Is there any evidence of the presence of the Vikings in the Philippines?

Question

The possibility has been nagging me. The term 'bathala' could possibly come from the word 'valhalla'. I don't really know and I have a lack of proof to actually make a proper claim.

Answer 1

The Vikings were a sea faring people. They were on the new world before Columbus, so who knows how far their travels took them.

This is interesting

Another curious aspect in Batanes is the discovery of ancient burial sites marked with stones laid down to the shape of the local boat, tataya. The first site was unearther in Ivuhos in 1994. Two of the burial sites found between 1995 and 1996 yielded skeletal remains of a juvenile and an adult.

Historically, the only known boat-shaped burial makers are the Vikings of the 8th to 12th centuries AD. Archeologists are yet to find connections between these two ancient burial traditions, but the similarity at the least suggests a parallel evolution of maritime societies.

Answer 2

I'm no history expert, but in the 1600's, the Dutch (descendants of the Vikings) had colonies in Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, etc.  I wouldn't be surprised if some Dutch words have survived and gotten integrated into local languages... especially in & near trading cities/ports.  You'll want to research the etymology of that word...if you're lucky, maybe in a good Tagalog dictionary.  Or maybe if you can find a Filipino lingustics forum, you could ask someone for help?

Answer 3

According to wikipedia, the Vikings went to the British Isles (England, Scotland, Cornwall, Wales), Ireland, West Francia, Low Countries (Holland, Belgium, Germany), Iberia (Spain, Portugal), Byzantine Empire, Russia, Ukraine, Greenland and North America.

The Philippines are never mentioned, neither on other websites.

Also on the site about Philippines' languages, there is no mention at all of the Vikings. But hey, language travels, even if the Vikings didn't go all the way to the Philippines, there can be an influence through other people.

What do the words bathala and valhalla mean?