Celtic Druid & Jewish Remnants and the Viking Raids

While the previous map looked back approximately 500 years (up to 1000 years even, landing in the Middle Ages and possibly covering some of the period of the Viking raids), this map looks at the world regions where my ancestors (both maternal and paternal) have roots for the last several thousands of years. The timing is important, because I have a hypothesis related to my ancestry and the history of Europe. In this map, it looks like I have strong more ancient roots in the Celtic lands of Wales, Scotland, UK, Ireland and to the Viking land of Finland. So, my more ancient ancestors are also significantly Celtic, as well as Finnish Vikings (with a splash from Spain and Eastern Europe, which could have been from people "acquired" by the Vikings during raids or who joined up with the Vikings and Celts against the Romanization of Europe - perhaps even refugees from ancient Israel as well following destruction of the Temple - as suggested by my motherline genetic map). Interestingly, both the Celts (think Boadicea and the Druids on Anglesey) and the Vikings famously fought Rome and/or the spread of Christianity during the period this map covers (as did my Jewish ancestors fight Rome in ancient Israel). It's not inconceivable then, that perhaps my Celtic Druid ancestors fled to Viking Sweden following defeat by Rome at Anglesey, and there, together, the remnant of Celtic Druids joined up with the Vikings, and together plotted the revolt against the Romanization of Northwestern Europe (the land of the Vikings and the haven for a Celtic Druid remnant) - resulting in the Viking raids. All of this is supported by my genetic ancestry results and my dream of being a half-blood Celtic Druid Jewess on the run from Roman soldiers. I bet I ended up in Sweden and joined up with the Vikings, who were after all, my relatives too (in Finland).

The Viking revolt against Romanized Europe spanned the late 8th to 11th centuries.

Swedish Scandinavian Ancestry

In follow-up to an earlier post, it makes perfect sense that Frau Holle, the great mother goddess of the Teutonic people, is revealed to be my patroness as a witch, and as a descendent of the Vikings. In the photo, are the results of the autosomal DNA test (by STR analysis) I had done which looks at the genes I inherited from all of my ancestors. According to these results (numbers also shown for my top six population matches), which look back approximately 500 years, Sweden is clearly the top land of my modern ancestors - no other land even comes to close it in terms of the raw Match Index number result, although my Norway Tribe Score (in parentheses) is equal to my Swedish Tribe Score, indicating a strong Viking ancestry and family blood ties to Norway as well. Wales, Scotland and the UK in general are also in my top five matches - lands where Vikings heavily settled during the Middles Ages. On top of all this, my motherline mtDNA haplogroup is U5b, called Clan Ursula among genealogists, and is a Northwestern European haplogroup. My motherline and autosomal DNA tests were both done through different labs in different countries. Even as I await my Family Finder results (to confirm and add more detail to my ancestral genetic research), I think it's pretty clear that my ancestors were heavily Viking.

Ancient Britons Came From Spain, North Africa, Middle East & Rome

In follow-up to my earlier posts When Wales was Jewish, Sephardic Jewish U5b and Berber Jews, this article suggests ancient Britons came from Spain and that "small numbers of today's Britons are *also* descended from north African, Middle Eastern and Roman clans."

All of these clans are identified and show up in my mitonchondrial and autosomal DNA test results.

When Wales Was Jewish

In one of my autosomal DNA analyses (lookly broadly at the ancestry I inherited from both of my parents), Wales came in as one of my top five matches (along with Sweden, UK, Norway and Scotland) for Deep Ancestral Origins. Coupled with the results of my motherline genetic test and dreams I've had over years about being a Jew living among the Druids in ancient Celtic lands (in one dream, I was a half-breed Celtic-Jew taken under the tutelege of two Druidic priestesses), this is interesting:

When Wales Was Jewish

Significantly, Welsh tradition associates the Iron Age hilltop town on Conwy Mountain known as Castell Caer Seion with a settlement of ancient Jews. This site overlooks Conwy Bay on the north coast of Wales and lies on the ancient road between Prestatyn in Denbighshire and Bangor in Gwynedd opposite Angelsey. In the Black Book of Caermarthen, the Welsh national bard Taliesin casually remarks in the persona of the battling hero,

When I return from Caer Seon,

From contending with Jews,

I will come to the city of Lleu and Gwidion.[v]

Lleu and Gwidion are the names of two other legendary figures; they are believed to be historical and to have lived in the early centuries of the Common Era or anterior to it.

It is hard to avoid the thought that the hilly area to the west of the town of Conwy, in North Wales was once inhabited by Jews."