Vikings may not have been blonde, or Scandinavian

[wnylib]

8. Not too surprising. The ancient Romans, Greeks, and

Phoenicians sailed as far as Scandinavia for the amber trade as far back as 600 BC. The later Viking raiders sailed throughout the Mediterranean and for a time they ruled Sicily. I'd expect some gene mixing.

I don't think of them as blond, though I'm sure that many were. I think of them as redheads, like Erik the Red. Vikings settled in Russia, too, and became the ruling class there. That's how Russia got its name. "Rus" means "red."

They went to Scotland and Ireland, too, where red hair is so common.