The Rigsthula Revisited

This article should be read in conjuction with my articles The Rigsthula or Germanic Caste System[16/10/06] and Jarl the Wotan Caste[2/06/07].

Over recent months I have given further reflection to the Rigsthula account in the Poetic or Elder Edda and I have identified an additional interpretation. In addition to this being an account of the introduction of the Germanic or indeed Indo-European caste system or its divine sanction by Rig/Heimdall or Rig/Woden it is also an explanation of the divine interference or involvement in human `evolution`. I use the term `evolution` in a restricted sense as I do not subscribe to the Darwinian concept or theory. Perhaps `development` would be a better term to use.
Rather than viewing the impregnation of the three females-Edda, Amma and Modir as occuring within a short and thus contemporaneous time frame it is possible and indeed likely that there may have been long gaps of time between each visit by Rig to these human or proto-human females. One will observe on reading the account that each subsequent visit and impregnation results in a superior child in comparison to the the previous one[s].
The careful reader will also note that the first mother is called Edda or great grandmother, the second Amma or grandmother and the third and last Modir or mother.
This would imply a genetic link between the three generations rather than the creation of three seperate castes which may or may not be genetically linked. The terminology obviously implies a family relationship between the three children: Thrall, Karl and Jarl and not just a functional or caste relationship but of course both explanations may be equally valid.
The terminology-great grandmother, grandmother and mother should not be interpreted as 3 literal and directly subsequent linear generations. As I have indicated there could and probably was a great deal of time between each generation.
If Rig, being a God was the father of all three children then the astute reader will question why each child is of differing quality to its relatives. The answer to this question is simple. The three females are of differing genetic quality themselves and this would account for the varying quality of the three children.
It is significant that only with the third child, Jarl does Rig develop a paternal relationship.

"Then came Rig walking,
walking out of the thicket, taught him runes;
gave him a name, said he was his son;
then he told him to get ancestral property,
to get ancestral property, a long-established settlement."
[Rigsthula 36]

Rig did not have this relationship with his two other sons. Jarl is certainly favoured by Rig. It is interesting that Rig "taught him runes" as one would normally assume that this was part of the role of the great Rune Lord Himself, Woden.
However Voluspa 1 does refer to the "offspring of Heimdall", whoever this "offspring" may be.

Jarl or `Earl` himself fathers children, the youngest one being Kon or Kin as he is referred to in some translations. Again Rig has a paternal like relationship with his youngest grandson and he appears to be particularly favoured.

"He contended in rune-wisdom with Lord Rig,
he knew more tricks, he knew more;
then he gained and got the right
to be called Rig and to know the runes."
[Rigsthula 45]

From the line of Rig-Jarl-Kon/Kin a noble race of kings was born.
Let us not forget that Rig is cognate with the Irish Ri and itself means `king`. The young Kon[Konr ungr] becomes the King[Konungr] a word which is found in all Germanic languages. So Rig is the kingmaker, the progenitor of Germanic royalty.
Strangely though it is Woden who is usually referred to as being the ancestor of Kings. In some instances such as amongst the Swedes this honour is ascribed to Yngvi-Freyr, the father of the Yngling dynasty.
This is a subject that I hope to revisit as the Germanic Gods feature most strongly as not only the fathers of Germanic royal dynasties but the fathers of the common Germanic folk as well if `common` is an appropriate term to use as I belive that as Teutons we are all sons of the Gods.

The Nordic Appearance of the Aryan Gods

Over recent years from my studies of the mythologies of various Aryan peoples I have been struck by the similarity in the physical appearance of the Gods of the various pantheons. Hardly without exception they are of Nordic, indeed of extreme Nordic appearance with "snow white" skin, tall in height, light eyed, being mainly blue, grey or green and light haired, predominately blond but also red. There are some exceptions. Poseidon or Neptune, the Greek/Roman sea God has black hair but he is the brother of Zeus/Jupiter and thus of the same divine stock. In the fairytale of Snow White the heroine of the tale has "snow white" skin but raven hair.
A cursory study of Homer`s Illiad and Odyssey confirm that in the vast majority of cases the Gods and Demi-Gods/Heroes are light skinned, light eyed and light haired.
Jos Rogiers in his splendid work The Lost Civilization of Homo Supersapiens also makes this observation and does a thorough job of it. I refer readers to Part II Chapter 6 in which he goes into great detail and quoting many references to Aryan myths and fairytales which consistently describe the physical appearance of the divine beings referred to. We must not forget that fairytales, although collected and recorded in post conversion times do contain a great deal of mythological knowledge although much of it has a Christian veneer. The ancient Gods and Godesses of the Aryan peoples could no longer be openly referred to. Many that could not be canonised by the church were subsequently demonised. Many of the Gods continued to survive as fairies, fays, giants, elves, dwarves or banshees. As befitting beings of the Golden Age of Earth the Gods and Goddesses frequently are clothed in white, silver, golden or purple raiment. Often the Celtic ones also appear in green.
Often they carry weapons or tools of great value, being gold or silver. This is not surprising as in the Golden Age gold and silver were in great abundance on the earth.
Apart from the major deities which are usually 12 or 13 in number there is a host of other minor Gods and Goddesses and those who are of part divine descent, named as heroes in the Greek tradition. Heroes have only one divine parent, most often it is the father rather than the mother.
These heroes or Demi-Gods share the same sort of appearance as the Gods. Nymphs, many giants, valkyries and elves also share this same radiant, beautiful and unearthly appearance. On a personal note I recently had a dream in which a shining blonde Goddess appeared to me and announced: "Iam Eriu, Goddess of the Aryans."
The various Aryan mythologies make it clear that the royal families of the Aryan nations were of divine descent. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles record the Germanic God Woden as being the ancestor of the royal families of the various Anglo-Saxon tribes.
Not only were the kings and princes able to claim a divine lineage but many of the common people of the Aryan nations. For instance Tacitus` Germania states in section 2.2: "In ancient lays, their only type of historical tradition, they celebrate Tuisto, a god brought forth from the earth. They attribute to him a son, Mannus, the source and founder of their people, and to Mannus three sons, from whose names those nearest the Ocean are called Ingvaeones, those in the middle Herminones, and the rest Istvaeones." Mannus appears to be the same deity referred to in Indo-Iranian mythology as Manu. With some justification the Germanic peoples could and indeed should think of themselves as a divine people, sons and daughters of the Gods. Indeed is it not amongst northern Europeans that the Nordic strain is still strongest? Indeed it is our genetic link to the Golden Age Gods who once walked the earth and were overlords of the human races and the parents of some. They will walk the earth again when this present Dark Age of chaos, this Wolf Age, this Iron Age, this Kali Yuga is brought to a violent climax with Ragnarok[Korangar for those with understanding].

Germany Reaches New Level of Shame-Rudolf Hess`s Grave Destroyed By Church Authorities

Taken from BBC News website:

The grave holding the remains of Adolf Hitler's deputy Rudolf Hess has been destroyed to stop it being used as a pilgrimage site by neo-Nazis.

Hess's bones were exhumed at the graveyard in the town of Wunsiedel, southern Germany, early on Wednesday.

The remains were later cremated and are to be scattered at sea.

Hess was captured after flying to Britain in 1941 and sentenced to life in prison. He killed himself in a Berlin jail in 1987 at the age of 93.

As he requested in his will, he was buried in the small Bavarian town of Wunsiedel, where his family had a holiday home and where his parents were already interred.

The local Lutheran church which supervises the cemetery gave its permission for the burial at the time, ruling that the wishes of the deceased could not be ignored.

But they and local people have since become concerned by the number of far-right groups visiting the grave.
'Peace'

Each year on the anniversary of his death, neo-Nazis have attempted to stage a march to the cemetery, saluting the grave with its epitaph "I dared", and laying floral wreaths.
Continue reading the main story
Rudolf Hess
Rudolf Hess (undated image)

1894: Born in Alexandria, Egypt
1914-18: Serves during WWI, ending war as lieutenant
1920: Joins Hitler's fledgling Nazi party
1923: Imprisoned with Hitler and becomes his secretary
1933: Becomes Hitler's deputy after his rise to power
1941: Seeks peace with Britain by flying solo to Scotland; detained in Britain
1946: Convicted of crimes against peace at Nuremberg Trials and given life sentence
1947: Transferred to Spandau Prison in Berlin
1987: Found hanged

The enduring myth of Rudolf Hess

A member of the church council, Hans-Juergen Buchta, told the Associated Press news agency: "The whole town was shut down and in turmoil and there was a huge police presence. We here at the graveyard were not always able to cope."

A 2005 court order banning such gatherings had little effect so the church decided to terminate the family's lease on the grave as of October 2011.

A granddaughter of Hess objected to the decision and filed a lawsuit in an attempt to prevent it going ahead, but was eventually persuaded by the parish council to drop the case and allow the exhumation to go ahead.

Roland Schoeffel, the deputy mayor of Wunsiedel, told AFP news agency that the monument had been razed "in an operation not open to the public".

Cemetery administrator Andreas Fabel told AP news agency on Thursday: "The grave is now empty. The bones are gone."

One resident, named as Mrs Koenig, said: "Perhaps we will now have some peace when he is gone. Perhaps they won't come any more, which is what Wunsiedel wants."

Charlotte Knobloch, the head of the Jewish community in Munich and Upper Bavaria, welcomed the move.

"For decades this town and its inhabitants were terrorised by far-right extremists from all over the world," she is quoted as saying by AFP.

Hess was one of Hitler's closest aides. But in 1941 he made a solo flight to Scotland, where his plane crash-landed, in an apparently unauthorised peace mission which was denounced by the fuhrer.

He was imprisoned by the British for the duration of the war.

At the Nuremberg Trials in 1946, Hess was cleared of war crimes and crimes against humanity but convicted of crimes against peace and jailed for life.

He spent 40 years in Spandau Prison in Berlin.

He was the last remaining inmate at the prison when he was found hanged there in August 1987.

Adolf Hitler`s "Jewish DNA" a Hoax

Taken from Talk to Action website:

Is it the hoax of the year ? Well, time will tell but so far an embarrassing number of mainstream media venues (see list at story end) have fallen for and are rebroadcasting a claim from two Belgians, Jean-Paul Mulders and Marc Vermeeren, that based on a lab analysis of the DNA of 39 of Hitler's living relatives which, say the two men, found that all 39 shared the Y-chromosome Haplogroup E1B1B1, Adolf Hitler may have had African and Jewish ancestors.

Let's start with the 'African ancestry' bit. All members of Homo Sapiens Sapiens can trace their ancestry back to Africa, where the human species originated. Next: Mulders and Vermeeren suggest that, because Jews have more of the E1B1B1 gene, Hitler may have had Jewish ancestors. But Hitler's family was Austrian and it turns out that 9% of Austrians currently carry the E1B1B1 gene. We can safely presume the gene was also common in 19th Century Austria among non-Jewish citizens. For that matter, E1B1B1 is also common in Europe, especially in Southern Europe. So Hitler's close ancestors might have been Northern Italian, Greek or Albanian too.

And the historical case for Hitler's alleged "Jewish ancestry" is vanishingly thin but that hasn't stopped several media outlets carrying this story from tacking on an anti-Jewish conspiracy yarn, discredited over a decade ago, which claims that Hitler's grandmother was impregnated by a Jewish man from Graz.

A few voices have already voiced studied disgust. For example the author of Dienekes' Anthropology blog, which "is dedicated to human population genetics, physical anthropology, archaeology, and history" scathingly comments,

"I'm not going to honor with the link all the stories circulating in a number of newspapers about Hitler being supposedly of "Jewish or African" origin because he belonged to haplogroup E1b1b1.

This comes from a study of men believed to share patrilineal origin with Hitler.

It is difficult to see how much of the hype is due to the original geneticists or to the "journalists" who report on the work.

These "Jewish and African" roots are supposedly due to the fact that Hitler belonged to haplogroup E1b1b1. But, without further information about the subclade in which Hitler belonged to, there is no reason to think that he was of Jewish or African ancestry. He could just as well be of Greek or Albanian patrilineal ancestry. But, I guess that "Hitler's Greek or Albanian roots" doesn't have the same zing that his "Jewish and African roots" does."

Meanwhile, as the UK Telegraph's breathless "Hitler 'had Jewish and African roots', DNA tests show" narrates,

"Saliva samples taken from 39 relatives of the Nazi leader show he may have had biological links to the "subhuman" races that he tried to exterminate during the Holocaust.

Jean-Paul Mulders, a Belgian journalist, and Marc Vermeeren, a historian, tracked down the Fuhrer's relatives, including an Austrian farmer who was his cousin, earlier this year.

A chromosome called Haplogroup E1b1b1 which showed up in their samples is rare in Western Europe and is most commonly found in the Berbers of Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, as well as among Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews.

"One can from this postulate that Hitler was related to people whom he despised," Mr Mulders wrote in the Belgian magazine, Knack."

Yes, one can "postulate" that. One could also "postulate" the existence of a vast alien base on the dark side of the Moon.

But let's start here, with Hitler's "African roots" : all humans on Earth have African ancestry. So noting Hitler had "African roots" is about as meaningful as stating that he walked on two feet and lacked a tail: standard human features.

Now, Mulders and Vermeeren may have intended to convey the message that Hitler had relatively recent African genetic ancestry (E1B1B1 is from a Y-chromosome family that originated with a genetic mutation about 20,000 years ago) but then there's the claim that if Hitler possessed the E1B1B1 gene that it would somehow be reasonable or logical to conclude that he "might" have had Jewish ancestry.

Well, about 9% of the population of Austria carries the E1B1B1 gene (source) so Occam's Razor would suggest the simplest explanation - that Hitler got the E1B1B1 Y-chromosome from an ethnically non-Jewish Austrian ancestor: almost a 1/10 chance.

IN fact, the E1B1B1 gene is relatively common in Europe. Here's the incidence in major European countries:
France - 8%,
Germany 4%
Italy 11% (Northern Italy 24%)
Portugal 17%
Switzerland 9%
Spain 6%
Slovakia 11%
Greece 27%
[note: at the tip of Southern Greece E1B1B1 reaches up to 40%, incidence and there's a 40% pocket around Montenegro too.]

Unfortunately, the "Jewish ancestry" meme plays into a discredited (for a quick, pithy writeup see Cecil Adam's The Straight Dope) but widely cited claim that Hitler's alleged Jewish ancestor was a Jew from the city of Graz who impregnated Hitler's grandmother, Maria Schicklgruber.

Variants of the Schicklgruber/Jewish grandfather claim pop up in four stories covering the "Hitler's Jewish and African ancestry" hoax (The UK Telegraph, the Jewish Daily Forward, JTA News and New York Magazine) and that's rather unfortunate given that the story was on the way out by 1976, when Pulitzer Prize winning historian John Toland wrote, on page 4 of his landmark 1976 book Adolf Hitler,

"There is the slight possibility that Hitler's grandfather was a wealthy Jew named Frankenberger or Frankenreither; that Maria Anna [Hitler's grandmother] had been a domestic in the Jewish household at Graz and the young son had gotten her pregnant."

A few decades later, another prominent Hitler biographer and historian, Ian Kershaw, definitively debunked the claim in his 1998 book Hitler 1889-1936 Hubris. On page 8 Kershaw writes,

"There was no Jewish family called Frankenberger in Graz during the 1830s. In fact, there were no Jews at all in the whole of Styria at the time, since Jews were not permitted in that part of Austria until the 1860s. A family named Frankenreiter did live there but was not Jewish. There is no evidence that Anna Maria was ever in Graz, let alone was employed by the butcher Leopold Frankereiter."

There are even sketchier versions of the yarn, I might add, that claim Maria Schicklgruber was impregnated by a scion of the famous Rothschild lineage and the Frankenberger/Rothschild Hitler-lineage class of conspiracy theory does rather nasty work, as Talk To Action contributor Rachel Tabacnick explains in The Jewish Daily Forward and JTA Publish a Discredited Anti-Jewish Conspiracy Theory,

"This is a conspiracy theory that has been rejected by serious historians and should not be repeated as fact in any reputable journal, certainly not Jewish publications. This same conspiracy narrative is currently rampant in right wing America and is used to claim that Hitler was an heir of a demonic bloodline of the same Jewish/Illuminati cabal which is now supposedly leading the nation into the clutches of a fascist and/or communist "New World Order."

[...]

This particular Hitler myth is a key component of the horrific narratives of Jewish culpability for evil in the world that is a part of growing "New World Order" conspiracy ideologies. As in the 1920s and 30s, this narrative of the world being manipulated by a Rothschild/Illuminati cabal has again been merged with end times prophecy and tales of the imminent anti-Christ. By blending the narratives, conspiracy theories like the Protocols of the Elders of Zion can be openly marketed as religious literature by those who are careful to separate the "good Jews" from the demonic lineage of "evil Jews," currently defined as those in the liberal, secular humanist camp. In this way Jews can be made into the villains of history and the source of evil and rebellion against God, even in times when Jews were the victims.

John Hagee, for instance, tapped into this narrative of Hitler's Jewish pedigree in his 2006 book Jerusalem Countdown. He claimed that Esau's descendants "produced the half-breed Jews of history who have persecuted the Jews beyond human comprehension." In other sermons he has described Hitler, as well as the anti-Christ whose rule Hagee claims is imminent, as partially Jewish. As Bruce Wilson has written, the Holocaust can then be rewritten as a result of violent Jewish psychopathology."

Besides the UK Telegraph, here are a few other venues running the DNA Testing/"Hitler's Jewish and African Roots" hoax:

New York Daily News ("Nazi leader Adolf Hitler had Jewish and African relatives, DNA test suggests"

Time ("New Research Shows That Hitler Had Jewish Roots"

Bloomberg (Hitler DNA Tests Show He Likely Had Jewish, African Roots, Daily Mail Says)

Ha'aretz (DNA tests reveal Hitler's Jewish and African roots)
Jewish Telegraphic Agency ("Hitler likely had Jewish, African roots"

Cleveland Leader (DNA Tests Reveal Adolf Hitler Had Jewish & African Relatives

UK Sun ("Hitler's 'Black and Jewish' DNA' ")

Times of India ("Adolf Hitler had Jewish, African ancestors, show DNA tests"

UK Metro ("Hitler had `Jewish and black ancestors' "

New York Magazine (Hitler Fail)