New study reveals almost one million Brits are of Viking descent

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London, 6th March 2014: According to research released today one in every 33 British men (930,000) can claim to be direct male line descendants of the Vikings, suggesting the blood of the infamous travellers still flows through our veins today – despite the Norse warriors' British rule ending over 900 years ago.

The genetic study, commissioned to celebrate the season two premiere of hit U.S. TV show VIKINGS on the Amazon Prime Instant Video streaming service and carried out by BritainsDNA, compared the Y chromosome markers (a piece of DNA inherited from father to son) of over 3,500 men to six DNA patterns that are rarely found outside of Scandinavia and are associated with the Norse Vikings.

Records suggest that the first Viking longships landed in Britain in 793 AD and that the Vikings went on to rule parts of England until the Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066. In their wake they left behind buildings, culture and words that are still used in the English language today. However, the most lasting legacy of their presence could be in our genes.

Key findings from the research include:

Other areas of Scotland also feature prominently in the list, with Caithness (17.5 per cent), Isle of Man (12.3 per cent), the Western Isles (11.3 percent) and North West Scotland and the Inner Hebrides (9.9 per cent)

• Men from the Shetland (29.2 per cent) and Orkney (25.2 per cent) Islands, heavily populated by the Northmen in the Viking Age, are most likely to have Viking in their bloodlines according to the research. These two locations top the list of places in Britain and Ireland where the most Norse blood remains, while parts of England have as many as one in twenty direct male descendants.
• South of the border, Yorkshire (5.6 per cent) and Northern England (4 per cent) are the most prominent areas of the country for Norse Viking ancestry with over 300,000 Northern men able to claim direct descent – accounting for almost a third of descendants. Moving further down south the presence of Viking bloodlines drops significantly, with Southwest England home to as few as 40,000 father line descendants.

• Despite being a known hotspot for the Vikings when they first landed, Ireland has very little sign of a Norse genetic contribution today, with only one in a hundred (1.4 per cent) men from the Emerald Isle thought to have Viking connections. Indeed, Leinster has a lower count of Viking bloodlines than any other part of Britain or Ireland.

The areas of Britain and Ireland with the highest concentration of Viking ancestry are:

1. Shetland – 29.2 per cent
2. Orkney – 25.2 per cent
3. Caithness – 17.5 per cent
4. Isle of Man – 12.3 per cent
5. Western Isles – 11.3 per cent
6. North West Scotland and Inner Hebrides – 9.9 per cent
7. Argyll – 5.8 per cent
8. Yorkshire – 5.6 per cent
9. North East Scotland – 4.9 per cent
10. North England – 4 per cent
11. East England – 3.6 per cent
12. South West Scotland – 3.2 per cent
13. South East Scotland – 2.7 per cent
14. Central England – 2.6 per cent
15. Central Scotland – 2.2 per cent
16. South East England – 1.9 per cent
17. South West England – 1.6 per cent
18. Ireland (Ulster) – 1.4 per cent
19. Ireland (Munster) – 1.3 per cent
20. Ireland (Connacht) – 1.2 per cent
21. Wales – 1 per cent
22. Ireland (Leinster) – 1 per cent

“Despite arriving well over 1,000 years ago the Viking legacy still remains strong in Britain and Ireland,” said Dr. Jim Wilson, Chief Scientist at BritainsDNA. “The research suggests that the concentration of Norse blood is quite variable, but as the Y chromosome only relates to the nation’s male population and only to one ancestral lineage for each man, there is a very real chance that many more of us are related to the Vikings.”

“The research demonstrates the profound effect that the Vikings had on our country when they invaded centuries ago,” added Michael Hirst, creator and writer of VIKINGS. “To think that many of us may still have the blood of these feared and famed warriors flowing through our veins so long after their reign is an incredible and profound thought.”

Season two of the hit U.S. TV show VIKINGS premiered on the Amazon Prime Instant Video movie and TV streaming service in February 2014. Episodes one and two are available to view now with new episodes added every Friday, the day after its U.S. broadcast.

Subscribers to the UK’s largest unlimited subscription streaming service of more than 15,000 popular movies and TV series can watch the latest episodes from just £5.99 a month, or £79 a year for full Amazon Prime membership – which includes unlimited One-Day Delivery on over 7 million items and access to 500,000 Kindle books to borrow for just £79 a year.

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For further information please contact the Amazon Prime Instant Video press office at Mischief on 020 3128 6600 or mailto:Lovefilm@mischiefpr.com

About the research

• The research was commissioned by Amazon Prime Instant Video and conducted by Dr. Jim Wilson of the University of Edinburgh and Chief Scientist at BritainsDNA
• A sample of over 3,500 men with grandfathers from regions of Britain and Ireland was used in the research
• The research used six haplogroups (groups of related Y chromosome lineages: R1a-S200, R1a-S201, R1a-S223*, R1a-S443*, R1b-S182, R1b-S375*), which are known to be common in Scandinavia, are very rare elsewhere, and show a relationship with surnames considered to be enriched for Norse ancestry or are also present in Iceland or the Faeroes, known Norse Viking colonies
• Danish Vikings are not considered in the research owing to greater difficulty in identifying markers which are specific for this ancestry
• The Y chromosome only provides information about one ancestral lineage. However the differences in haplogroup frequencies across Britain and Ireland predict differences in Norse ancestry across the other ancestral male lineages as well – inasmuch as they are a random draw from the underlying distribution of male lineages in that region.

-Notes to Editors-