This is not to say that I, like Mr. Pierce, believe that all or even most of O.L.B represents authentic Northern European beliefs and histories. In fact, as it will be shown throughout these investigations, much of this work is a jumbled mess of different beliefs and stories that are better represented by the more detailed versions found elsewhere, namely Scandinavia, Germany and Saxony. Though there should not be any doubt as to the correctness of Mr. Pierce's observation on the advanced North European culture (which archaeology and other sciences have confirmed) we have reason to believe that this book is the result of one author's collections, perhaps a collector of history and lore, rather than the several "Oera Lindas" mentioned therein. Most likely it is either the product Hiddo oera Linda, who would thus have covered his tracks in the letter to his son Okke (pg. 1) by explaining how the original manuscript was damaged in a flood so he had to "transcribe it on foreign paper"; or it is the product of Liko oviro Linda, who obviously had some animosity towards the Christian church and sought to keep the work out of their hands. It is possible that this person may have been some sort of pagan revivalist.

 There are several reasons why one should come to these conclusions; one is that it is a typical work of the era both of these individuals lived in. The Prose Edda and Heimskringla of Snorri Sturlson, Historia Danica of Saxo Grammaticus, History of the Franks by Gregory of tours, etc. all have the same elements of O.L.B. They all try to dismiss the ancient heathen gods as historical characters, presenting authentic sagas from these earlier theologies as history rather than as religious beliefs, and more, as we shall see. Another similar trend that may prove some connection here is that O.L.B. retains the same narrative pattern found in these other texts, i.e. it begins its storyline with legends of ancient beings from the true lore and ends with actual history. All of the deities in the book, except Wralda, are euhemerised, and are, as in other accounts, presented as humans who were elevated to gods after death. Here is what Dr. Viktor Rydberg has to say about this:

 "As Christianity was gradually introduced among the Teutonic peoples, the questions confronted them, what manner of beings those gods had been in whom they and their ancestors so long had believed. Their Christian teachers had two answers, and both were easily reconcilable. The common answer, and that usually given to the converted masses, was that the gods of their ancestors were demons, evil spirits, who ensnared men into superstition in order to become worshipped as divine beings. The other answer, which was better calculated to please the noble-born Teutonic families, who thought themselves descended from the gods, was that these divinities were originally human persons- kings, chiefs, legislators, who, endowed, with higher wisdom and secret knowledge, made use of them to make people believe that they were gods, and worship them as such." (Teutonic Mythology [another title for the researches... volumes] ch. 12)
 On pg. 80,108 and elsewhere in O.L.B. there are claims of how people were ensnared into superstitious beliefs so that they might worship "false" gods. Page 80 explains that the Greeks thus made "false" idols:
"Whenever anyone makes an image of one deceased and it resembles him, then they believe that the ghost of the deceased travels therein."
 The paragraph goes on to describe their faith in birth-omens and that "furthermore they believe in evil spirits, witches, goblins, wizards and elves as if they descended from the Finns."
 Page 108 shows this attitude even further, when it explains the reaction of the author to one of the prophecies of a burghmaid- Reintia:
 "The stupid folk which through the influence of the Magyars was already wont so such foolishness, believed all that she said..."
 Compare this to what is said in Saxo Grammaticus' Historia Danica Book I:
 "As I shall have briefly to relate doings of these folk, and would fain not to seem to fabricate what conflicts with common belief or out steps the faithful truth, it is worth the knowing that there were in old times three kinds of magicians who by diverse sleights practiced extraordinary marvels. The first of these were men of monstrous stock, termed by antiquity giants; these by their exceedingly great bodily stature surpassed the size natural to mankind. Those who came after these were the first who gained skill in divination from entrails, and attained the Pythonic art. These surpassed the former in briskness of mental parts as much as they fell behind them in bodily condition. Constant wars for the supremacy were waged between these and the giants; till at last the sorcerers prevailed, subdued the tribe of giants by arms, and acquired not merely the privilege of ruling, but also the repute of being divine. Both of these kinds had extreme skill in deluding the eyesight, knowing how to obscure their own faces and those of others with diverse semblances, and to darken the true aspects of things with beguiling shapes. But the third kind of men, springing from the natural union of the first two, did not answer to the nature of their parents either in bodily size or in practice of magic arts; yet these gained credit for divinity with minds that were befooled by their jugglings.

 "Nor must we marvel is, tempted by the prodigious miracles of these folk, the barbaric world fell to worshipping a false religion, when others like unto these, who were mere mortals, but were reverenced with divine, beguiled even the shrewdness of the Latins."

 It shall be shown later how this idea of the three classes of "magicians" fully connects to the Oera Linda Book and where Saxo's reasoning resonates within this text.

 We find several characters who are elevated to the rank of godhood in O.L.B., some to the approval of the author, others not. These include Frya, Nyhellenia, Jesus and Wodin. Compare the above quote from page 108 to this about Wodin (pg. 35):

 "The magy said that he was taken up among the gods and that he reigned over them, but our folk laughed at that talk."

 All of the early "histories" mentioned also seek to explain the origins of nations' names by connecting them to an ancient king, which seems to have been derived from the heathen practice of naming a place after a certain deity. Again we look to Rydberg on this:

 "In regard to Balder, the Edda says that Odin appointed him king in Westphalia. This statement is based on the tradition that Balder was known among the heathen Germans and Scandinavians by the name Fal (Falur), with its variation Fol. In an age when it was believed that Sweden got its name from a king Sven, Gotaland from a king Got, Denmark from a king Dan, Angelnm from a king Angul, the Franks from a duke Francio, it might be expected that Falen (East- And West-Phalia) had been named after a king Fal." (Teutonic Mythology ch. 13)

 Oera Linda Book keeps the tradition alive by claiming that Frisia was named after their progenitor and queen Frya. It does the same with other characters such as Lyda (Lydia pg. 30), Katherine or Kat (Kattegat pg. 34), Kalta (the Celts pg. 42), Thyr (Tyr?) (Thyrians pg. 37), and Gert (the Gertmen [Germans] pgs. 45-46). It is also aware of the above named characters mentioned by Rydberg: Got (Goda, Gothernburg pg. 33) and Fancio (Frank pg. 111).

 We also find evidence of a strong Mediterranean influence in the author, which mimics the chroniclers from Rome on the faith of the Northerners by equating them with Roman and Greek deities as well as telling their tales along side those that we know actually came from Southern Europe. "Classical writers usually reported all barbaric rites in terms of their own religion" (Religion of the Ancient Celts [henceforth R.A.C] by J.A. MacCulloch pg. 317 note). Here we find traces of Minerva, Ulysses, Neptune (Neftunis), Cecrops, and other Mediterranean characters blended with attributes and stories of Northern deities and heroes. It also has terms used by the Romans to identify Northern places and concepts such as Gaul and Germania (Gertmannia). It may very well be that the author simply collected many of these accounts from earlier records and managed a way to fit them all together in this so-called 'hereditary' text. This may also help to explain why there is such an appalled outlook here towards the early Northern pagan practices that we know existed even in the Frisian realm as far back as we know. There is evidence pointing to the fact that the earliest pagans may have been opposed to slavery, and in this respect O.L.B. may be correct, which we will look at further on.

 Despite the fact that Liko ovira Linda makes a strong plea against the Christian church and may be a pagan revivalist, we can suspect that both (she/he?) and Hiddo oera Linda were raised as Christians themselves. Our suspicion rises from the fact that they both present the dates by Christian reckoning (though Hiddo also gives the pagan system) and we know that Frisia had already been converted (689-734) by the time of Liko's writing (803), not long after Charlemagne had conquered them. It is important to recognize this, for all throughout the text we find a monotheist dogma that we know was utterly foreign to the pre-Christian Northern Europeans. It is well known that it was Akhenaten (Amenhotel IV) of Egypt who devised the first monotheist doctrine and presented it to his people. That this doctrine influenced the Hebrews, who had their version of it spread to the East where it became Islam and to the West where it became Christianity is very well likely. If the faith of Wralda, which by the context of the book gives his characteristics in a monotheist paradigm, at least in the beginning, actually had been a religion surely Europe would have felt some sort of impact from it or left some other trace of it in the manner given in the text, as we find in these other monotheist cults. We also would have had some response from the church on this, which sought to turn the European peoples away from their polytheist past.

 What we have in the author of O.L.B. is a person who has obtained knowledge on their ancestors both from local personages, possibly even family members, and scholastic texts of the time. To be sure, there were only two monotheist cults that ever developed in Europe - those of Mithras and Christ, and both of these came very late in the history of the Roman Empire. That there is not only no other trace of this "Wralda" character but that he also shares traits with the Teutonic Odin (see below) shows that this had to have been a nationalist attempt to equate the early Frisians with the "enlightened" monotheist faiths. That both of the monotheist cults of Mithras and Christ developed in the Mediterranean and that the other of O.L.B. mimics the works of Latin scholars in many ways is not a coincidence. This book is worthy of our attention for it holds many seemingly authentic aspects of Germanic culture that otherwise would be lost to us, but it must be picked apart like the other "histories" handed down to us, the results of which must be connected to the existing accounts we deem closer to the original heathen lore.

 When the author writes as one or another of his/her ancestors it may be that such an account was actually attributed to that ancestor, as often was the case in ancient tribes. Early peoples passed down their lore orally and it may have been that members of Liko's family were connected to each particular tale; then Liko, wanting to give them credit, wrote the stories as best as he/she could with his/her knowledge and sources available as if that person were writing themselves. This would explain why such great lengths were made to develop this 'hereditary saga' even though the evidence of one author abounds. We can only speculate as to why or how this document was produced, but this bears little impact upon the investigation into its contents. What is more assured is that O.L.B. was authored by only one person.

 We must not be fooled into dismissing the Christian influence of O.L.B. simply because on pg. 84 the divinity of Christ is denied. If anything it should secure the assumption, for it lets us know that the person who wrote this was familiar, somewhat, with the lore of this figure. We have seen many groups deny the resurrection and the belief that Christ was a god all throughout the ages since his believed birth. The Muslims claim that he was a human prophet and correspond him to their Mohammed. We have already witnessed Liko ovira's animosity towards the church, so this, along with the mistake made by Hiddo oera Linda in transcribing the text on pg. 94, may point to the former as the author of Oera Linda Book. The fact that a person in this era with such a defiant attitude towards the church could write a book which in its essence seeks to overcome the 'accepted' teachings of that time also leads us to this conclusion. As I have said, it may have been that this person was trying to bring back the old ways by inspiring their kin with such a document. We know that the heathen faiths never really died out in Europe, they merely went underground while trying to save as much of their ancestral heritage as possible. The monks who wrote much of what we have today on our faith's traditions were doing the same thing, but for nationalist rather than religious reasons, which is why they didn't have any problem corrupting them and using them to perpetuate a form of Christian propaganda. If this is the case then it makes O.L.B. a truly unique document, for it is the only one we have had passed down to us that was not written for the benefit of the church or those within it, making it a testament of our benefit of the church or those within it, making it a testament of our ancestors' will to keep the belief in the old gods alive. Still, a person can only write about what they know or can find; living in an age when most of the heathen lore had been lost or suppressed we can consider ourselves fortunate that as much as we find to be authentic in O.L.B. has been preserved.

 The explanation for the presentation of Wralda as the all-supreme omniscient being in the book is that the Frisian author sought to either reverse the propaganda of the Christians by co-opting some of their doctrine for the sake of bringing people back to the old ways, or that she/he sought to elevate her/his people as the most enlightened, the purest, and that which held the highest morals. This had to have been a result of the indoctrination they had been subjected to by the church. This nationalist theme recurs throughout the manuscript. It places Frisia as the center of the world (cp. Rydberg’s statement on the beliefs of the birth of the first Teutonic couple in the Eddas- Ask and Embla: “The Icelandic-Norwegian middle-age literature abounds in evidence of a disposition to locate the events of a myth and the exploits of mythic persons in the author’s own land and town. But in this instance there is no room for suspicion that patriotism has given to the southern-most part of the Scandinavian Peninsula a so conspicuous prominence in the earliest history of the myth. The chief evidence is found in the traditions of the Saxons in England, and this gives the best clue to the unanimity with which the sagas of the Teutonic continent, from a time prior to the birth of Christ far down in the middle ages, point to the great peninsula in the northern sea as the land of the oldest ancestors...” Teut. Myth. vol. I ch. 20), and all of those that originate from her as superior to all others. Would it not then disallow a foreign concept such as the belief that only one deity rules the universe disgrace her past? If one accepts that the new religion (Christianity) is better and more enlightened than the old heathen polytheism, then one has to admit that their ancestors were stupid and ignoble, since they always believed in such “false” teachings. O.L.B. is an attempt to avert the situation altogether by claiming that the Frisians had always been monotheists, that it was the treachery of foreigners (Finns, Denmarkers, Gauls, etc.) who led them astray. Thus Wralda, who had probably borrowed one of the many names of Odin, the highest god of the Teutons for as far back as we can find, was a compound of the latter and the Judeo-Christian deity. We find parts of his original personage elsewhere under the actual name Wodin, the Anglo-Saxon variant of Odin (including the one mentioned above from pg.108):
-Pg. 34 says that Wodin was “...strong, wild and warlike”, which we can compare to the etymology of his name (meaning “wild”) and his capacity as leader of the Wild Hunt and god of war.
-Pg. 112: “...because the folk would not believe that Wodin would help them, and that they therefore would not pray to him.”

 These statements reflect the themes of the other texts written in those times where Odin is said to have been a human king from Troy who seduced the folk into worshipping him as a god (see, for instance the introduction to The Prose Edda). It may be possible that Liko did not even realise that Wodin and Wralda were in fact the same being and was only giving the stories as he/she knew them.

 The aspects we find that parallel those that we know about Odin under the name Wralda in O.L.B. are:
-On pg.5 he is said to have created the Earth as Odin is said to have done. Yahweh is said to have done this as well, but the strict patriarchal nature of the biblical tale would never have any sort of feminine aspect placed upon the personified Earth as seen here. This is enough to lead us to believe that Odin’s tale is here told, for he is said here to have an intimate relationship with Mother Earth (and on pg. 101), just as in other sources he is the husband of Frigga-Erde.
-It is likely that as one of the creators of Midgard Odin could have had the name Wralda, which is basically a variation of “World”. Although most etymologists translate “world” as “the age of man” it can also, and more correctly, mean “the ancient man” (were= man, alda= ancient or old). Compare this to Odin’s names Aldagautr “The Ancient Goth” (Goth-theod or Goppjod has been used as a pseudonym for Midgard, basically meaning “The Nation of Men [Goths]”, so “Goth” can here signify man) and Aldafodr, “The Ancient Father”. Also note that Frigga, his wife, is also called Erde, where we get the word “Earth| from.
-He is said to have “breathed” life into the daughters of Earth, just as Odin is believed to have done in the Nordic heathen lore (as trees Ask and Embla were certainly children of the Earth), which we find in comparison to the Vedic tale of the creation of humans and in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem on the rune As :

 “(God/Mouth) is the source of all language; a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men, a blessing and a joy to every knight.”

 This connection to “God/Mouth” has led some to believe that this relates to the “breath of life” which corresponds to images of Odin found in Scandinavian carvings. (see below)
-In connection to Frya, who we will investigate later on and who is the daughter of Wralda, Walhalla (Valhalla) is mentioned, which we know is the home of Odin (pg. 77).
-That he is mentioned as a “ghost” can have two different implications, each applying to the two beings we are looking at- Frya is also mentioned as a ghost; this may be an echo of the Christian teaching that he was once a Trojan king (Priam), a human who became a god. This can explain why there are contradictions in his omniscient character- he is Odin and Yahweh combined. This may also be somehow connected to the biblical idea of calling Yahweh, or an aspect of the Trinity, “The Holy Ghost”; the author may have learned of this as a pseudonym of the Jewish god and thought that the term “ghost” could apply to all gods and goddesses.
-On pgs. 87 and 101 Wralda is called All-Father, a name which we also find Odin specifically entitled (O.N. Alfadir). When it states that Earth was also called “All-feeder”, we have more evidence of an intimate relationship between the two.
-Wralda’s symbol is the six-spoked wheel. Compare this to the four-spoked wheel that is Odin’s symbol and to the German Achtwung (eight-spoked wheel) that is familiar to most Odinists. (see O.L.B. pg. 115)

 These proofs are enough to support the claim that part of Wralda’s character parallels Odin’s from the Scandinavian and Anglo-Saxon records. It should not surprise us that an author  “recording” a monotheist or pseudo-monotheist doctrine would combine the aspects of different deities into one, as we have seen the Hebrews, Egyptians and Christians do in many instances with theirs’ and others’ beliefs systems. Akhenaten (“The Son of Aten”) combined the characteristics of all the other Egyptian deities into his favorite god Aten. Yahweh, according to the Gnostic Christians, took on all of the other Elohim’s (Hebrew gods;) attributes (see The Gnostic Gospels by Elaine Pagels); and Jesus’ tale can be found in the accounts of Mithras, Buddha, Quetzacotl, Zoroaster, and many others (see The Christ Conspiracy by Acharya S.). Even some Hindus have adopted a polytheistic form of monotheism, where the many gods are but different manifestations (avatar) of the one god- in this case Vishnu (of course, not all Hindus believe this).

 The proofs that Wralda also exhibits characteristics of the Hebrew god are:
-He is said to have been the creator of all races of mankind (pg. 5 and elsewhere). For the most part, ancient pagan societies worshipped deities as the mothers and fathers of the race that honored them. The other races had their own gods who created them, and they worshipped them accordingly as their divine “parents”. Only the monotheist doctrines have presented this form of universalism where on god peoples the entire earth.
-Just as the deities were worshipped as parents, it is probably that the Europeans never knelt before their gods. In fact, it is commonly believed that the stance of prayer is what is now known as the “stada” (posture, literally “stance” or “position”) of the rune Elhaz where one stands with head held high and arms stretched out to the sky in the shape of this rune. On pg. 9 of O.L.B. Wralda is mentioned as receiving kneeling thanks from his followers. Surely as freedom-loving as the Frisians are said to be, they would not have accepted this type of submission before the divine.
-All throughout the text Wralda is mentioned as being pure, perfect, infallible, omnipresent, etc. “No one could be good or perfect as Wralda’s ghost” (pg. 54), “Wralda is everywhere present...”, “...Wralda is the one almighty being...” (pg. 60), “Therefore is Wralda alone good and there are none good but him” (pg. 61). The ancient heathen Europeans knew no such infallibility in their deities. Though they knew the gods and goddesses were good, kind and loving, they also knew they were capable of error, just as all beings are. Monotheists may claim this as evidence of their ungodly nature, but heathens have always believed that it made them closer to their human children and thus would be more apt to honor and fairness in their dealings with us since they live by experience, as much as humans. Here is what Rydberg has to say about this:
 “The heathen fancy shrank from the idea of a knowledge in itself to embrace all, the greatest and the least, that which has been, is doing, and shall be in the world of thoughts, purposes, and deeds. It hesitated at all events to endow its gods made in the image of man with omniscience. It was easier to conceive a divine insight which was secured by a net of messengers and spies stretched throughout the world.” (Teut. Myth. ch. 71).

-Scattered throughout the text are various references to “false gods” and “idol worshippers”, a tone all too reminiscent of that found in the Bible. It is enough to remind us of Yahweh’s (or to the Gnostic- Samarl’s) proclamation that he is a “jealous god” (Exodus 20:3-5 and 34:14).

 This combining of characteristics is also typical of the “histories” of that era, which gives us further proof of it being written down by one of the first two oera Linda’s mentioned in the book. In the Prose Edda both Urdr and Loki’s daughter Leikinn and Suttung, son of Surtr, and Muspell-Loki are confounded (see Teut. Mythology chs. 56-57 and 78), and in Saxo’s  Historia Danica Hodr and Svipdagr-Odr are blended into one (ibid. chs. 100-101), etc. This character blending also takes place elsewhere in O.L.B. with other figures, which I will present later. Odin is among these again as Jon, which shall be explained.

 So we return to the questions of whether or not O.L.B. is a fraud. It is as much of a fraud as those books that have been embraced by mainstream scholars and studied thoroughly. The oera Lindas deserve a place on the bookshelf next to Sturluson, Grammaticus, Gregory of Tours, Fredegar, and the many other “history” writers of this time. It may also deserve to be placed next to some ‘authentic’ (as much as can be said about any historical document), for it does give us a treasure-trove of information on the culture of Frisian (and quite possibly the entire Teutonic) folk, and when investigated correctly, by the methodology given to us by Dr. Rydberg and others, can fill in the gaps and answer some previously unanswered questions in the Teutonic theology. Perhaps it is because O.L.B. did not come from the accepted church manuscripts that it has not been allowed its due respect. The challenge lies in discovering the characters we know come from the authentic heathen lore and separating them from those that may (or may not) be actual historic figures in their elements in the text. Since we recognize O.L.B. mainly for its value in the investigations in Teutonic theology and culture, it is this which we will keep our focus on. There is no doubt that some of the lore here is entirely that of the Mediterraneans, and a separate investigation may be warranted for this, but it is not our aim here.
 
 

Read on to Chapter 2 - O.L.B. on the Anthropology and the Patriarch Saga

 

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