Are there swarthy Swedes?
July 10, 2011 12:36 PM Subscribe
Swedish MetalFilter: Does anyone know the ethnic origins of Alex Hellid of Entombed? I don't know much about Sweden, but he doesn't look like an ethnic Swede to me, and I've always wondered if he's a child of immigrants.
Response by poster: Thanks, VikingSword! That's at least more than I knew about him before (outside of his work), which was nothing.
posted by ignignokt at 4:13 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by ignignokt at 4:13 PM on July 10, 2011
Incidentally, I know a lot of Swedes who are dark haired, dark eyed, and have darker skin than the typical Swedish stereotype. My husband is one of them: everyone in his family either has the blonde-blue-eyed Norse God look, or the swarthy thing. I think it's probably Saami genes somewhere in their past.
That said, the Spanish thing might account for this case.
posted by lollusc at 5:25 PM on July 10, 2011
That said, the Spanish thing might account for this case.
posted by lollusc at 5:25 PM on July 10, 2011
True, many "native" Swedes have Saami genes. Although, the look that results from that is somewhat "Eskimo"-looking, if you will (although Saami are their own group, not to be confused with other Native Arctic people) - tending toward epicanthic folds, prominent cheek bones and straight black hair (of course, due to long contact with other groups, these characteristics come in various degrees). Alex Hellid does not strike me as having anything in common with Saami - no trace of an epicanthic fold to his eyelid, *curly* hair, different facial bone structure. My assessment would be that his background has some North African elements, especially if you look at his nose, which has more of an African cast than classic Semitic, indicating possibly a somewhat later arrival in Spain for his ancestors, if his mother is indeed from Spain. Disclaimer: this is *highly* speculative, and there's a ton of room for all kinds of lattitude; phenotypes are notoriously unreliable guides to ethnic identity, and without genetic testing, this is all frankly completely speculative.
posted by VikingSword at 6:43 PM on July 10, 2011
posted by VikingSword at 6:43 PM on July 10, 2011
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Here's an excerpt that may possibly throw some light on the question:
"Alex har turnerat över hela världen sedan han inledde sin karriär och Spanien är ett av hans favoritländer i Europa.
—Jag var mycket i Almuñécar som liten eftersom min mamma delvis växte upp där, berättar han."
My translation:
"Alex has toured all over the world since he started his career, and Spain is one of his favorite countries in Europe. 'I was a lot in Almuñécar as a child, because my mom partly grew up there, he says."
So it looks like his mother grew up partly in Almuñécar, Spain, and he spent some time there as a child. Does this mean his mother is ethnically Spanish? Perhaps. That is not decisive, because Spain too has recent immigrants from all over the world, and in any case, Spaniards can look all sorts of ways (f.ex. there's some Arab and Jewish influence throughout the ages). And that's all about his mom. Nothing about the father.
posted by VikingSword at 3:17 PM on July 10, 2011