Varangian DNA

Occupation: was a Varangian chieftain who gained control of Ladoga in 862, built the Holmgard settlement near Novgorod, Prince Of Holmgård (Novgorod), Ryska rikets grundare, and founded the Rurik Dynasty which ruled Russia until the 17th century.

There is a debate over how Rurik came to control Ladoga and Novgorod. The only information about him is contained in the 12th-century Russian Primary Chronicle, which states that Chuds, Slavs, Merias, Veses and Krivichs "…drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them tribute, and set out to govern themselves". Afterwards the tribes started fighting each other and decided to invite Rurik to reestablish order. Rurik remained in power until his death in 879.

The Y- DNA Testing results

It was found that Rurik was of Varangian origin (a sub-branch in the N1c1 genetic haplogroup). Since his genetic haplotype, that can be anticipated from more than 10 results of modern Rurikid princes, best matches one of the haplotypes of the Swedes, one may eventually conclude that he was of Swedish descent.

And the further testing of the DNA results of 191 men claiming to be Rurik descendants indicate that most - 68% - of the them had haplogroup N1c1

Y-DNA haplogroup

N This haplogroup is distributed throughout Northern Eurasia. It is the most common Y-chromosome type in Uralic speakers (Finns and Native Siberian). This lineage most likely originated in northern China or Mongolia and then spread into Siberia where it became a very common line in western Siberia.

• N1c1d(L550) Varangian
• N1c1d1a (L550) A lineage established in Scandinavia, Baltic Europeans, a Varganian marker in Southern Europe

Based on medieval & Histroical sources, Rurik was born on the Roslagen seashore, which is located north of Stockholm in the modern-day Sweden. But for along time some had thought that he had may have been born in Germany. We now know for sure because of this DNA testing that he was born on the Roslagen seashore in Sweden the only area in Sweden where the Y- DNA haplogroup N1c1d(L550) Varangian appears.

There have been several indirect proofs that people in this region were called Rhos(s) in the Middle Ages. This word is pronounced “roos” in Swedish, which sounds like Russia today. Probably the Finnish word “Ruotsi” (Sweden) also comes from this word

The rule of the Norse (later Norwegians), Geats and Sveas (later Swedes) at the time of Rurik's birth in the start of the 9th century covered only the southernmost parts of Scandinavia. Their lands were bordered by Kvenland in north, parts of what were the areas of Norrland and Finnmark in Northern Scandinavia.

But their DNA haplogroup is Haplogroup I1a, sometimes called the Viking haplogroup

which is present in about 35% of the population of southern Norway, southwestern Sweden, and Denmark

Y-DNA haplogroup

The Haplogroup I1a lineage likely has its roots in northern France. Today it is found most frequently within Viking / Scandinavian populations in northwest Europe and has since spread down into Central and Eastern Europe, where it is found at low frequencies.

• I1a Viking

Thus, Rurik's Finnic DNA most presumably can be explained by the fact that he was a Kven, an apparent Viking Age descendant of the earliest known Kven kings, similarly to many other royal Viking leaders who led voyages to outside of Scandinavia.