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Photo by Annika Larsson

Items linking Islam to Vikings have been found before but were simply discarded as a result of plundering and eastern trade. The Vikings were known to sail across the world and during their travels, visit Arab merchants in the East for trade. The Vikings had an eye for silver and often offered fur and honey in exchange.

In 2015, a ring with the inscription “for/to Allah” was located in a 9th century Viking grave. Some dismissed it, saying it would have only gotten into Viking hands through trade.

The garments Larsson examined, however, were described as “typical Viking Age clothing that have their counterparts in preserved images of Valkyries.”

The same Kufic text was also found during the Viking Age in mausoleums and mosaics on burial monuments in Central Asia.

Larsson won’t rule out that some of the boatgraves and chamber graves where the clothing was discovered in Birka were Muslim. According to the textiles expert, the clothing may even prove that traditional Viking burial customs were influenced by Islam.

In the Qu’ran, those who are rewarded with paradise after death are described as being clothed with “green garments of fine silk” and “gold bracelets.” These passages along with the discovery of the silver script may now prove why silk clothing is found in so many Viking graves, Larsson said.

While her findings and theories have been applauded by her colleagues in the academic community, they have enraged the far-right community in Scandinavia, according toFinnish broadcaster Yle. The Nordic Resistance Movement, a white-nationalist, neo-Nazi group with members from Sweden, Finland and Norway, commonly uses Viking imagery and runes. It has often used the Tyr rune — an upward arrow — that represents justice and war — on its flags.

Photo by Fredrik Sandberg/TT via AP

In September, 600 members of the NMR marched in Gothenburg during Yom Kippur. The neo-Nazi rally ended in violent clashes with anti-fascist protesters and a dozen arrests.

The suggestion that their culture may not be as “pure” as they thought has caused some people — those who are “xenophobic” according to Larsson — who share the same ideals as the NMR to react negatively

“It is the Muslim (connection) that they find disturbing,” she said. “I do not want to go into what they say, but it’s not nice.”