
On Friday, word of an Uppsala University study suggesting that some ancient Vikings were Muslim converts went rocketing around the Internet and hit Twitter like a bomb.
Uppsala researchers found Vikings buried in Sweden with cloth inscribed with the word "Allah," the Muslim word for "God," suggesting that as they roamed the world, Vikings encountered adherents to Islam and perhaps some of them converted.
Vikings are one of white supremacists' most favorite things, embodying the "racial purity" and ferocity in war that thousands of 4chan keyboard warriors aspire to. Nazi websites like The Daily Stormer regularly truck in Viking imagery and Norse myth when appealing to disaffected whites, so the news that some Vikings could be Muslim was bound to hit some racists pretty hard.
Indeed, reactions on Twitter broke down into two categories, gleefully cackling liberals and dubious, skeptical people with "Deplorable" in their screen name or tiny U.S. flags next to their avatars.
The conservative consensus on the news was that Vikings might have plundered some Muslim fabrics to take back home, but that Vikings would never, ever, ever worship those brown people's God, what are you thinking?
NO women Vikings. NO Vikings Muslim. Not innocent tabloid. IS propaganda to rewrite history #BoycottMetroAdvertisers https://t.co/gmgtdctO9f— Von Sheep (@Von Sheep)1507902083.0
In fact, there was at least one woman Viking, and she was apparently a high-ranking officer. But don't let that stop you, Deplorables.
@wink_nod The title is misleading, the material might of came from the Middle East, but The Vikings were not Muslim 😂— Ileata Kenley (@Ileata Kenley)1507901621.0
https://t.co/Q0LHQMLO8a "BBC Trying to Spin Viking Plunder Find Into a Narrative of Muslim Vikings. No Doubt a Pretext to a False History …— 🇺🇸ChristianPatriot (@🇺🇸ChristianPatriot)1507884559.0
NO - AGAIN .. NO -Were Vikings Muslim? New research finds 'Allah' woven into burial clothes https://t.co/Znj3nPZ0a9 via @MetroUK— Side Eye...👉 🟢 (@Side Eye...👉 🟢)1507883997.0
@HKSandham @edwest Bull article. The part about Muslim theological influences on Vikings was especially hilarius. Al-Valhallah...— Byz history Tweep (@Byz history Tweep)1507885746.0
On the other side were liberal onlookers to the carnage -- who were clearly relishing some schadenfreude stirred into their Friday morning coffee.