Often I find myself researching online for Wendish, Sorbian, Upper Lusatian history and discoveries. Instead of watching TV. I find the research and study much more interesting.
Some time ago I began receiving scholarly articles from a source called Academia. One such article especially caught my attention. Because several generations in our family have done the DNA testing, we know that there are strong Slavic tendencies. We were always somewhat perplexed that each generation shows a small Sweden/Denmark/Norway DNA tendency. We assumed it meant that many centuries ago some Vikings must have come to Lusatia and they interacted with the Slavic peoples.
The article I received and read is entitled The Wends of Denmark (and Southern Sweden) – and Some Were Vikings.
It is about the Slavonic speaking Wends of Scandinavia, The article sites several instances of Norwegian and Danish Kings marrying Wendish (Slavic) women. There seems to be some consensus that in the middle ages and possibly as early as the bronze age there were Wends (Slavs) in the Scandinavian countries. So, there appears to be some validity to the idea that Vikings may have traveled to the mainland, and also that Wends (Slavs) may have traveled and settled in the Scandinavian countries long ago.
I sent the article to my friend Weldon Mersiovsky to see if he had heard of such a theory. Weldon in turn asked his friend Dr. Fabian Kaulfuerst, of the Sorbian Institute in Bautzen, about the validity of the idea. Fabian points out that the article uses the word Wends, but in this case it really means early Slavic tribes, those earlier than the Upper Lusatian Wends.
Fabian states: ”Whether there was a Slavic settlement in the south of Scandinavia, I cannot judge. It would be potentially conceivable that there were some settlements there. After all, the Slavs settled (at least) as far as the southern edge of the Baltic Sea, and they could easily travel by sea. Those Slavs would have been – if they existed – certainly Lechitic Slavs, thus closely related to the Baltic Sea Slavs, Elbe Slavs and the predecessors of today’s Polish.”
So the question of how our family acquired some Scandinavian DNA remains uncertain. Possibly Vikings came to the mainland long ago. Possibly Slavs went to Scandinavia. And back and forth over time. All we know for sure is that we have some Scandinavian DNA, and it came from somewhere, at some time in the past. For your own interest, see if your DNA results show any Scandinavian in it.
If you are interested in seeing the Academia articles, you can sign up at: academia.edu. There is a free version and a paid version.
Our own Dr. David Zersen, former President of Concordia University – Austin, occasionally writes articles for Academia on Pastor Jan Kilian and other subjects. I believe you will find the articles very academic and scholarly and usually very interesting.
For more information on Dr. Fabian Kaulfuerst , see:
https://www.gulf-times.com/story/602843/Learning-Sorbian-in-Germany