He plunders goals and terrorises centre-backs, but is Erling Haaland a Viking?
He is also 6’5, blonde haired and from Norway, so maybe it is a reasonable question.
Or maybe it isn’t!
Either way, it is what we are discussing in our blog today.
So let’s get started…
Is Erling Haaland A Viking?
No Erling Haaland is not a Viking, most notably because the Viking era was accepted as having ended in 1066! However, like many people from Scandinavia, he will likely have some Viking heritage somewhere down the line, albeit from a thousand years or so ago.
Who Were the Vikings?
A subtle hint towards the answer of this question comes if we examine who the Vikings were.
The most simple definition is the Vikings lived in Scandinavia, in the period roughly between 800 and 1066 – the year of the last major Viking incursion into Europe.
The name Viking comes from the old Norse word ‘vikingr’ which means pirate or raider.
That gives another hint into what the Vikings became known for.
They became known for their trading, pillaging and plundering of Northern Europe.
The truth is the vast majority of Vikings were not like this. Instead for most Vikings farming, fishing and raising a family was the mainstay of life.
But of course, the raids the small number of Viking warriors carried out is the legacy of the era, and that is because that is all those in the far afield European nations were subjected to.
They didn’t know anything about the farming and the fishing going on back in Scandinavia, so all that was recorded in the historical documents of the times were the raids.
The Viking phenomenon didn’t suddenly end, instead it was gradually faded out as changes took place both in Scandinavia and in the rest of Europe.
Raiding became less profitable, less desirable and less necessary.
The Battle of Stamford Bridge in 1066 when the Norwegian king Haraldr harðráði was killed as he attempted to reclaim a portion of England was the last major Viking incursion into Europe, and as such is often used as a marker of the end of the Viking age.
As years went on, to the rest of Europe they soon were no longer Vikings, but instead Swedes, Danes, Norwegians, etc.
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Erling Haaland and the Vikings
Now 1066 was a good 934 years before Erling Haaland was born!
So Erling Haaland is not a Viking as such, although like nearly all Norwegian, Danish, Swedish and Icelandic people he will almost certainly have some kind of Viking heritage in his bloodline from hundreds and hundreds of years ago.
It is also worth noting that whilst Haaland was born in Leeds whilst his father was playing professional football in England, his family are from Byrne in Norway.
Byrne is located on the South-West coast of the country and would have been an ideal place to launch a raid on Northern Europe.
Indeed Byrne is a mere 15 miles from Stavanger, a hugely important settlement during the Viking era. So important that its football team is called Viking Stavanger.
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Whilst the Vikings may have disappeared Viking culture is still very important in parts of Scandinavian countries.
There are communities in Scandinavia that dedicate themselves to the Viking way of life, with farming, fishing and making your own tools and boats still very important.
A special mention here goes to Iceland, as nearly every person from Iceland comes from pure Viking or Celtic stock.
The remote nature of Iceland, and the resulting lack of immigration, means they have a very small gene pool.
Their society evolved from Viking raids, due to their limited contact with other communities.
Final Thoughts
Just because Erling Haaland is big, blonde, Scandinavian and causes problems to defenders across Europe it doesn’t make him a Viking!
In all seriousness whilst Viking culture still exists, the Vikings are long gone.
It is acknowledged that the Viking era ended way back in 1066.
So no Erling Haaland is not a Viking, but he most probably has Viking heritage, as many people in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and especially Iceland do.
Haaland is from a knight family named “Dall” in norway the wear seen as one of the old nobel families, and most likely a family from the viking time. He has also a steem to “Smør ætten”
I am btw his 7 cousin
I love this Mats, thank you! Great extra bit of information there I could never have provided!