Genealogist’s Blog

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Greetings from the Genealogist of the Legion of Vikings and Valkyries. Thanks for visiting! Welcome to the Blog Page where you can learn about discoveries made subsequent to our founding. Use our menu above to learn more about our Society and our membership requirements.

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Number 4 – March 31, 2026

Newly Added Viking Ancestors

One of our members contacted me recently, wondering exactly how she descends from Rurik the Rus. She was certain she was following the correct line, but it dead-ended before reaching Rurik. I assured her she was, indeed, following the correct lineage, and I explained that “traditional genealogy” gets us from his “probable son” (our definite ancestor) to the son’s alleged father.  This was the picture, at least, back in the beginning of 2018 when I first researched Rurik and our lines of descent from him, at which time I created the Rurik chart of descent that I use for our Society.

After visiting Rurik with our member, I reviewed my citations on that chart and discovered I had initially used his wikipedia page – most specifically the sources cited in the footnotes – in order to draw a careful conclusion.  In addition, I consulted Weis’s Ancestral Roots to glean what was published in that work.  In my examination of the footnotes and references on the wikipedia page, I discovered several new source citations, and one in particular that was very much worth a read. Constantin Zuckerman of the Center for Byzantine History and Civilization at the College of France in Paris, discusses an important connection in his article entitled “On the Date of the Khazars’ Conversion to Judaism and the Chronology of the Kings of the Rus Oleg and Igor: A Study of the Anonymous Khazar Letter from the Genizah of Cairo,” (1995).[*]  As noted in a synopsis of the article presented on the first page of the PDF document, the study focuses on several key issues in the history of the Khazars, including the date of their conversion to Judaism (which is set in 861 or very soon afterwards), the constitutional changes in the Khazar state, its relations with Byzantium, and the Rus. An examination of the wars of the early 940s A.D., which involved the Byzantines, the Khazars, and the Rus, leads to a new chronology of the reign of the king of Rus Igor, summer 941 – winter 945, instead of the traditional 912-945. The reign of Igor’s predecessor, Oleg (traditional dates 879-912), moves up to soon before 911 – summer 941 (died in the winter 944/5). The history of the “Rus of Kiev” is consequently abridged by at least forty years. As a result of this new reading of the chronicles previously used exclusively, through the author’s revised chronology, we are able to conclude that Igor was, indeed, the son of Rurik (not merely a near relative), and an adjustment to the reign of Rurik is now evident.

In turn, the article reveals for us a “new” Viking and a “new Valkyrie from whom descend many of our members, and indeed, millions of people.  They are:

Igor, Viking Prince of Novgorod and Kiev (d. 945)

St. Olga (Helga) of Kiev, a Valkyrie who converted to Christianity

These new Viking ancestors are behind Anne of Kiev, the wife of Henry I, King of France, who are, themselves, ancestral to many American Gateway Ancestors.  They bring the total number of Vikings and Valkyries recognized by the Legion to 27.

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[*]   The article is found at http://www.persee.fr/doc/rebyz_0766-5598_1995_num_53_1_1906, citing Revue des études byzantines, tome 53 (1995), pp. 237-270.

Number 2 – December 11, 2021

While perusing Facebook recently about Vikings pages, I came across a page that had some very interesting (and brief! we like brief!) historical articles of interest to Viking followers (and descendants). On contacting the author, she graciously consented to my reproducing her writings here. At the end of this brief missive, I have provided a hyperlink to her site where one may find additional interesting reads about Vikings and Valkyries.

Secrets of the Bayeux Tapestry: “The Viking Raven Flag”

by Emma Boast

“The famous Norman ‘comic strip’ tells the story of William the Conqueror’s invasion of England, culminating in the Battle of Hastings.  There are many secrets of the tapestry including the depiction of the famous Viking pagan ‘Raven banner.’  Although the Normans became Christian within a generation after Rollo’s warband settled down in North Western France, old habits die hard and the use of pagan symbolism can be seen on the Bayeux tapestry, created some 150 years later.  In two panels of the famous tapestry, there are shown what appear to be raven banners.

“The Bayeux tapestry was commissioned by Bishop Odo (Eudes), the half-brother of William the Conqueror. As one of the combatants at the Battle of Hastings, Odo would have been familiar with the standards carried into the fight. One of the panels depicts a Norman cavalry charge against an English shield-wall, includes a charging Norman knight carrying a semi-circular banner emblazoned with a standing black bird. In a second, illustrating the deaths of Harold Godwinson’s brothers, a triangular banner closely resembling that shown on Olaf Cuaran’s coin lies broken on the ground. Scholars are divided as to whether these are simply relics of the Normans’ Scandinavian heritage (or for that matter, the Scandinavian influence in Anglo-Saxon England) or whether they reflect an undocumented Norse presence in either the Norman or English army. We know the raven banner was still used by the Norse in this period. The Landøyðan (Landravager) of Harald Hardrada was flown at both the battles of Fulford and Stamford Bridge (1066 AD), described by Snorri Sturluson in the Heimskringla. 

“Early 11th century

“The army of King Cnut, “the Great,” of England, Norway and Denmark bore a raven banner made from white silk at the Battle of Ashingdon in 1016. The Encomium Emmae reports that Cnut had a banner that gave a wonderful omen. This may seem incredible to the reader, but nevertheless appears to be true. The banner was woven of the cleanest and whitest silk, and no picture of any figures was found on it. In case of war, however, a raven was always to be seen, as if it were woven into it. If the Danes were going to win the battle, the raven appeared, beak wide open, flapping its wings and restless on its feet. If they were going to be defeated, the raven did not stir at all, and its limbs hung motionless.

“The Lives of Waltheof and his father, Siward Digri, ‘the Stout,’ Earl of Northumberland, was chronicled by a monk of Crowland Abbey (possibly the English historian William of Ramsey). His work reports that the Danish jarl of Northumbria, Sigurd, was given a banner by an unidentified old sage. The banner was called ‘Ravenlandeye.’

“According to the Heimskringla (by Snorri Sturlason, c. 1225 AD), Harald Hardrada had a standard called ‘Landøyðan’ (or ‘Land-waster’). This is often assumed to be a raven banner based on the similarity of its name to Sigurd of Northumbria’s ‘Ravenlandeye,’ though there is no direct evidence connecting Harald’s standard with ravens. In a conversation between Harald and King Sweyn II of Denmark,

“Sveinn asked Haraldr which of his possessions he valued most highly. He answered that it was his banner (merki), Landøyðan. Thereupon Sveinn asked what virtue it had to be accounted so valuable. Haraldr replied that it was prophesied that victory would be his before whom this banner was borne; and added that this had been the case ever since he had obtained it. Thereupon Sveinn said, ‘I shall believe that your flag has this virtue if you fight three battles with King Magnús, your kinsman, and are victorious in all.’ “

https://yorku.academia.edu/EmmaBoast

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