THE VIKINGS-A Part Of My Family History

 So much history in the world and so many stories that go with that history. It seems that every time I read about some famous figure of history, I end up finding a personal connection to that person that leads me down a path of amazing discovery.

One such discovery happened yesterday when I was looking at starting to watch a series on Amazon called "The Vikings". 

I decided to look into this show a bit to get a little background on the characters of this historical drama before starting down the path of watching it. Much to my delight, my research revealed that the main characters being portrayed are ancestral kin to me and my family through my mother's family history. 

Come along as I discover some of the characters from this historical drama that I and my family share intimate familial connections with.....

 

 

My Viking Family History & Pedigree

Introduction

The Viking's Television series tells the story of Ragnar Lodbrock, the semi mythical-historical Viking Raider, who is said to be descended from Norse-Danish-Sweedish royalty. 

Rangar was supposed to have lived from mid 700 AD to about mid 800 AD, being anywhere from 50-100 years old when he died. The sagas and stories of Rangar and his sons and descendants are written about in various "near contemporary" chronicles of the time, including: 

• Book IX of the Gesta Danorum, a 12th-century work by the Christian Danish chronicler Saxo Grammaticus
• the Tale of Ragnar's sons (Ragnarssona þáttr), a legendary saga
• the Tale of Ragnar Lodbrok , another saga, a sequel to the Völsunga saga
• the Ragnarsdrápa, a skaldic poem of which only fragments remain, attributed to the 9th-century poet Bragi Boddason
• the Krákumál, Ragnar's death-song, an old and mysterious skaldic poem

 

The stories surrounding Rangar tell about how he and his sons and the contemporary "Viking Nobles" of the time raided and plundered the island of Britain and the country of France in the 8th and 9th centuries. Their exploits would lead to the mass "intermingling" of Scandinavian bloodlines being mixed into Anglo-Saxon and Norman bloodlines and would forever change the course of the history of the world.

The further I research this "Viking History", the more I realize how very connected the Viking Sagas are to all of Europe's history. The descendants of these people would eventually lead to all of the royal houses of Europe and Russia and that of the world we inhabit today.

 

My Pedigree To Rangar

Ragnar "Lodbrok" Sigurdsson is your 36th great grandfather

 ↓

Åslaug Sigurdsdatter is your 36th great grandmother

(wife of Rangar)

↓

Álöf Ragnarsdóttir is your 35th great grandmother

 (daughter of Rangar and Aslaug)

 

I find that the way that Geni.com shows pedigrees is a little easier to understand (they go from present to past in lineal fashion) and so thus below one will see my ancestral connection to Rangar from myself and my mother in the current era all the way back to Rangar in the ninth century. 

In order to make this ancestral blood connection, I would have a total of 76 direct ancestors in order for this to be possible!

That is a lot of history.....one can only imagine the stories and the loves and losses and adventures that went along with their lives. For historical reference and to give perspective, I have included the years in the history of the world in which they were alive and where they were born and died if known.

 

You →

(1966-Present) 

Marlene Grace Repinski 
(1936-1999/ Wisconsin) your mother→

Raymond Harold Dietz 
(1912-1973/ Wisconsin) her father→

Grace Elizabeth Dietz
(1891-1963/Wisconsin)his mother→

Isadore Pope
(1859-1906/Wisconsin) her mother→

Edward Young Smith
(1833/Mass-1888/Wis) her father→

Harrison Smith
(1784-1851/ Mass) his father→

Samuel Smith, Jr
(1760-1838/Mass) his father→

Samuel Smith
(1728-1796/Mass) his father→

Katherine Smith
(1699-????/ Mass) his mother→

Katherine Homes
(1672/Ireland-1754/Mass) her mother→

Agnes Craighead
(1648-1702/ Ireland) her mother→

Reverend John Heart
(1617/Scotland-1687/Ireland) her father→

 Jean Mowat
(1595-1682/Scotland) his mother→

Christian Stewart
(1555-1634/ Scotland) her mother→

Robert Stewart, 1st Earl of Orkney
(1533-1593/ Scotland) her father→

James V, King of Scots
(1512-1542/ Scotland) his father→

James IV, King of Scotland
(1473/ Scotland-1513/ England) his father→

Margaret af Danmark (Queen of Scotland) og Norge von Oldenburg
(1456/ Denmark-1486/ Scotland) his mother→

Dorothea (Queen of Denmark) of Brandenburg
(1430-1495/ Denmark) her mother→

Barbara Margravine of Saxe-Wittenberg von Sachsen-Wittenberg, Markgräfin zu Brandenburg-Kulmbach
(1405-1465/ Germany) her mother→

Rudolf III von Sachsen-Wittenberg, Herzog zu Sachsen-Wittenberg und Kurfürst zu Sachsen  

(1367-1419/ Germany) her father→

Wenceslas von Sachsen-Wittenberg, I, Herzog, Kurfürst zu Sachsen, Herzog zu Braunschweig-Lünebur
(1337-1388/ Germany) his father→

Rudolf I of Saxony Wittenberg, Duke
(1274-1356/ Germany) his father→

Herzog Albrecht II von Sachsen-Wittenberg, Herzog und Kurfürst zu Sachsen, Herzog zu Sachsen-Wittenberg
(1250-1298/ Heiliges Römisches Reich/ Germany) his father→

Albrecht I, Duke of Saxony-Wittenberg
(1175/ Denmark-1260/ Heiliges Römisches Reich/Germany) his father→

Count Bernard of Anhalt, Duke of Saxony
(1140-1211/ Germany) his father→

Albrecht I "The Bear", Margrave of Brandenburg
(1100-1170/ Germany) his father→

Elika Magnusdr von Ballenstedt, Duchess of Saxony
(1075-1143/ Germany) his mother→

Magnus Billung, of Saxony
(1042-1106/ Germany) her father→

Ulfhild van Sarpsbergen van Noorwegen
(1020/ Norway-1072/ Germany) his mother→

Saint Olaf II, King of Norway
(995-1030/ Norway) her father→

Åsta Gudbrandsdóttir, Queen of Norway
(978-1025/ Norway) his mother→

Ulfhilde Thorasdottir
(927-978/ Norway) her mother→

Thora Audunarsdottir Mosháls
(890/Iceland-930/ Norway) her mother→

Auðun Bjarnason Skökull
(860-920-Norway) her father→

Björn Hunda-Steinarson
(830/ England-890/ Sweeden) his father→

Álöf Ragnarsdóttir
(790/ Denmark- 850/ England) his mother→

Ragnar "Lodbrok" Sigurdsson
(800-Unknown but probably Norway-845/ England) her father

 

From Wikipedia article about Ragnar

 

My 36th Great Grandpa's Story on Wikipedia 

 

Ragnar Lodbrok,^[a] according to legends,^[2] was a Viking hero and a Danish and Swedish king.^[3] He is known from Old Norse poetry of the Viking Age, Icelandic sagas, and near-contemporary chronicles. According to the traditional literature, Ragnar distinguished himself by conducting many raids against the British Isles and the Holy Roman Empire during the 9th century. He also appears in Norse legends, and according to the legendary sagas Tale of Ragnar's Sons and a Saga about Certain Ancient Kings, Ragnar Lodbrok's father has been given as the legendary king of the Swedes, Sigurd Ring

 

 

 

Sources and further reading:

https://www.geni.com/people/Ragnar-Lodbrok-Sigurdsson/5604233735830047570?through=6000000001088519030

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragnar_Lodbrok

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Ragnar-Lothbrok/