Chapter II - O.L.B. on the Anthropology and the Patriarch Saga
It should also be noted that the early Scandinavians had no concept of religious philosophy, according to the lore. it was Heimdall who taught them about all of the gods, for they only knew of the three who had created them. He also taught them how to pray and sacrifice and gave them the holy runes among many other things. (see Fädernas Gudasaga by Viktor Rydberg chs. 4-5)
It should be obvious to anyone by now that the Frisians were either followers of Odin, or were at least very well versed in the Odinic lore; the former being most likely. The Oera Linda Book tells us that Frya gave her people many of the things that would constitute organized civilization including self-control, love of freedom and virtue, and law - more specifically her Tex Law (Tex Frya’s). She also struck up the first foddik (sacred perpetual flame, see pg. 10), which is the equivalent of Heimdall brining the holy fire to humans. thus we can see that the Frya given the breath of life by Wralda (and who is identical to Embla who was given the breath of life by Odin) and the Frya who gave her people culture are two (three, if we include Heimdall) different beings compounded into one in the same story.
What further substantiates this claim is the fact that there is a character in the Eddas who fits this second description, just as we found for the first aspect. In fact, in comparing the stories in Rigspula and O.L.B. we find that they both compliment one another in a sense- the one (Rigsthula) being part of the Teutonic patriarch saga, the other, obviously inspired by the true saga, being a more universalist pseudo-matriarch saga.
To begin looking into this we should note that it is interesting to see that Frya is said to have passed on the duties of Folksmother to her protégé, Fasta, after she moved on to the divine world. Though there may be some relation here to the third of “Frya’s” aspects, which we shall see later, this makes an interesting connection to Rigsthula where Heimdall gives both Borgar-Skjold and Kon-Halfdan the “runes of eternity united with the runes of earthly life...” and that this “...can scarcely have any other reference than to the heathen doctrines concerning religion and morality” (Teut. Myth. ch. 26). This shows that the author of O.L.B., who saw the coming of civilization as the time when the concepts of law, along with the introduction of fire, were given to men, was in agreement with the author of Rigsthula.
It is not intended here to try to represent any sort of euhemerist model within the scope of this investigation. In the past far too much energy has been put into “proving” or “disproving” the reality of a certain deity-turned-man or a certain theological event. In many of these cases searches for “proof” cloud the original purposes of faith. The empowerment of the human spirit has become a battle to claim the superior religion, as if such a thing existed. Rather than trying to prove the historical accuracy of these tales we should learn and live by the lessons they teach us and pay our respects to the universe as it is.
With that said let’s continue our look into the patriarch/matriarch saga by comparing the story of the founding of Teutonic civilization in Rigsthula with the parallels we find in O.L.B. :
-In Rigsthula we have the tale of Heimdall-Rig’s visit to Svipjoð where (as we find in other sources) he comes as a child, in a boat drawn by swans, where he is found and accepted by the people there. The poem picks up where Rig has come of age and begins traveling about, visiting different homes, staying in those homes three nights (which became a custom of courtesy in ancient Scandinavia), then leaving, at least in the case of the first two. In all three homes, during his visit, an event takes place which causes a child to be born nine months later. The first home he visits is that of Ai and Edda, who have Thrall as their son; the second is that of Afi and Amma, who begat Karl; and the third is that of Fadir and Modir, their child being Jarl. In Rigsthula it is said that Rig slept between the couple during his stay. Of course, we have to believe that some sort of sexual intercourse takes place here, and that somehow Heimdall was involved with it, since a child is the result of every visit.
If, without a thorough investigation, we were to try to answer the question that was raised by Rydberg’s statement about the Teutonic patriarchs being the “founders and chiefs of the whole human race rather than of the Teutons alone”, then we might assume that Heimdall is guilty of miscegenation in order to answer it in the positive. This is certainly not the case, and there are several reasons why:
a. If we are to believe that the divine
blood is stronger than the human, and just about all religions could agree
with that, then it would be strange for the transcriber of Rigsthula to
present a narrative that would give the “White God” (Hviti As) anything
less than the most beautiful of Nordic children, regardless of whether
or not you believe Rigspula represents the founding of Teutonic or world
civilization.
b. Rydberg tells us this:
“In the account of Rig’s visit to
the three different homes lies the mythic idea of a common fatherhood,
an idea which must not be left out of sight when human heroes are described
as sons of gods in the mythological and heroic sagas. They are sons of
the gods and, at the same time, from a genealogical standpoint, men. their
pedigree, starting with Ask and Embla, is not interrupted by the intervention
of the visiting god, nor is there developed a half-divine, half-human middle
class or bastard clan. The Teutonic patriarch Mannus (Kon-Halfdan) is,
according to Tacitus, the son of a god and the grandson of the goddess
Earth. Nevertheless he is, as his name indicates, in the full physical
sense of the word, a man, and besides his divine father he has had a human
father. They are the descendants of Ask and Embla, men of all classes and
conditions, whom Voluspa’s skald gathered around the seeress when she was
to present to them a view of the world’s development and commanded silence
with the formula: “Give ear, all ye divine races, great and small, sons
of Heimdall”. The idea of a common fatherhood we find again in the question
of Fadir’s grandson (Kon)... Through him the families of chiefs get the
right of precendences (like the “inclination” Wralda gave Frya in O.L.B.
) before other classes. Thor becomes their progenitor (as Kon-Halfdan’s
foster-father). While all classes trace their descent from Heimdall, the
nobility trace theirs also from Thor, and through him from Odin.” (Teut.
Myth. vol. 1 ch. 21)
What is stated here can be, as demonstrated, applied to the human races instead of the Teutonic classes.
d. If we are to rely upon O.L.B. and the natural facts of an ongoing homogenous Nordic genealogy, we can see that miscegenation, for the most part, was not favored by our ancestors. O.L.B. states that if your children decide to mate with one of another race you should remind them of their “stupidity, though if (they) allow (their) whim, then let (them) go in peace...” then it says that neither of them (a son nor a daughter) “may return; when they should bring outlandish habits and customs with them; and as soon as these are adopted by you, may I (in this case, Freya the goddess) no longer watch over you”. It should be very difficult to prove (as I am sure some may try) that the gods of the North, who created Ask and Embla on the Scandinavian coast (Teut. Myth. vol. 1 ch. 20) in their image (litr goda), which we see in every description fits that of the Nordic racial prototype, would want to see their work destroyed by the irresponsible acts of immoral people.
So what did happen in the homes of these couples? We cannot say for sure, but the best theory would be that Heimdall sanctified with his divine presence the sexual union of each couple so that all races (or, if you prefer, Teutonic classes) would be susceptible to his teachings for civilized life (cp. Rigveda 10.184 and 10.162). It is also said that this “They were made by him into half-siblings and were consequently obligated to treat each other kindly and fairly.” (Fädernas Gudasaga ch. 10). As I’ve said, ancient pagan cultures generally held the belief that the deities they worshipped were the mothers and fathers of their race, and this is why they worshipped them- not as slaves before masters, but as mature people to their parents. Another race would have other deities they honored for being created in their image. Heimdall’s sanctifying of these sexual unions would have been out of fairness and respect for all peoples so that our entire world could evolve into a new era of civilization, and so that the would have a common bond that would promote peace and mutual respect. As you can see in Rigsthula and O.L.B. there is certainly more given to the Nordics, the gods’ own children, than to any others, as any parent would do.
Now I shall present the evidence which not only shall connect O.L.B. to the Eddaic lore but also will shed light on the theory that Heimdall possibly was originally believed to have visited couples from the three primary races (Caucasoid, Mongoloid, Congoid) and consecrated their genetic lines with his divine presence. We begin with a look at the first of these three couples 0 what Rigsthula calls the “Thralls” and O.L.B. “Lyda’s Folk” (i.e. Congoids):
-Ai and Edda have a son named Thrall who is called “the swarthy-skinned” and who has rough and wrinkled skin, gnarled knuckles, thick fingers, an ugly face, a hulky back, and exceedingly long heels. (str. 7-8)
-Thrall meets a “crooked legged wench” by the name of Thir who has dirty soles, burnt arms, and a nose that is bent downwards. The pattern of Rigsthula lets us know that she is of the same race as Thrall, in the same sense as the other wives of Rig’s children. (str. 10)
-It is only an assumption by some that Rigsthula presents the forming of the Scandinavian classes, whereas the poem itself states that from Thrall’s children come the “breed of thralls” (str. 13); as anyone would know breed and class aren’t always the same thing. This may point to an earlier, more direct account of the forming of human races. Later we are told that Karl is the father of the “kin of carls” (str. 25) and Jarl, father of Kon the Young (“Konungr”, which signifies “king”) is doubtless that father of the race of “earls”.
-In O.L.B. (Frya’s Tex #7 pg. 9) we are told that slavery is a violation of divine law, that "anyone who robs another of his freedom, although he were in debt to him, must I let draw on the tether of a slave woman. Indeed I (Frya) advise you, to take up his like and his mother to a bare place and burn them up, thereafter to bury their ashes fifty feet in the ground. For, such in a way, the grass should (could) kill your costliest animals.” Any student of Scandinavian history and culture could use this as an argument that O.L.B. does not belong in the group of literature that constitutes our records on the Teutonic belief system because all throughout the Icelandic and Norse texts slavery seems to be advocated. This would be the case if it were not for the fact that O.L.B. addresses this, furthering its connection to the Teutonic hierology. On page 2 we are told of the Finnish:
“For, instead of killing their prisoners of war (cp. Tacitus’ Germania ch. 12) or letting them go free, they have scorned Frya’s advice and made them to slaves. Because they did so, Frya no longer made watch over them. They have taken another’s freedom and that is the reason they have lost their own (to baron priests).”
On pg. 32 it states:
“Skenland (Scandinavia) blushes, slave folk step upon thy dress, o Frya.” We find a record outside of Frisia which compliments this. It is from the Seidr Paradigms (§39):
“Another’s land wist not, said she from the peaceful land. All councils, unpaid, sit to serve, time given after duties, need no taxes save to build when all have need. They built the quay and some brought bread. Others their carts with sand, some of stone, and some brought rope, did the Fries. These and their labors given built quay, roads, and temples. No tax needed they, nor slaves not wars. Great owning creates great dearth and high-paid councils brings the death of armed peasants’ sons...”
So we see that O.L.B. not only connects well to the story in the Edda, but also possibly the actual history of Scandinavia where slavery was introduced, and later Christianity was introduced to enslave the entire nation!
It is more likely that the name “Thrall” was either not the name of the lowest class or race or that the world itself originally had another meaning. I say this because there is a Scandinavian account which agrees with O.L.B. anti-slavery ideal. We find it best presented in a description of Thor which Rydberg relates (Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 28):
“Thor looks upon the Thrall, who works in the fields and in the forests, with kind eyes. He despises the enslavement and oppression of others, so Thor always favors him and in the judgment over the dead he speaks well for him, and recommends that his labors be rewarded with the lot of the blessed.”
From this we see that the gods did not exactly forsake the Nordics for their slavery practices but that they, especially Thor and Freya, were certainly not happy about it and sought to balance it out at the Thing of the dead.
-In comparison to the description of Thrall and Thy in Rigsthula, which looks to me like a description, though somewhat derogatory and exaggerated, of a Congoid or black person, or at least non-European (the latter of which Dr. Rydberg concurs to , see Fädernas Gudasaga pg. 198), we have that of Lyda in O.L.B. (pg. 6):
“Lyda was black, curly haired as the lambs, like stars blinked hey eyes; yea the prey bird’s locks were unsteady by comparison to hers.”
Next we move on to the second home Rig-Heimdall visited, that of Afi and Amma. From this visitation came the birth of Karl, who is said to have a “ruddy hue, and rapid eyes” (Rigsthula 21). Again we must conclude that his wife Snoer is of the same blood as he. When we think of the “ruddy” hue of Karl we may think of Nordic’s man ability to blush, which other races seem to be incapable of. Or one might think of the pinkish color of some Europeans, especially Atlantids (Celts).
Another possibility is that this is a remnant of an earlier account about the Orientals. We know of a race of people who have been given the stereotype of having “red” skin, even though it is generally light to dark brown. This is the Native Americans or American Indians. Of course, we have to assume for the logic of this investigation that the author of the poem had no knowledge of the “new world” and its inhabitants. However, it would not be difficult to confuse these people with many different groups found in the near and far East, which is how they received the name “Indians”. Thus the word “ruddy” may imply “red”.
Either way we want to look at this it is undeniable that the race of Karl shares the characteristics with the folk of Finda in that both are seen as the group between, both genetically and esthetically, those of Thrall/Lyda and Jarl/Frya. Here is Finda’s description in O.L.B. (pg. 6):
Finda was yellow and her hair like the mane of a horse (cp. Seidr Paradigm §54: “Dark was the storm in the East. Dark were the riders, short with horse-tail hair”). She could not bend a tree (like Lyda); but where Lyda made one lion die, there killed she well ten.”
We can compare this connection of the “yellow” races of Finda with the Mongols from what is told of her children on pg. 7 of O.L.B.:
“Oh Finda! Then was the earth full of blood and thy children took off the heads of people like grass blades.”
(This may also be true of the Huns.)
Of course, the descriptions of Snoer and Finda are not as clear as those of Thy/Lyda and Erna/Frya and what we have here is somewhat speculative. However, since it is not our intent here to use this information, at least in this case, to create a hybrid saga based on these conclusions, but rather to simply present further connections O.L.B. has to the Scandinavian literature, and to elaborate the identity of the “Frya” character within the Frisian text, this is enough for our purpose. What we do know for sure is that in both accounts the folk of Snoer and Finda are represented as a middle class/race, neither as lowly as the folk of Lyda/Thy nor as exalted as the folk of Frya/Erna. This, in itself, is a significant connection for our investigation.,
Besides the fact that where Rigsthula gives little information on where the Teutonic matriarchs come from and little description of them and O.L.B. fills that gaps for us, and that Rigsthula fills in the gap for O.L.B.’s lack of patriarchs altogether, it is Frya’s description, who we believe in this aspect is Rigsthula’s Erna (who Rydberg proves to be Ynglingasaga’s Drott), that sheds the most light on the connection between the Norse patriarchs and the Frisian matriarchs.
-Remember that Rydberg pointed out (above) that Mannus’Kon (Halfdan) is the grandson of Earth, since he is the foster-son of Thor, son of Earth (Erde)- Frigga. The same would be true of any of the sons of Frya in O.L.B. for she is said to be the daughter of Earth (this may have caused the original compounding of the stories), though do not forget that this was for the aspect of Frya-Embla, rather than Frya-Erna.
-Jarl is said to have flaxen hair (Rigs. 35), a fair hue, and eyes that blazed like the adder’s/ His wife, Erna-Drott, is said (str. 40) to be dainty fingered, fair-haired and wise.
-”Frya was white as snow at morning-red (dawn) and the blue of her eyes won she yet from off the rainbow.
Beautiful Frya. Like beams of the midday sun shone her hair which was as fine as spider web...” (O.L.B. pg. 7)
As Erna is called “wise” so is Frya:
“Wise Frya, when she had brought up her children to the seventh generation, she called them all together at Flyland. There she gave them her tex and said, “let it be your pathfinder that nothing shall ever go ill for you.”
We can see from this quote that Frya lives on the earth for a very long time (at least seven generations). Rydberg says that the Nordic saga “gives the oldest Teutonic patriarchs a very long life, in the same manner as the Bible in the case of Adam and his descendants. They lived for centuries.” (Teut. Myth. ch. 20).
Although there is no doubt that this
concept of Frya’s wisdom fits to her aspect as Erna-Drott in the Scandinavian
literature it is most likely that the account of her gathering her children
at Fyland to give them her tex is a blend of both the saga of Heimdall
and Frya in her third aspect as the goddess Freyja, as we shall see.