I am newbie in Geni (one year and 12 days). But I work for a long time using other resources. The profiles added by me in Geni are few. But the tree grew due to Tree Matches! Then, seeing that the tree grew, I went to check my earliest ancestors. When I saw Scandinavian names, I ventured to look for Ragnar (I knew the Ragnar through the TV series Vikings. Fantastic!).
And then ...
Ragnar "Lodbrok" Sigurdsson is your 34th great grandfather!!!!
I am a descendant of Ragnar through various ancestral branches. At least 6 distinct trunks!
The article "The Geography of Recent Genetic Ancestry across Europe" (http://journals.plos.org/plosbiology/article?id=10.1371/journal.pbi...) shows the closeness of kinship between Europeans.
The curious thing is that I'm in a tropical country in South America!
Imagine the shock that I took to learn that I am descended from him. Even if he did not exist, already is incredible to be descendant of a Nordic trunk! Perhaps, for you, this is more tangible, since no exist a large geographical isolation. To get an idea of my shock, I'll to overdo the example: You watch the Superman series. After discovers that he is your ancestor! A different world, with people and different languages ... It's really cool. Even if all traces of your DNA have been extinguished in me, I owe him gratitude for being here (whoever he is)!
I never liked studying my ancestors who lived outside of the limits of Brazil. I was interested more in the achievements of ancestors who were born or lived here. Noble titles never sensitized me. But my foreign ancestors existed. I am the result of an incredible mix of nationalities and faiths. And I thank you for it. Recently I found a very good text, which expresses exactly all the feeling that I have in genealogy (I'm sorry the translation!...):
"Today, certainly, I know more than I knew. I know that for more ignorant you are about your past, all people have millions of ancestors. I know however simple it seems their origin, all the families come from millenary lineages. And if something today sets me apart from other people, is not the number of ancestors or the centuries of family history, but the fact that I can now say I know something about them. I am not now no more or less important than I ever was; I'm also no more or less important than any other - I am perhaps just better informed.
And against of the old question, "Which family you belong," I understand today that this is a matter devoid of any sense. I belong to all families. And I know that all belong to my family. Therefore in this long search, I found hundreds of names, overlapping and confusing in dozens of generations, forming an endless network of interwoven family trees, whose mesh reveals an indisputable way that at the end, all are relatives of all.
If someone to want to know about my origin, that blood runs in my veins, who is my family, this is the answer:
Are Brazilians and foreigners, Tupis and tapuias, Portuguese and islets, Spanish, Italian and French, German and Hungarian, Dutch and Belgians, English and Irish, Finns, Norwegians and Swedes, Turks and Arabs, Greeks and Armenians, Europeans, Americans, Asians and Africans, Catholics and Protestants, Jews and Muslims, atheists and pagans, priests and lay people, pilgrims and missionaries converted and excommunicated, saints and prophets, teachers and illiterate, doctors and engineers, judges and lawyers, mechanics and repairers, artisans and merchants, farmers and farmers, slaves and landlords, nobles and commoners, kings and emperors, shipwrecked and convicts, murderers and murdered, military and warriors, alferes, sergeants, lieutenants and captains, majors and colonels, chiefs and deputies, governors and authorities, rebels and fugitives, explorers and sailors, pioneers and pioneers, founders of cities, the backcountry explorers, Indians hunters and whale fishermen, children born at sea, elders who died in the jungle, abducted princesses and barons kidnappers, heirs and bastards, rich and poor, Bragança and Maria da Silva, illustrious names and unknown distinguished, historical characters and mere anonymous, thousands and thousands of somebodies, and millions and millions of nobodies ..."
(http://genearc.net/)
I try to document all my Brazilian ancestries research on-site and visiting libraries, museums and public archives in addition to the FamilySearch! Well! I can not contribute in the studies of these my Scandinavian ancestors. The traces are there! So, what I can offer you is my wish of good luck in their archaeological genetic research!