FROM GODDESS TO KING

A History of Ancient Europe from the

OERA LINDA BOOK

By Anthony Radford

CHAPTER 14

ADELA, THE UN-ELECTED MOTHER

Thenext sections of this book cannot begin with the traditional understanding of recorded history because it is all new stuff. Our only familiarity is in the origins of many proper names, several of which are described quite differently in this text from standard works on word origins.

After the murder of Frana in 586 BC, the people wanted the burgtmaid Adela to be their new Earth Mother but she refused because she wished to resign from her citadel and marry, which she did. For the next thirty years no Mother could be elected because each state supported its own Maiden. More land was lost to the Magy of the Finns and Magyars but not by conquest of arms. He used propaganda on children and bribes on the nobles, promising them permanent hereditary offices with special privileges. These were long term plans that undermined the very foundation of Friesland society.

Adela had studied this and advised the education of the young, particularly the girls who would grow up to instill values into their children. She wanted all their history recorded so that the next generation would grow up to be proud of their heritage. Adela was the real author of the Oera Linda Book and other lost volumes.

During Adelas unofficial reign, nobles were then being mentioned but the meaning of such offices was changing. A count took the public inventory; he counted, initially the market sales which were taxed and the profits of the ships which were shared and later on, the military levy of armed men. It eventually became a position of privilege, even an hereditary one. A duke was a hearer of disputes like a local judge and it has already been mentioned that a king was an elected short-term commander.

Adelas Advice:

Thirty years after the day on which the Earth Mother was murdered by the commander Magy, was a time of great distress. All the states that lie on the other side of the Weser had been wrested from us, and had fallen under the power of Magy, and it looked as if his power was to become supreme over the whole land. To avert this misfortune a general assembly of the people was summoned, which was attended by all the men who stood in good repute with the Maidens. Then at the end of three days the whole council was in confusion, and in the same position as when they came together.

Thereupon Adela demanded to be heard, and said: "You all know that I was three years Burgtmaid. You know also that I was chosen for Earth Mother, and that I refused to be Earth Mother because I wished to marry Apol; but what you do not know is, that I have watched everything that has happened, as if I had really been your Earth Mother. I have constantly traveled about, observing what was going on. By that means I have become acquainted with many things that others do not know. You said yesterday that our relatives on the other side of the Weser were dull and cowardly; but I may tell you that the Magy has not won a single village from them by force of arms; but only by detestable deceit, and still more by the rapacity of their dukes and nobles.

"Frya has said we must not admit among us any but free people; but what have they done? They have imitated our enemies, and instead of killing their prisoners, or letting them go free, they have despised the counsel of Frya, and have made slaves of them.

"Because they have acted thus, Frya cared no longer to watch over them. They robbed others of their freedom, and therefore lost their own.

"This is well known to you, but I will tell you how they came to sink so low. The Finn women had children. These grew up with our free children. They played and gamboled together in the fields, and were also together by the hearth.

"There they learned with pleasure the loose ways of the Finns, because they were bad and new; and thus they became denationalized in spite of the efforts of their parents. When the children grew up, and saw that the children of the Finns handled no weapons, and scarcely worked, they took a distaste for work, and became proud.

"The principal men and their cleverest sons made up to the wanton daughters of the Finns; and their own daughters led astray by a bad example, allowed themselves to be beguiled by the handsome young Finns in derision of their depraved fathers. When the Magy found this out, he took the most handsome of his Finns and Magyars, and promised them `red cows with golden horns to let themselves be taken prisoners by our people in order to spread his doctrines. His people did even more. Children disappeared, were taken away to the uplands, and after they had been brought up in his pernicious doctrines, were sent back.

"When these pretended prisoners had learned our language, they persuaded the dukes and nobles that they should become subject to the Magy - that then their sons would succeed to them without having to be elected. Those who by their good deeds had gained a piece of land in front of their house, they promised on their side should receive in addition a piece behind; those who had got a piece before and behind, should have a rounder, and those who had a rounder should have a whole freehold. If the seniors were true to Frya, then they changed their course, and turned to the degenerate sons. Yesterday there were among you those who would have called the whole people together, to compel the eastern states to return to their duty. According to my humble opinion, they would have made a great mistake. Suppose that there was a very serious epidemic among the cattle, would you run the risk of sending your own healthy cattle among the sick ones? Certainly not. Every one must see that doing that would turn out very badly for the whole of the cattle. Who, then, would be so imprudent as to send their children among a people wholly depraved?

"If I were to give you any advice, it would be to choose a new Earth Mother. I know that you are in a difficulty about it, because out of the thirteen Burgtmaid that we still have remaining, eight are candidates for the dignity; but I should pay no attention to that.

"Teuntia, the Burgtmaid of Medesblik, who is not a candidate, is a person of knowledge and sound sense, and quite as attached to our people and our customs as all the rest together. I should further recommend that you should visit all the citadels, and write down all the laws of Fryas Tex, as well as the histories, and all that is written on the walls, in order that it may not be destroyed with the citadels.

"It stands written that every Earth Mother and every Burgtmaid shall have assistants and messengers - twenty-one maidens and seven apprentices.

"If I might add more, I would recommend that all the respectable girls in the towns should be taught; for I say positively, and time will show it, that if you wish to remain true children of Frya, never to be vanquished by fraud or arms, you must take care to bring up your daughters as true Fryas daughters.

"You must teach the children how great our country has been, what great men our forefathers were, how great we still are, if we compare ourselves to others.

"You must tell them of the sea-heroes, of their mighty deeds and distant voyages. All these stories must be told by the fireside and in the field, wherever it may be, in times of joy or sorrow; and if you wish to impress it on the brains and the hearts of your sons, you must let it flow through the lips of your wives and your daughters." Adelas advice was followed.

With the ever-encroaching tide of Findas descendants changing what Fryas children considered their pure racial, ethnic, political and moral homeland, the inevitable loss of all their heritage to the Magi can be understood. Once they had held sway over all of Europe from as far as Atland to the Caucasus, but now only a remnant nation centered roundabout the mouth of the Rhine survived. This was still a formidable force in the sixth century BC consisting of thirteen citadels, each with a burgtmaid. Adela, seeing the trend of events, felt the need to record their story before it was totally lost or corrupted by the records of the new peoples who were both encroaching and supplanting the traditional makeup of Friesland society.

The story was initially written or begun by a number of maidens of whom we know nothing but their names. Adelas fears were well justified as their history and the principles for which it stood would be lost in large part through the deliberate acts of the early Christian hierarchy in Europe. The tales of Frya and her maidens would be labeled as pagan beliefs of the land. They would be denigrated and fear would be instilled in every child about the evils of these "witches".

The differences between the Roman or Greek pantheon and that of the present day Hindu pantheon are not great. These are all spiritual people, that is, believing in something greater than themselves, but the word "pagan" has been given a connotation it does not deserve. Originally it simply meant a countryman or "of the land", then it would come to mean one who was not Christian but the Church learned to use pagan methods and became very adept in the use of propaganda. Most of their cunning was learned from the tactics of the Magi.

Adela advised that the inscriptions on the walls of the citadels and the great trading warehouses should be recorded. That there were several such books is referred to but only one has survived. Remember these are recordings on paper from a humid country. It has been hard enough for clay tablets to survive in dryer climates, but paper had to be recopied by descendants from time to time who had to be still dedicated to the project. It is remarkable that even one has been preserved for twenty-six hundred years especially through ages where simply possessing heathen works was punishable by fire. The following extract gives some indication to the later authors of the Book. See Plate 8 for the Oera Linda family tree, which shows some light on the authorship and date of the work.

These are the Grevetmen under whose direction this book is composed:

Apol, Adelas husband; three times a sea-king; Grevetman of Ostflyland and Lindaoord. The towns Liudgaard, Lindahelm, and Stavia are under his care.

The Saxon Storo, Sytias husband; Grevetman over the Hoogefennen and Wouden. Nine times he was chosen as duke or heerman. The towns Buda and Mannagardaforde are under his care.

Abelo, Jaltias husband; Grevetman over the Zuiderflylanden. He was three times heerman. The towns Aken, Liudburg, and Katsburg are under his care.

Enoch, Dywckes husband; Grevetman over Westflyland and Texel. He was chosen nine times for sea-king. Waraburgt, Medesblik, Forana, and Fryasburgt are under his care.

Here in the writings of Adela is a postscript to this historical account, an anecdote to the circumstances of which we are not privy. The burgtmaid Medea is mentioned. The only other mention of Medea in the book is in regard to statues or idols of pagan gods. It could simply be a common name or it could be another story that we will never be told.

Following that postscript, the will of Frana was included in the Book from the writings of Della Hellenia by Wiljo, a contributor some two hundred years later about 290 BC. It was not found at the time Frana was killed.

When the sailors were in the creek, there was a wag from Stavern among them, who said, "Medea may well laugh if we rescue her from her citadel."

Upon this, the maidens gave to the creek the name Medea Meilakkia. The occurrences that happened after this everybody can remember. The maidens ought to relate it in their own way, and have it well inscribed. We consider that our task is fulfilled. Hail!

Thus runs Franas last will:

"All noble Frisians, Hail! In the name of Wr-Alda, of Frya, and of Freedom, I greet you; and pray you if I die before I have named a successor, then I recommend to you Teuntia, who is Burgtmaid in the citadel of Medesblik; till now she is the best."

The children of Adela and Apol continued the record. Here their daughter Apollonia writes her version of what transpired at the assembly called to elect a new Earth Mother after the death of Frana. Adela was chosen but refused to be the Mother because she chose marriage. A general misgiving of the whole national tradition had befallen the separate states as each of them forsook cooperation for individual short-term advantage.

Many lands were lost as a consequence of this attitude and Apollonia herself had given up hope that anything could restore them.

After the Magy was killed and Fryasburgt was restored, a Mother had to be chosen. The Mother had not named her successor, and her will was nowhere to be found. Seven months later a general assembly was called at Grenega, because it was on the boundary of Saxony. My mother was chosen, but she would not be the Mother. She had saved my fathers life, in consequence of which they had fallen in love with each other, and she wished to marry. Many people wished my mother to alter her decision, but she said an Earth Mother ought to be as pure in her conscience as she appears outwardly, and to have the same love for all her children.

"Now, as I love Apol better than anything else in the world, I cannot be such a Mother." Thus spoke and reasoned Adela, but all the other maidens wish to be the Mother. Each state was in favor of its own maiden, and would not yield. Therefore none was chosen, and the kingdom was without any restraint.

From what follows you will understand Liudgert, the king who had lately died, had been chosen in the lifetime of the Mother, and seemingly with the love and confidence of all the states. It was his turn to live at the great court of Dokhem, and in the lifetime of the Mother great honor was done to him there, as there were more messengers and knights there than had ever been seen there before. But now he was lonely and forsaken, because everyone was afraid that he would set himself above the law, and rule them like the slave kings.

Every headman imagined that he did enough if he looked after his own state, and did not care for the others. With the burgtmaidens it was still worse. Each of them depended upon her own judgment, and whenever a Grevetman did anything without her, she raised distrust between him and his people. If any case happened which concerned several states, and one maiden had been consulted, the rest all exclaimed that she had spoken only in the interest of her own state. By such proceedings they brought disputes among the states, and so severed the bond of union that the people of one state were jealous of those of the rest, or at least considered them as strangers; the consequences of which was that the Gauls or Triuwenden took possession of our lands as far as the Scheldt, and the Magy as far as the Wesara.

How this happened my mother has explained, otherwise this book would not have been written, although I have lost all hope that it would be of any use. I do not write in the hope that I shall win back the land or preserve it: in my opinion that is impossible. I write only for the future generations, that they may all know in what way we were lost, and that each may learn that every crime brings its punishment.

Adelas advice to copy the records inscribed on the walls throughout the land was made before the congress that was called to elect a new Earth Mother. These people made paper from flax and even pumpkin leaves, parchments called skrivfilt so naturally there has been no lasting records of any originals. Adela advised the choice of the Burgtmaid Teuntia as the successor, actually the recommendation made in the will of the previous Earth Mother Frana that had been lost, but politics then was not unlike politics today. A jealous burgtmaid spoke eloquently enough to confound the elections. Her name is not known but she was the Mother of Texland, a place from where earth mothers were often chosen and she had expected to be next. This burgtmaid even fled to the Magy, who made her a mother in Scandinavia, and tried to combine her influence with his own in order to return her to Texland as the new Earth Mother.

The consequences of this aborted election were a self-imposed exile and rebellion by the jealous Maiden with the ever-willing help of the Magy followed by an invasion of Texland itself.

These are the writings left by Bruno, who was the recorder of this burgt. After the followers of Adela had made copies, each in his kingdom, of what was inscribed upon the walls of the burgt, they resolved to choose a Mother. For this purpose a general assembly was called at this farm.

By the first advice of Adela, Teuntia was recommended. That would have been arranged, only that my Burgtmaid asked to speak: she has always supposed that she would be chosen Mother, because she was at the burgt from which mothers had generally been chosen.

When she was allowed to speak, she opened her false lips and said: "You all seem to place great value on Adelas advice, but that shall not shut my mouth. Who is Adela, and whence comes it that you respect her so highly? She was what I am now, a Burgtmaid of this place; is she, then, wiser and better than I and all the others? Or is she more conversant with our laws and customs? If that had been the case, she would have become Mother when she was chosen; but instead of that she preferred matrimony to a single life, watching over herself and her people. She is certainly very clear-sighted, but my eyes are far from being dim. I have observed that she is very much attached to her husband, which is very praiseworthy; but I see, likewise, that Teuntia is Apols niece. Further I say nothing."

The principal people understood very well which way the wind blew with her; but among the people there arose disputes, and as most of the people came from here, they would not give the honor to Teuntia. The conferences were ended, knives were drawn, and no Mother was chosen.

Shortly afterwards one of our messengers killed his comrade. As he had been a man of good character hitherto, my Burgtmaid had permission to help him over the frontier; but instead of helping him over to Germany, she fled with him herself to Wesara, and then to the Magy.

The Magy, who wished to please his sons of Frya, appointed her Mother of Godaburgt, in Scandinavia; but she wished for more, and she told him that if he could get Adela out of the way he might become master of the whole of Fryas land. She said she hated Adela for having prevented her from being chosen Mother. If he would promise her Texland, her messenger should serve as guide to his warriors. All this was confessed by her messenger.

In spite of the loss of huge territories in the east, south and north, Fryas land was still a formidable nation, one that the Magyars and the Finns could not openly attack. Apollonia later gives us a description of the country when she becomes a burgtmaid herself, but first the story of Adela continues. She was no longer a burgtmaid but yielded considerable influence from her farm. A description of this powerful influence, and its loss, has just been given concerning the old king Liudgert at Dokhem where it was shown that popular appeal was essential regardless of merit.

At the time of the harvest festival when everyone was merrymaking, the Magy sent an assassin into Adelas house and killed her with a poisoned arrow. No assailant survived the attack but this political opposition, this rallying focus was removed. Adela was a seven-foot giant skilled in the use of arms. Her seven-foot sword dispatched several of the assassins before the poison did its work.

Even with the help of the treacherous burgtmaid that he appointed to the foreign post of Mother of Godaburgt in Sweden, the Magy failed to prevail at that time. Fryas land did not fall from invasion but eventually they did fall by sedition from within. The external influences and weakness of character described earlier took its inevitable toll but not for several hundred years; a story yet to be told. This was still the sixth century BC; the golden age of Greece was not yet underway, Rome was about to throw out its kings and was considered part of the Celtic empire and the sea-kings had many voyages to make.

But the seeds of a new age had been planted. Even so the Matriarchal Age would have one more glorious era before falling to the age of male dominance and Christian suppression.

Fifteen months after the last general assembly, at the festival of the harvest month, everybody gave himself up to pleasure and merrymaking, and no one thought of anything but diversion; but Wr-Alda wished to teach us that watchfulness should never be relaxed. In the midst of the festivities the fog came and enveloped every place in darkness. Cheerfulness melted away, but watchfulness did not take its place. The coast-guard deserted their beacons, and no one was to be seen on any of the paths.

When the fog rose, the sun scarcely appeared among the clouds; but the people all came out shouting with joy, and the young folks went about singing to their bagpipes, filling the air with their melody. But while every one was intoxicated with pleasure, treachery had landed with its horses and riders. As usual, darkness had favored the wicked, and they had slipped in through the paths of Lindas wood.

Before Adelas door twelve girls led twelve lambs and twelve boys led twelve calves. A young Saxon bestrode a wild bull which he had caught and tamed. They were decked with all kinds of flowers, and the girls dresses were fringed with gold from the Rhine.

When Adela came out of her house, a shower of flowers fell on her head; they all cheered loudly, and the fifes of the boys were heard over everything. Poor Adela! poor people! how short will be your joy!

When the procession was out of sight, a troop of Magyar soldiers rushed up to Adelas house. Her father and her husband were sitting on the steps. The door was open, and within stood Adelbrost, her son. When he saw the danger of his parents, he took his bow from the wall and shot the leader of the pirates, who staggered and fell on the grass. The second and third met a similar fate.

In the meantime his parents had seized their weapons, and went slowly to Jons house. They would soon have been taken, but Adela came. She had learned in the burgt to use all kinds of weapons. She was seven feet high, and her sword was the same length. She waved it three times over her head, and each time a knight bit the earth. Reinforcements came, and the pirates were made prisoners; but too late - an arrow had penetrated her bosom. The treacherous Magy had poisoned it, and she died of it.

At the funeral of Adela, this elegy was spoken. It was the final tribute to the Mother that was never elected. It gives us an insight into the life of this highly regarded heroine of a forgotten culture.

Yes, departed friend, thousands are arrived, and more are coming. They wish to hear the wisdom of Adela. Truly, she was a princess, for she had always been the leader. O Sorrow, what good can you do!

Her garments of linen and wool she spun and wove herself. How could she add to her beauty? Not with pearls, for her teeth were more white; not with gold, for her dresses were more brilliant; not with precious stones, for her eyes, though soft as those of a lamb, were so lustrous that you could scarcely look into them. But why do I talk of beauty? Frya was certainly not more beautiful; yes, my friends, Frya, who possessed seven perfections, of which each of her daughters inherited one, or at most three.

But even if she had been ugly, she would still have been dear to us. Is she warlike? Listen, my friend. Adela was the only daughter of our Grevetman. She stood seven feet high. Her wisdom exceeded her stature, and her courage was equal to both together. Here is an instance.

There was once a turf-ground on fire. Three children got upon yonder gravestone. There was a furious wind. The people were all shouting, and the mother was helpless. Then came Adela.

"What are you standing still here for?" she cried. "Try to help them, and Wr-Alda will give you strength." Then she ran to the Krylwood and got some elder branches, of which she made a bridge. The others then came to assist her, and the children were saved. The children bring flowers to the place every year.

There came once three Phoenician sailors, who began to ill-treat the children, when Adela, having heard their screams, beat the scoundrels till they were insensible, and then, to prove to them what miserable wretches they were, she tied them all three to a spindle.

The foreign lords came to look after their people, and when they saw how ridiculously they had been treated they were very angry, till they were told what had happened. Upon that they bowed themselves before Adela, and kissed the hem of her garment.

But come, distant living friend. The birds of the forest fled before the numerous visitors. Come, friend, and you shall hear her wisdom. By the gravestone of which mention has already been made her body is buried. Upon the stone the following words are inscribed:

"Tread Softly, for Here Lies Adela"

Following the death of Adela, the story is briefly taken up by Adelbrost, son of Apol and Adela, but he was not to live much longer in those troubled times. After a short passage his sister, Apollonia, continues the book. Apol and Adela had founded the Oera Linda family, a new surname that meant "over the lime trees", initially a reference to the location of their farm but soon to become a name of distinction for their descendants.

The tragic circumstances of Adelas family generated a reaction against the Magy that caused him much trouble for many years particularly after a citadel named Lindasburgt was built in present day Norway, the heart of the Finns territory. It was built by Apol, another brother, and was used in raids against the Magy.

Adelhirt, the youngest son of Adela, was fifty years of age when he was elected a Grevetman, an elder or a leader of a city. It shows how the Friesland society used men or women, old or young for positions that they could best serve in contrast to the hereditary systems of privilege which nobles would impose in the coming ages. Apollonia went to the maidens and by age thirty was chosen as burgtmaid of Liudgaard. She found many portions of what was to become The Oera Linda Book including the Book of Adelas Followers as well as adding valuable descriptions of her times. She was a major contributor to the Book.

My name is Adelbrost, the son of Apol and Adela. I was elected by my people as Grevetman over the Lindaoord. Therefore I will continue this book in the same way as my mother has spoken it.

My name is Apollonia. Two-and-thirty-days after my mothers death, my brother Adelbrost was found murdered on the wharf, his skull fractured and his limbs torn asunder. My father, who lay ill, died of fright.

Then my younger brother, Apol, sailed from here to the west side of Scandinavia. There he built a citadel named Lindasburgt, in order there to avenge our wrong. Wr-Alda accorded him many years for that. He had five sons, who all caused fear to Magy, and brought fame to my brother.

After the death of my mother and my brother, all the bravest of the land joined together and made a covenant, called the Adelbond. In order to preserve us from injury, they brought me and my youngest brother, Adelhirt, to the burgt, myself to the maidens, and he to the warriors.

When I was thirty years old I was chosen as burgtmaid, and my brother at fifty was chosen Grevetman. From mothers side my brother was the sixth, but from fathers side the third. By right, therefore, his descendants could put "Oera Linda" after their names, but they all wished to do it in honor of their mother.

In addition to this, there was given to us also a copy of "The Book of Adelas Followers." That gave me the most pleasure, because it came into the world by my mothers wisdom. In the burgt I have found other writings also in praise of my mother. All this I will write afterwards.

FROM GODDESS TO KING

A History of Ancient Europe from the

OERA LINDA BOOK

By Anthony Radford

CHAPTER 13

FRANA AND THE LOSS OF DENMARK

TheBook continues after nearly six hundred years of unrecorded history with the story of Frana. Frana was the Earth Mother at Texland in 591 BC (1602 - 2193 = -591). At the time of this recording, she was considered the last Mother but as we read on, we find the story of another one, two and a half centuries later. The Magy (a title not a name), leader of the Finns, apparently conquered Denmark after failing in his efforts at the time of Wodin. In the interim of fourteen hundred years of unrecorded history, Denmark was probably invaded several times so we can only guess the details.

Again, the loss is blamed on disregarding Fryas council as the Frisians over time had traded away their iron weapons for gold; and thereby, according to their history, so undermined their morals that defeat would be inevitable. This process took a hundred years. With todays rapid tempo in all aspects of our culture it is hard for us to understand a society that assessed its temperament over thousands of years. Prior to the loss of Atland they didnt even count the years "because one was like another," however the sinking was such a profound event that it dated the calendar for the next two thousand years. There has been so little of that age coming down to us in writing and yet it has been the major source of our Western mythology.

First we are given a sermon about why they lost Denmark, then we are told the details of how the Magy took that peninsula. He next attacked Texland, captured and killed Frana, the Earth Mother. He tried to bribe her into recognizing himself as the lawful king over all the country but was denied an opportunity to coerce her into any concessions. He had captured the sacred lamp of the capital city and all its surviving maidens, but this did not permit him to become the overlord in succession to Frana. The passage ends as many others do with "Watch, watch, watch"; be vigilant, be vigilant.

This is Inscribed in all of our Citadels, How our Denmark was lost to us 1,602 years after the submersion of Atland:

Through the mad wantonness of Wodin, Magy had become master of the east part of Scandinavia. They dare not come over the hills and over the sea. The Mother would not prevent it. She said, "I see no danger in their weapons, but much in taking the Scandinavians back again, because they are so degenerate and spoiled".

The general assembly were of the same opinion. Therefore it was left to them. A good hundred years ago Denmark began to trade; they gave their iron weapons in exchange for gold ornaments, as well as for copper and iron-ore. The Mother sent messengers to advise them to have nothing to do with this trade. There was danger to their morals in it, and if they lost their morals they would soon lose their liberty. But the Denmarkers paid no attention to her. They did not believe that they could lose their morals, therefore they would not listen to her. At last they were at a loss themselves for weapons and necessaries, and this difficulty was their punishment. Their bodies were brilliantly adorned, but their cupboards and their sheds were empty.

Just one hundred years after the first ship with provisions sailed from the coast, poverty and want made their appearance, hunger spread her wings all over the country, dissension marched proudly about the streets and into the houses, charity found no place, and unity departed. The child asked its mother for food; she had no food to give, only jewels. The women applied to the counts; the counts had nothing to give, or if they had, they hid it away. Now the jewels must be sold, but while the sailors were away for that purpose, the frost came and laid a plank upon the sea and the strait. When the frost had made the bridge, vigilance ceased in the land, and treachery took its place. Instead of watching on the shores, they put their horses in their sledges and drove off to Scandinavia. Then the Scandinavians, who hungered after the land of their forefathers, came to Denmark. One bright night they all came. "Now", they said, "we have a right to the land of our fathers; and while they were fighting about it, the Finns came to the defenseless villages and ran away with the children. As they had no weapons, they lost the battle, and with it their freedom, and Magy became master."

All this was the consequence of their not reading Fryas Tex, and neglecting her counsels. There are some who think that they were betrayed by the counts, and that the maidens had long suspected it; but if any one attempted to speak about it, his mouth was shut up by golden chains.

We can express no opinion about it, we can only say to you, "Do not trust too much to the wisdom of your princes or of your maidens but if you wish to keep things straight, everybody must watch over his own passions, as well as the general welfare."

Two years afterwards Magy himself came with a fleet of light boats to steal the lamp from the Mother of Texland. This wicked deed he accomplished one stormy night, while the wind roared and the hail rattled against the windows. The watchman on the tower hearing the noise, lighted his torch. As soon as the light from the tower fell upon the bastion, he saw that already armed men had gotten over the wall.

He immediately gave the alarm, but it was too late. Before the guard was ready, there were two thousand people battering the gate. The struggle did not last long. As the guard had not kept a good watch, they were overwhelmed. While the fight was going on, a rascally Finn stole into the chamber of the Mother, and would have done her violence. She resisted him, and threw him down against the wall. When he got up, he ran his sword through her: "If you will not have me, you shall have my sword."

A Danish soldier came behind him and cleaved his head in two. There came from it a stream of black blood and a wreath of blue flame.

The Magy had the Mother nursed on his own ship. As soon as she was well enough to speak clearly, the Magy told her that she must sail with him, but that she should keep her lamp and her maidens, and should hold a station higher than she had ever done before. Moreover, he said that he should ask her, in presence of all his chief men, if he would become the ruler of all the country and people of Frya; that she must declare and affirm this, or he would let her die a painful death.

Then, when he had gathered all his chiefs around her bed, he asked, in a loud voice, "Frana, since you are a prophet, shall I become ruler over all the lands and people of Frya?"

Frana did as if she took no notice of him; but at last she opened her lips, and said: "My eyes are dim, but the other light dawns upon my soul. Yes, I see it. Hear Irtha, and rejoice with me. At the time of the submersion of Atland, the first spoke of the Jule stood at the top. After that it went down, and our freedom with it. When two spokes, or two thousand years, shall have rolled down, the sons shall arise who have been bred of the fornication of the princes and priests with the people, and shall witness against their fathers. They shall all fall by murder, but what they have proclaimed shall endure, and shall bear fruit in the bosoms of able men, like good seed which is laid in thy lap. Yet a thousand years shall the spoke descend, and sink deeper in darkness, and in the blood shed over you by the wickedness of the princes and priests. After that, the dawn shall begin to glow. When they perceive this, the false princes and priests will strive and wrestle against freedom; but freedom, love, and unity will take the people under their protection, and rise out of the vile pool. The light which at first only glimmered shall gradually become a flame. The blood of the bad shall flow over your surface, but you must not absorb it. At last the poisoned animals shall eat it, and die of it. All the stories that have been written in praise of the princes and priests shall be committed to the flames. Thenceforth your children shall live in peace."

When she had finished speaking she sank down. The Magy, who had not understood her, shrieked out, "I have asked you if I should become master of all the lands and people of Frya, and now you have been speaking to another."

Frana raised herself up, stared at him, and said, "Before seven days have passed your soul shall haunt the tombs with the night birds, and your body shall be at the bottom of the sea."

"Very good," said the Magy, swelling with rage; "say that I am coming." Then he said to his executioners, "Throw this woman overboard."

This was the end of the last of the mothers. We do not ask for revenge. Time will provide that; but a thousand, thousand times we will call with Frya, Watch! watch! watch!

The Magy then sought to install another maiden in the position of Earth Mother. Politics in those days was little different from today where a symbol of legitimacy is needed to get ones way over others. He still needed the Mother but was defeated by the flaming arrows of the defending seamen. He was killed together with most of the Finns when his Danish sailors remembered their own heritage.

A reference is made to the great fleet being away at the time and to Jon, the sea-king at that time, obviously a namesake for the Jon of a thousand years earlier. The Joniers are still known to them and become very important at the time of the last Earth Mother.

How It Fared Afterwards With the Magy:

After the murder of the Mother, he brought the lamp and the maidens into his own ship, together with all the booty that he chose. Afterwards he went up the Flymeer because he wished to take the Maiden of Medesblik or Stavern and install her as Mother; but there they were on their guard. The seafaring men of Stavern and Alderga would gladly have gone to Jon, but the great fleet was out on a distant voyage; so they proceeded in their small fleet to Medesblik, and kept themselves concealed in a sheltered place behind trees.

The Magy approached Medesblik in broad daylight; nevertheless, his men boldly stormed the citadel. But as they landed from the boats, our people sallied forth from the creek, and shot their arrows with balls of burning turpentine upon the fleet. They were so well aimed that many of the ships were instantly set on fire. Those left to guard the ships shot at us, but they could not reach us. When at last a burning ship drifted towards the ship of the Magy, he ordered the man at the helm to sheer off, but this man was the Dane who had cleft the head of the Finn.

He said, "You sent our Earth Mother to the bottom of the sea to say that you were coming; In the bustle of the fight you might forget it; now I will take care that you keep your word."

The Magy tried to push him off, but the sailor, a real Frisian and strong as an ox, clutched his head with both hands, and pitched him into the surging billows. Then he hoisted up his brown shield and sailed straight to our fleet. Thus the maidens came unhurt to us; but the lamp was extinguished, and no one knew how that had happened.

When those on the uninjured ships heard that the Magy was drowned, they sailed away, because their crews were Danes. When the fleet was far enough off, our sailors turned and shot their burning arrows at the Finns. When the Finns saw that, and found that they were betrayed, they fell into confusion and lost all discipline and order. At this moment the garrison sallied forth from the citadel. Those who resisted were killed, and those who fled found their death in the marshes of the Krylinger wood.

FROM GODDESS TO KING

A History of Ancient Europe from the

OERA LINDA BOOK

By Anthony Radford

CHAPTER 12

TALES OF HOMER

Odyseus tied to the mast, defies the lure of the Sirens

Thetwo best known epic poems of ancient Greece are the Iliad and the Odyssey. It is presumed that they were written or at least recorded by Homer, an eighth century BC blind Ionian poet. There is a difference in the writing styles but that could be because of the long oral tradition that preceded the recording of these tales. Their chief value has been the poetic inspiration to Western literature having being translated and quoted innumerable times. Since Heinrich Schlieman discovered the site of Troy and Arthur Evans excavated Knossos on Crete, legends, which are recorded myths, have been taken more seriously.

The Iliad is regarded as the first example of Hellenic unity. The story concerns the wrath of Achilles who had been slighted by Agamemnon, the commander in chief of the Greek army that invaded Troy in Asia Minor. Ulysses is the King of the contingent from Ithaca during the ten year Trojan War.

The Odyssey is the story of the difficulties that Ulysses encounters on his return voyage to his home in Ithaca, a series of adventures that took an additional ten years. The beginning of the return voyage has been traced on maps and duplicated by several modern sailing craft through islands of north Africa, possibly Malta and back to Ithaca or actually a neighboring island, more likely to have been his ancient home. There is still the unknown nine years of the tale in which Ulysses is supposed to have been on the island of Ogygia and under the enchantment of the priestess Calypso. According to Homer he escaped from her charms but was shipwrecked being the sole, naked survivor. Ogygia was known as a name for Egypt in Byzantium times but in more ancient times could have been the name for Pharos Island. This island near Alexandria was a large and important port of the "Peoples of the Sea" according to ancient Egyptian recordings but that tiny, largely man-made island hardly fits the story of Homer.

In our ancient account Odysseus, or Ulysses as they knew him, is mentioned but a different view of this famous hero of old is given. Some light is shed on that missing nine years and even the Trojan War can be dated. Elsewhere, the Book makes mention of survivors from Troy (Etruscans) settling in Italy and founding the city of Rome, that fact being a known but not proven tradition.

Trade between the Rhine and the Mediterranean must have been an annual event with Frisian and Phoenician ships accounting for most of the traffic. Here we read how Greek ships, which probably included Italian, Cretan and Ionian vessels as well, had not arrived in the port where "all men" could trade for twelve years. Could this have been because of the Trojan War? We also notice some spelling changes in the proper names. Old Frisian was becoming Germanized.

Again we have a reference to Italians where they plainly meant Greeks. The year is 1188 BC (1005 - 2193 = -1188) and we are introduced to their version of the story of Ulysses. This odyssey shows the adventurer trying to get a sacred lamp from the Earth Mother in order to fulfill a prophecy that he would become king of Greece. Failing that he moved to the Frisian Island of Walhallagara (modern Walcheren) and was indeed enchanted by Kalip, the maiden there, even if her lip did jut out like a ships prow. After years he gets a lamp but loses it in a shipwreck, being the sole naked survivor. The real life story is not as glamorous as Homers tale but a good story always improves in the telling.

In the Year One Thousand and Five After Atland was Submerged this was Inscribed on the Eastern Wall of Fryasburgt:

After twelve years had elapsed without our seeing any Italians in Almanland, there came three ships, finer than any that we possessed or had ever seen.

On the largest of them was a king of the Jonischen Islands, whose name was Ulysses, the fame of whose wisdom was great. To him a priestess had prophesied that he should become the king of all Italy provided he could obtain a lamp that had been lighted at the lamp in Texland. For this purpose he had brought great treasures with him, above all jewels for women more beautiful than had ever been seen before. They were from Troy, a town that the Greeks had taken. All these treasures he offered to the mother, but the mother would have nothing to do with him.

At last, when he found that there was nothing to be obtained from her, he went to Walhallagara. There was established a burgtmaid whose name was Kaat, but who was commonly called Kalip, because her lower lip stuck out like a masthead. Here he tarried for years, to the scandal of all that knew it. According to the report of the maidens, he obtained a lamp from her; but it did him no good, because when he got to sea his ship was lost, and he was taken up naked and destitute by another ship.

Ulysses had a shipmate who related the following account of what happened to Athens after the Geertmen left. The Egyptian Cecrops continued to rule with high respect for Frisian customs but that attitude did not outlast him.

This tale is typical of the theme of the Oera Linda Book; the loss of Fryas ways and their replacement with what they termed was Findas selfish extravagance. We have had Puritanism and in our own time, even Communism, both trying to limit extravagance and promote the sharing of resources for the common good but unfortunately we witness them succumbing to the natural greed or selfish survival instincts of human nature. It was no different then. It is simply a persistent fact that inhabitants of colder climates have had to cooperate to survive while those of more temperate climes have had the leisure to be able to express themselves in colorful arts and activities that were regarded as sinful by the northerners such as clothes that could become a decoration, not just a necessity for keeping warm.

There was left behind this king (Ulysses) a writer of pure Fryas blood, born in the new harbor of Athens, who wrote for us what follows about Athens, from which may be seen how truly the Mother Hellicht spoke when she said that the customs of Frya could never take firm hold in Athens.

From the other Greeks you will have heard a great deal of bad about Cecrops, because he was not in good repute; but I dare affirm that he was an enlightened man, very renowned both among the inhabitants and among us, for he was against oppression, unlike the other priests, and was virtuous, and knew how to value the wisdom of distant nations. Knowing that, he permitted us to live according to our own Asegaboek. There was story current that he was favorable to us because he was the son of a Frisian girl and an Egyptian priest: the reason of this was that he had blue eyes, and that many of our girls had been stolen and sold to Egypt, but he never confirmed this. However it may have been, certain it is that he showed us more friendship than all the other priests together.

When he died, his successors soon began to tear up our charters, and gradually to enact so many unsuitable statues that at long last nothing remained of liberty but the shadow and the name. Besides, they would not allow the laws to be written so that the knowledge of them was hidden from us. Formerly all the cases in Athens were pleaded in our language, but afterwards in both languages, and at last in the native tongue only. At first the men of Athens only married women of our own race, but the young men as they grew up with the girls of the country took them to wife. The bastard children of this connection were the most handsome and cleverest in the world; but they were likewise the wickedest, wavering between the two parties, paying no regard to laws or customs except where they suited their own interests.

As long as a ray of Fryas spirit existed, all the building materials were for common use, and no one might build a house larger or better than his neighbors; but when some degenerate townspeople got rich by sea-voyages and by the silver that their slaves got in the silver countries, they went to live out on the hills or in the valleys. There, behind high enclosures of trees or walls, they built palaces with costly furniture, and in order to remain in good order with the nasty priests, they placed there likenesses of false gods and unchaste statues.

Sometimes the dirty priests and princes wished for the boys rather than the girls, and often led them astray from the paths of virtue by rich presents or by force. Because riches were more valued by this lost and degenerate race than virtue or honor, one sometimes saw boys dressed in splendid flowing robes, to the disgrace of their parents and maidens, and to the shame of their own sex. If our simple parents came to a general assembly at Athens and made complaints, a cry was raised, Hear, hear! there is a sea-monster going to speak. Such is Athens become, like a morass in a tropical country full of leeches, toads, and poisonous snakes, in which no man of decent habits can set his foot.

FROM GODDESS TO KING

A History of Ancient Europe from the

OERA LINDA BOOK

By Anthony Radford

CHAPTER 11

THE SETTLEMENT OF THE PUNJAB

Thenext section contains some startling information about Europes awareness of India. It has long been suspected that each country had some knowledge of the other but not in the detail here related. It has been the theme of this book to show how the Oera Linda Book can revise our present understanding of ancient history but in this chapter it is, in the main, new information. The most significant revision is one of giving us a greater appreciation for the capabilities of our Western ancestors.

It was the sea-king Jon who brought Minerva to the Mediterranean after her encounter with Kalta (Sijred). If Jon settled the islands and was using them for pirating about 1615 BC, then we have to surmise that Minerva had died and was succeeded by Geert as the new Mother in the region of Attica. A date of between 1600 and 1580 BC can therefore be assigned to a new earthquake here recorded. This quake closed the ancient predecessor of the Suez Canal or possibly a tributary of the Nile that ran into the Red Sea and permitted navigation beyond the Mediterranean. Both a canal and a tributary were known in ancient times but it is difficult to date them. It is not likely this quake was the Mt. Thera explosion but it could have been related to the disturbances that are known to have happened in that age. In Greece, Crete and Egypt there were many large quakes over several hundred years remembered in history. The Thera quake, for all its notoriety was probably very local with its effect felt mostly through fallout and possibly a tsunami. It is now assumed to have been before the date of the fire and destruction of Cretes city of Knossos, the end of the Late Minoan-A period. But the latest dating methods are themselves subject to changes of interpretation not to mention the very suspect Egyptian calendar used to relate all local events. This question is explored in Chapter 23, entitled, "The Atlantis Question".

This story, assumed to be from Minnos writings, mentions Egypt for the first time in 400 years since Teunis considered hiring his services to the Pharaoh about 2000 BC. This more recent age was about the era when Egyptian influence had reached and maintained for a dynasty its most northerly boundary in conjunction with the Hittite Empire. A land army behind Tyre and Sidon would have had much influence as it is recorded that the Egyptian priest Cecrops could sway the Thyriers to invade Athens, which was under siege from Attica. The Thyriers who were descendants of the settlers of Teunis, were obviously no allies of the Joniers but nevertheless still respected Frisian beliefs and did not want their wild mountain soldiers to pillage and rape their distant cousins.

Greece was not ready at that time for freedom or democracy. It would take another thousand years and then only the slave owning minority of citizens would be briefly free, but it can be surmised that Minerva had sown the seeds for democracy. After the death of Minerva the priests did not want another mother, but the settlers chose Geert anyway, a daughter of a respectable Frisian. A rebellion was incited resulting in the evacuation of Athens.

In reading on, we learn that the Frisians of Attica and Tyre joined once again to sail 115 ships through the Red Sea and settle in far off India with their women and children. They took with them the Mother Geert and her maidens. That they reached India and made a successful settlement there probably shows they had knowledge of that geography, the legacy of the sea-kings who had traded that far in the past. Over a thousand years later in the fourth century BC, this group enters standard recorded history with the coming of Alexander to India (327 BC). Europe had forgotten them but they had not forgotten Europe and had maintained their Frisian ways.

When Nyhellenia died, we wished to choose another mother, and some of us wished to go to Texland to look for her; but the priests, who were all powerful among their own people, would not permit it, and accused us before the people of being unholy.

This is About the Geertmen:

When Hellenia or Minerva died, the priests pretended to be with us, and in order to make it appear so, they deified Hellenia. They refused to have any other mother chosen, saying that they feared there was no one among her maidens whom they could trust as they had trusted Minerva, surnamed Nyhellenia.

But we would not recognize Minerva as a goddess, because she herself had told us that no one could be perfectly good except the spirit of Wr-Alda. Therefore we chose Geert Pyres daughter for our mother. When the priests saw that they could not fry their herrings on our fire (have everything their own way), they left Athens, and said that we refused to acknowledge Minerva as a goddess out of envy, because she had shown so much affection to the natives. Thereupon they gave the people statues of her, declaring that they might ask of them whatever they liked, as long as they were obedient to her. By these kinds of tales the stupid people were estranged from us, and at last they attacked us; but as we had built our stone city wall with two horns down to the sea, they could not get at us. Then, lo and behold! an Egyptian high priest, bright of eye, clear of brain, and enlightened of mind, whose name was Cecrops, came to give them advice.

When he saw that with his people he could not storm our wall, he sent messengers to Tyre. Thereupon there arrived three hundred ships full of wild mountain soldiers, which sailed unexpectedly into our haven while we were defending the walls. When they had taken our harbor, the wild soldiers wanted to plunder the village and our ships - one had already ravished a girl - but Cecrops would not permit it; and the Thyrian sailors, who still had Frisian blood in their veins, said, "If you do that we will burn our ships, and you shall never see your mountains again."

Cecrops, who had no inclination towards murder or devastation, sent messengers to Geert, requiring her to give up the citadel, offering her free exit with all her live and dead property, and her followers the same. The wisest of the citizens, seeing that they could not hold the citadel, advised Geert to accept at once, before Cecrops became furious and changed his mind. Three months afterwards Geert departed with the best of Fryas sons, and seven times twelve ships. Soon after they had left the harbor they fell in with at least thirty ships coming from Tyre with women and children. They were on their way to Athens, but when they heard how things stood there they went with Geert.

The sea-king of the Thyriers brought them altogether through the strait which at that time ran into the Red Sea. At last they landed at the Punjab, called in our language the Five Rivers, because five rivers flow together to the sea. Here they settled, and called it Geertmania.

The King of Tyre afterwards, seeing that all his best sailors were gone, sent all his ships with his wild soldiers to catch them, dead or alive. When they arrived at the strait, both the sea and the earth trembled. The land was up-heaved so that all the water ran out of the strait, and the muddy shores were raised up like a rampart. This happened on account of the virtues of the Geertmen, as every one can plainly understand.

That they reached India is well recorded in the Book. We now include the following description of the land at the mouth of the Indus River where they settled and also of the neighboring regions. It is not in the correct historical sequence because the description comes from a time twelve hundred years later when ships from that region returned to Friesland bringing Liudgert, the king of the descendants of those settlers. Liudgert the Geertman settled in Western Europe and wrote the following account of the Punjab.

He asserts how the mythic origins of the Indian people correspond to Frisian beliefs about inception, but that in the same stories from time immemorial in all cultures, priests corrupted these early beliefs into power tools by using fear. They defended their power by denunciation and indoctrination until they totally controlled the populace.

These priests "who came from another country" could be a reference to the Aryan invasion of India that is generally credited to about 1500 BC, the same time as the arrival of the Geertmen. They were not the same people, but tradition links them to the Iranians and their fire culture. This became a culture of sacrifice and elaborate rituals that were codified in the early Vedic texts defining the ever more complicated sacrifices, temple and home procedures; obviously a priestly device.

We are told that back in Iran, the sacred fire tradition now associated with Zoroaster of a thousand years more recent had been very pure and personal whereas the version that had taken root in India was corrupted by priests. These priests exiled groups of opponents, to the west, while other people simply fled to avoid the rituals and monstrous graven images. Those who fled gave the name Hindu to those that stayed behind because they were as submissive before their princes as "hinds before wolves". This Germanic word further links the Persians with the Europeans.

The flat lands, between the Indus and the Ganges, were all forest and fields, very fertile, but that did not prevent famines from occurring as a result of oppressive taxation. Wild animals are then described in detail, mostly recognizable with todays names and many fruits and nuts are also described. Some of these would appear like tall tales back in Texland but we now know what was being described.

Among my fathers papers I found a letter from Liudgert the Geertman. Omitting some passages which only concern my father, I proceed to relate the rest:

Punjab, that is five rivers, and by which we travel, is a river of extraordinary beauty, and is called Five Rivers, because four other streams flow into the sea by its mouth. Far away to the eastward is another large river, the Holy or Sacred Ganges. Between these two rivers is the land of the Hindus. Both rivers run from the high mountains to the plains. The mountains in which their sources lie are so high that they reach the heavens and therefore these mountains are called Himalayas.

Among the Hindus and others of these countries there are people who meet together secretly. They believe that they are pure children of Finda, and that Finda was born in the Himalayan mountains, whence she went with her children to the lowlands. Some of them believe that she, with her children, floated down upon the foam of the Ganges, and that is the reason why the river is called the Sacred Ganges. But the priests, who came from another country, traced out these people, and had them burnt, so that they do not dare to declare openly their creed.

In this country all the priests are fat and rich. In their churches there are all kinds of monstrous images, many of them of gold. To the west of the Punjab are the Yren, or morose, the Gedrosten, or runaways, and the Urgetten, or forgotten. These names are given by the priests out of spite, because they fled from their customs and religion.

On their arrival our forefathers likewise established themselves to the east of the Punjab, but on account of the priests they likewise went to the west. In that way we learned to know the Yren and other people. The Yren are not savages, but good people, who neither pray to nor tolerate images; neither will they suffer priests or churches; but as we adhere to the light of Fasta, so they everywhere maintain fire in their houses.

Coming still further westward, we arrive at the Gedrosten. Regarding the Gedrosten: They have been mixed with other people, and speak a variety of languages. These people are really savage murderers, who always wander about the country on horseback hunting and robbing, and hire themselves as soldiers to the surrounding princes, at whose command they destroy whatever they can reach.

The country between the Punjab and the Ganges is as flat as Friesland near the sea, and consists of forests and fields, fertile in every part, but this does not prevent the people from dying by thousands of hunger. The famines, however, must not be attributed to Wr-Alda or Irtha, but to the princes and priests. The Hindus are timid and submissive before their princes, like hinds before wolves. Therefore the Yren and others have called them Hindus, which means hinds. But their timidity is frightfully abused.

If strangers come to purchase corn, everything is turned into money, and this is not prevented by the priests, because they, being more crafty and rapacious than all the princes put together, know very well that all the money will come into their pockets. Besides what the people suffer from their princes, they suffer a great deal from poisonous and wild beasts. There are great elephants that sometimes go about in whole herds and trample down corn-fields and whole villages. There are great black and white cats which are called tigers. They are as large as calves, and they devour both men and beasts.

Besides other creeping animals there are snakes from the size of a worm to the size of a tree. The largest can swallow a cow, but the smallest are the most deadly. They conceal themselves among the fruits and flowers, and surprise the people who come to gather them. Any one who is bitten by them is sure to die, as Irtha has given no antidote to their poison, because the people have so given themselves up to idolatry. There are, besides, all sorts of lizards, tortoises and crocodiles.

All these reptiles, like the snakes, vary from the size of a worm to the trunk of a tree. According to their size and fierceness, they have names which I cannot recollect, but the largest are called alligators, because they eat as greedily the putrid cattle that float down the stream as they do the living animals that they seize.

On the west of the Punjab where we come from, and where I was born, the same fruits and crops grow as on the east side. Formerly there existed also the same crawling animals, but our forefathers burnt all the underwood, and so diligently hunted all the wild animals, that there are scarcely any left. To the extreme west of the Punjab there is found rich clay land as well as barren heaths, which seem endless, occasionally varied lovely spots on which the eye rests enchanted.

Among the fruits there are many that I have not found here. Among the various kinds of corn some is as yellow as gold. There are also golden apples, of which some are as sweet as honey, and others as sour as vinegar. In our country there are nuts as large as a childs head. They contain cheese and milk. When they are old oil is made from them. Of the husks ropes are made, and of the shells cups and other household utensils are made. I have found in the woods here bramble and holly berries. In my country we have trees bearing berries, as large as your limetrees, the berries of which are much sweeter and three times as large as your gooseberries.

When the days are at the longest, and the sun is in the zenith, a mans body has no shadow. If you sail very far to the south and look to the east at midday, the sun shines on your left side as it does in other countries on the right side. With this I will finish. It will be easy for you, by means of what I have written, to distinguish between false accounts and true descriptions.

Your Liudgert.

The above section was written in the fourth century BC. It attests to a southern expedition to Ceylon by the Geertmen that was done at the bidding of Alexander the Great. The reader will recognize the description of oranges, lemons, coconuts and mango trees.