--- In norse_course Marco Moretti wrote:

> Sagas are full with similar
> names of families ending in -ingar (pl.) and derived from the name of
> a common ancestor. We find similar denominations for folks in Gothic,
> Vandalic, Longobardic (Greotungi, Tervingi, Hasdingi, etc...)
> It has nothing to with /ungr/ "young" which comes from /jung-/ and
> has initial /j-/ regularly disappeared.
>

Does that mean that the vikings descended from a man named "Vik"?

I, for one, thought the Norsemen had no family names,
but only used the father's name. (going back only one generation)
I have seen it applied to dynasties, though.
Possibly modeled after Carolingians, Merovingians etc.

Regards
Xigung