by Dafydd in Sinim (26 February 2016, 17 Adar-A, 5776)
Yair, Shalom
Your correspondent Jay wrote (Brit-Am Now 2563):
"Much earlier I believe I wrote about King Henry VIII as being left handed,
suggesting he was Benjaminite."
I haven't read Jay's earlier post, but there is a possibility that the Tudor
Dynasty was the re-emergence of the ancient Scylfing Dynasty, therefore more
likely to be Naphtalite rather than Benjaminite. The linkage is tenuous at
best, and it is based on Henry VII's claim to the throne based on his
(alleged) descent from King Arthur. The historian and writer August Hunt
links Uther Pendragon (Uther the Chief Warrior), Arthur's father, to Jarl
Othere, a Norwegian Viking who established the Othere/Ottar Dynasty which
ruled the Scottish Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey, and numerous cities in
south-east Ireland (Dublin, Wexford, Waterford & Cork).
The Othere/Ottar name is thought to have originated from Ottar Vendelcrow,
of the ancient Swedish Scylfing Dynasty who were seated at Vendel in
Uppsala, Sweden. They were defeated by the invading Geats (Goths from Gad)
and moved westward to Norway. The population explosion in Norway around 800
CE resulted in the migration of many Vikings to northern Scotland, the
Shetland, Orkney, and Faroe Islands, Iceland, and south into the Irish Sea
through the Scottish Hebrides, Isle of Man, Anglesey in Wales, and
south-east Ireland.
The native Cymry (Welshmen) eventually drove the Vikings out of Anglesey
with the assistance of a mercenary Scottish Army, though Anglesey retains
its Scandinavian name (to the Welsh, Anglesey is "Ynys Mon"). The Norwegian
Kings of Dublin nevertheless continued to send armies from time to time to
Wales to assist various Welsh Princes in their internecine wars which
suggests that there was an existing family connection. Henry Tudor, who was
to become Henry VII, was a descendant of Henri Tewder from Anglesey, so a
family connection to Jarl Othere and his son Arthur is possible (the name
Arthur is also of Scandinavian origins, it means Bear-Man, same as Beowulf
in ancient English).
The connection to Naphtali is also suggested in the "round table" for which
Arthur is usually associated. According to the Sages, Naphtali has no (or
little) leadership ability, and is the last of the Tribes*. I am not sure
of the origins of this belief regarding Naphtali's lack of leadership, but
it is probably associated with Barak's (of Naphtali) reliance on Deborah to
achieve defeat over the Canaanite oppressors of the Israelites in the days
of the Judges.
While it is correct that Naphtalites generally don't care for autocratic or
dictatorial rulers, they have shown a reliance on consensual or collective
styles of leadership. The best examples of this are the Althing (Iceland's
Parliament), the Logting (the world's first Parliament in the Faroe Island),
and the Tynwald, the first Parliament in the U.K. on the Isle of Man.
Parliaments elect a leader, a Prime Minister, who is regarded as the First
amongst Equals, who is answerable to the Parliament and who is not an
autocratic ruler. Uther Pendragon's round table, which is probably the only
historic certainty in the whole collection of Arthurian legends, carries the
same message, Jarl Othere sat amongst his chief warriors as First amongst
Equals, not as an autocratic ruler seated on a high throne.
*"Last of the Tribes" may be correct, the Naphtalites were the last Tribe to
migrate westward (to Norway), but this may have been due to Divine decree
rather than any other reason. The exiled Naphtalites were placed in Armenia,
which became the western-most province of the (Hebrew) Parthian Empire. As
such, they controlled the mountain routes which passed through the Caucasus
Mountains, and therefore they were able to keep the routes open for their
kinsmen in Asia Minor, Persia and other points eastward who were migrating
westward, and who arrived in Europe as the Caucasians.
Sections of Benjamin were also present in Norway, but they migrated
southward as the Northmen (Normans) who settled on the French Atlantic
coast. Perhaps a section of Benjamin remained and they may have been the
Berserkers who accompanied the Vikings on their raids. The Vikings stood
well clear of the Berserkers as they, when in a murderous trance-like rage,
wouldn't differentiate between friend or foe. The Berserkers would also wear
nothing other than a wolf skin into battle, the wolf being a symbol of
Benjamin, and also the flag under which the Norman's sailed.
Regards,
Dafydd in Sinim