Trønder Phenotype - Face Features & Origin

Average Face

Averaging many portraits leaves the features that repeat and erases the ones that do not. That is exactly how the Trønder composite below was built: individual photographs were aligned and statistically merged, exaggerating shared structure into a single reference face that no actual person looks like.

Composite source: Human Phenotypes — Trønder

Geographic Distribution

Geographically, Trønder anchors to 60.0° N, 15.0° E (Northern Europe). That is the point where historical anthropologists judged the type most concentrated, not a hard edge; modern migration and intermarriage have long since softened whatever boundaries once existed.

Physical Characteristics

Rosy-white skin, straight or wavy, often golden blonde, sometimes red or brown hair with light eyes.

• Tall, brachy- mesoskelic, ecto- to mesomorph
• Mesocephalic and orthocranic with craggier facial features, and a slightly steeper, more roundish forehead compared to Hallstatt
• Face is long, nose (hyper-)leptorrhine
• Head size is moderate, auricular height very high
• Orthognathic
• Body hair moderate to strong
• Rather small eyes, thin lips, sturdy chin

Historical Background

North European type, combines features of Paleo Atlantid, Hallstatt, and East Nordid. One of the main elements in the ancient Vikings. Their nucleus lies in the Norwegian Trøndelag region. It also dominates in other parts of Norway as well as Iceland and Central Sweden. Sometimes in other parts of Scandinavia, Scotland, and Northeastern England. Historic Viking migrations dispersed it across several other regions of Europe (e.g. France, Russia, and Italy).

Research History & Naming

The name "Trønder" carries its own history. The passage below traces who first defined the type, which rival names competed with it, and how later authors consolidated or disputed the classification — the raw material of any serious phenotype reference.

Bryn and Schreiner (1929) identified the type after studying military recruits. Based on that, Coon (1939) and Lundman ( 1940 , 1945 , 1967b ) defined the Trønder. Also mentioned by Torgersen (1976) .

Comparison With Nearby Phenotypes

Geography, not alphabet, ordered this table: the five phenotype centers closest to Trønder's, with the traits most likely to be mistaken for it. In gameplay, these five account for most of the wrong-but-nearby pins.

Trønder in the Game

In gameplay terms, Trønder rewards region-level recall: the score is computed from the distance between your pin and 60.0° N, 15.0° E. Players often confuse it with the nearby types listed in the comparison table above — those confusions are exactly what the distance penalty is designed to expose.

Trønder Phenotype FAQ

Where does the Trønder phenotype come from?

Historical sources center the Trønder phenotype on 60.0° N, 15.0° E (Northern Europe). Treat that as a rough anchor: the type appeared across a wider surrounding area — its nearest documented neighbor, Aisto Nordid, shares its reference point in the historical dataset, with Anglo-Saxon 0 km further out — and its present-day distribution no longer matches the historical map.

What does the Trønder phenotype look like?

The composite emphasizes recurring traits: rosy-white skin, straight or wavy, often golden blonde, sometimes red or brown hair with light eyes. The full trait list for Trønder appears in the physical characteristics section above.

Is the Trønder phenotype a race or a nationality?

No — and the naming history above shows why. Trønder was defined, renamed, and regrouped repeatedly by different researchers, which is the opposite of how a fixed racial category would behave. A phenotype is a recurring bundle of visible traits recorded across a population; the label says nothing about where any individual's ancestors were born.

How does Trønder appear in the game?

When the Trønder face comes up in Classic Daily or Challenge Mode, you pin the world map where you believe the type is historically most common, and the score decays with your distance to 60.0° N, 15.0° E. Fair warning: the nearest other entry in our dataset, Aisto Nordid, shares the same reference point, so this part of the map is crowded with overlapping types — precision, not just the right country, wins points.

References & Literature

The Trønder phenotype entry above is compiled from the following academic references. Readers are encouraged to consult the original sources for verification and deeper context.

• Bryn, H. and Schreiner, K.E. 1929. Somatologie der Norweger nach Untersuchungen an Rekruten.
• Coon, C.S.. 1939.. The Races of Europe. The Macmillan Company. New York.
• Lundman, B. 1940. Nordens rastyper : geografi och historia. Albert Bonnier. Stockholm.
• Lundman, B. 1945. Dala-Allmogens Antropologi. Diss. Uppsala.
• Lundman, B. 1967b. L'Europa del Nord. Antropologia. In: Biasutti, R. Le Razze e i Popoli della terra. 4th Ed. Vol 1-4. U.T.E.T., Torino.
• Torgersen, J. 1976. Rassengeschichte von Skandinavien. in: Schwietzky, I.: Rassengeschichte der Menschheit 4. Oldenburg Verlag. München. Wien.

Related Phenotypes

More entries from the same region of the historical map as Trønder, each with its own composite and trait profile.

• Aisto Nordid

  Northern Europe · 0 km away

  East Nordid subvariety, common in coastal regions of Baltic countries. One of the last strongholds of East Nordids that are only a minority ...

• Anglo-Saxon

  Northern Europe · 0 km away

  North-West European type, similar to Trønder, but with a stronger Hallstatt component. Was typified by the ancient Germanic tribes of Angles...

• Dalofaelid

  Northern Europe · 0 km away

  Coarse, Cromagniform Nordid variety of Central and Northern Europe. Named after the Swedish province of Dalarna and the German region of Wes...

• Hallstatt

  Northern Europe · 0 km away

  Nordid proper, resembles the Iron Age remains of the Austrian village of Hallstatt. Most common among Swedes and South Norwegians. Frequent ...

• North Pontid

  Northern Europe · 0 km away

  Altered Mediterranoid of Eastern Europe that connects Pontids with more northern types. Most common in a large area from Poland to the Russi...

Further Reading

Background articles from the blog that explain where the Trønder type fits, how these composites are built, and what a face can and cannot tell you.

• Guess the Nationality: What 48 Country Average Faces Actually Show

  National average faces converge with geography - neighbors look alike because populations mix along the routes terrain allows.

• What Is an Ethnicity Guesser? The Map Game Where Faces Are the Clues

  Ethnicity guessers are the newest branch of geography gaming: a composite face appears, you pin the map.