so not everyone will identify with the same group of ancestors.
Americans talking about genetics like it shapes character and using weird percentages always feels weird to me.
Hot_Fly_8684@reddit
Lol! Why would we, FFS?
Yhardvaark@reddit
I feel about 3,000 miles as the jet flies
Claire4Win@reddit
No. I haven't even thought about vikings since primary school
Ok_Chipmunk_7066@reddit
My mum is from the North East and spent the best part of 30 years telling me and my sister that her family decended from Vikings. Wasn't until she did a 23&me and found out she's pretty much what you'd expect. A true British mongrel (Irish/Scot/English with tiny specs of Europe).
So despite everyone on here claiming its a flat no, I grew up with a lot of people making spurious connections to being viking, and as an adult know too many dolts with Viking Rune tattoos on thier faces.
tekkon896@reddit
Nope.
Vikings and Saxons stopped being a thing after 1066 (nearly 1000 years ago), so it's a bit strange talking about "close connections" considering how far into the past you're talking about.
In all seriousness though, there are some groups in England that are interested in preserving old celtic languages that were spoken before even the Romans showed up, so for them, they're more about our old Celtic heritage. There are others that are keen on preserving Norse and practicing various Norse traditions. But, they are very niche, most can't be bothered otherwise.
OllyDee@reddit
No we do not feel close to them. However we wouldn’t be the modern British without the Vikings massive influence over our culture and language, though that’s hardly unique in Europe.
I guess there’s that Hollywood-style romanticism about them like every other pirate, but we don’t have any especially strong feelings towards them one way or another.
Historical_Monk_6118@reddit
No, they're the baddies
Life_Is_A_Mistry@reddit
This deserves more recognition. I don't just mean upvotes, I mean in the national psyche. Rape, pillage, slavery. How did they even get this romanticised image?
ampmz@reddit
I mean, you’ll be hard pressed to find any ancient army which didn’t engage in these tactics. The Romans loved them some slaves.
neilm1000@reddit
Shetlanders and Orcadians do. The rest of us, not so much.
clemventure@reddit
Yes cause this economy is barbaric
BCBUK@reddit
Not even a little bit, said as someone with blonde hair and a red beard which I’m sure if I were American would be proof enough that I was a descendant of a Viking chieftain. Also, despite it being historic fact, we aren’t demanding reparations from Sweden for the Vikings taking slaves
moss_2703@reddit
Not really. The English specifically are mostly descended from Anglo-Saxons. Of course there are some ethnic impacts in, for example, the North East. But most of us are descended from the Germanic tribes who came to Britain. For the rest of Britain, they’re mostly Celtic so I don’t see why they’d feel any closeness.
oh_f-f-s@reddit
Absolutely not, we hate them.
In fact many of us are waiting on Denmark and Sweden to pay us reparations for the acts committed against us all those centuries ago.
I myself will get myself a lovely new tweed jacket. Or perhaps some artisan tea
pip_goes_pop@reddit
A Swedish lady works on the desk next to mine, so kind of.
Icy_Distribution3467@reddit
They do if they live in York
Life_Is_A_Mistry@reddit
Jorvik*
atrifleamused@reddit
Nah, not something I've ever thought about
ArcadeCrossfire@reddit
I’m not even close to my living family let alone dead people from a 1000 years ago
kifflington@reddit
No and no. I don't feel any kinship with them and I don't view them negatively as they were just doing what a lot of people did back then.
WelshBen@reddit
I did the Ancestry thing and i'm about 12% Scandi so likely stems from the Vikings. That's about where it ends though. I've never considered much about it aside from that.
maceion@reddit
They were invaders, so no the natives do not feel close to them.
Historical_Monk_6118@reddit
They left a lot of new natives here though.
jcollywobble@reddit
No, they were around a thousand years ago, why would we?
Lazy-Contribution789@reddit
No, this kind of thing is an American thing, regularly mocked in r/shitamericanssay
Univeralise@reddit
There are dumb questions and then there is this.
ukbot-nicolabot@reddit
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