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“The Vikings had a lot more genes from Southern and Eastern Europe than we anticipated. They frequently had children with people from other parts of the world. In fact, they also tend to be dark-haired rather than blond, which is otherwise consider an established Viking trait,” says Eske Willerslev…

However, the Viking’s diverse genome doesn’t just stem from people from elsewhere traveling to their settlements. In fact, they were avid travelers, and historically, we know them best for their plundering and murdering raids abroad. But this genetic study sheds new light on who went where.

“The Danish Vikings went to England, while the Swedish Vikings went to the Baltic, and the Norwegian Vikings went to Ireland, Iceland, and Greenland. However, the Vikings from these three ‘nations’ only very rarely mixed genetically. Perhaps they were enemies or perhaps there is some other valid explanation. We just don’t know…”

Shucks. There goes another movie role for blonde weightlifters.