Brit-Am Tribal Researches (14 November 2012, 29 Cheshvan 5773)
Contents:
1. Ole Haakon Jonsas (Norway): Agrees that Norway is Naphtali.
2. Dafydd (Australia): Naphtali, the Norse, and Democracy.
3. Cherie Koch: Norwegian Lars Monson and the Wolf Symbol of Benjamin.
1. Ole Haakon Jonsas (Norway): Agrees that Norway is Naphtali.
I have read a lot in the Bible last 6 months and I am impressed over your work. You have done a great job!! You have given me new eyes. Many Christian people don't understand this at all.
I do live by a great lake, my uncle was a sailor. So I agree on that we are Naphtali, my family has always lived at this farm (250 years). But I just have to ask you about Benjamin. Because my mother and father is not so good in English, so they have been reading on some Danish/ Norwegian web sites, and they was guessing that Norway is Benjamin.
Ole Haakon
2. Dafydd (Australia): Naphtali, the Norse, and Democracy
Yair, Shalom,
There are two recent items that I would like to discuss, these being your recent Hebrew Nations article regarding Naphtali http://hebrewnations.com/articles/tribes/naphtali.html and some comments you made regarding the Hebron Accord (if I may refer to the "Striped Tie Triad's" Hebron meeting as such).
I have no disagreement with your Naphtali essay (apart from 'that word' which should not be there), but there is an important element of the nature of Naphtali which you have mentioned in previous writings which was not included in your recent essay. This missing element concerns the 'speaker of goodly words', and the role of Thule in Norse mythology.
In 'The Tribes' and elsewhere, you speculated, quite intuitively in my opinion, that the reference to 'speaking goodly words' (Genesis 49:21) was reflected in the role of the Thule (the Speaker), and through the role of a Speaker, to Parliamentary democracy. I believe that your intuition was correct as the Norse settlers in Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Orkney and Shetland Islands and elsewhere established parliamentary rule over their lands. This includes the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea, whose Norse rulers established the Tynwald, the first Parliament in the British Isles, and the oldest parliament in the world.
You correctly identify the presence of Naphtali in Northern Scotland, the Scottish Hebrides, the Isle of Man, and south-east coastal cities in Ireland (Dublin, Waterford, Wexford and Cork) together with Iceland and the Northern Atlantic islands mentioned. Naphtali also had a presence in Northern Wales, particularly in Caernarvonshire and Anglesey. The Norse controlled Anglesey at one time, and thus controlled all shipping and trade between England and Ireland through control of the nearest two locations, Dublin and Anglesey. Even today, the bulk of all trade between England and Ireland passes through those two ports; Holyhead in Anglesey and Dublin in Ireland. This gave the Norse settlers absolute and unassailable control of the Irish Sea, given their additional presence on the Isle of Man to the north.
Anglesey is a Scandinavian name; the native Welshmen, the Cymry, have always referred to Anglesey as 'Ynys Mon'. The Welshmen, together with a mercenary Scottish Army, eventually drove the Norsemen out of Anglesey (David Hume's 'The History of England'). The Irish Norse however retained an active interest in Welsh politics, and sent armies at different times to support one minor King against another during the internecine wars in Gwynedd, so a family relationship existed and was maintained amongst the Irish and Welsh Norsemen,
I mention these things as they have a bearing on your observation that Naphtali lacks leadership ability, and is a team-player rather than a ruler.
If you ever had the misfortune to attend a leadership training course where you spend a few days being subjected to modern psychobabble, you would have learned that leadership styles exist across a wide spectrum. On one end of the spectrum is a dictatorial, authoritarian style of leadership; and at the opposite end of the spectrum is a consensus building style of leadership.
In the authoritarian style of leadership, one person dictates and everyone has to comply, without any input into the decisions of the authoritarian leader. A consensual approach to leadership sees the leader guiding a consensus of opinions, whereby those subject to the decision have the right to voice their opinions and they then take personal ownership of the decision as it includes their input alongside their colleagues. The consensual approach to leadership is exemplified in Parliamentary style democracies where issues are debated and views exchanges, and the final policy is usually amended to account for differing views which may be raised during the debate. The majority leader in a parliament is a Prime Minister, who isn't an autocratic ruler, but who is regarded as the first amongst peers. The chief officer in a parliament is a Speaker, who is responsible for the proper running of the parliament. An autocratic leader is of course associated with dictatorships, who may or may not have the best interests of his or her subjects at heart.
Given the association of Naphtali with parliamentary style democracies, I would say that Naphtali is not bereft of leadership abilities; instead Naphtali rejects authoritarian styles of leadership in preference for a consensual style of leadership.
Perhaps the best example of this is the 'round table' associated with an ancient Norse ruler from fabled times. The legends of Arthur were associated with an ancient ruler, possibly in Anglesey, who was the son of a ruler, a fearless war-lord named Uther Pendragon. Some historians (Google August Hunt) have suggested that Uther Pendragon (Othere the Chief Warrior) was a Norse Jarl (English: Earl) who had a son named Arthur (Art-gur in Welsh) which translates as Bear-man in Norse, coincidentally, also as Beowulf in Old English. Although the Arthurian legends have been embellished over the years, usually by continental writers who added chivalric romanticism and additional characters such as Lancelot and Parsifal, the 'round table' appears to have a historic element to it.
A round table suggests a Naphtalite element; here the leader sat with his chief officers as an equal, or the 'first amongst peers', rather than sitting on a throne dispensing orders which must be obeyed, and for which no dissenting opinion would be raised.
As a side note, if you would excuse the diversion, it is interesting that the Tudor Dynasty claimed to be the descendants of the fabled King Arthur. Henry VII's father, Henri Tewder, came from Anglesey, and so may have been related to the Norse Jarl Othere and his son the Bear Man (Arthur). Given that the Othere clan claimed again to be the descendants of Othere Vendelcrow, it is possible that the ancient Scylfing Dynasty reappeared centuries later in England as the Tudor Dynasty.
One other point I would to raise regarding your Naphtali essay is your belief that Naphtali is not numerous amongst the Jews in Israel. You most likely are correct, but I have discovered Y-DNA 'genetic cousins' amongst the Ashkenazi Jews in the Ukraine and Belarus, so given my Norse-Irish paternal line, I would venture to suggest that Naphtali was amongst the Khazar Jews who formed a significant part of the Ashkenazi Jews in Russia and Eastern Europe. This of course confirms your own belief that elements of Naphtali and Mannesah joined with the Jews migrating from Persia and Babylon to form the Khazarian Kingdom on the Russian Steppes. I would therefore suggest that Naphtali, even though still a minor presence amongst the Jews in Israel, may actually be there in a larger number than you expect.
My final point regarding your 'Are You Naphtali' essay is that it is unfortunate that you did not include a link to your earlier Brit-Am essay [Tribal Identifications: Naphtali]
regarding Naphtali.
3. Cherie Koch: Norwegian Lars Monson and the Wolf Symbol of Benjamin.
Shalom Yair,
I found this interesting video on youtube of a Norwegian man, Lars Monson. It is interesting that many link Benjamin, Norway and wolves, and here is a man who traveled across Canada on dog sled. His videos start out with a picture of (what looks like to me) a wolf. It's a remarkable video, I had to smile about Benjamin when I watched it. Here's the video URL and the description:
"Norwegian adventurer Lars Monsen and his dogs travel across Canadian wilderness making it an amazing journey that lasted for 2 Years and 7 months."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-arbvSst6U