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Runeing Thanksgiving
When I was a kid I remember being told several stories about who discovered America. First, I learned about Columbus and then, of course, we were taught about the Pilgrims. And there was also some rumors about the Vikings. Being raised a Mormon gave me another perspective about the possibility of Hebrews escaping Jerusalem and traveling in what can only be described as submarines to the new world.
It really can be a confusing world when you are child and everyone wants you to believe one version of a story if it fits a convenient agenda. The truth is mired by time, opinions and agendas that, when opened up and revisited, give way to harsh criticism and accusations of religious hatred and bigotry.
Someone discovered the North American continent and the only thing that I can determine is that the forefathers and discoverers of this new world were many and perhaps forgotten in order to contrive a history that can be palatable for people who don’t want to open a dialogue about the unknown history that can be entertained especially at Thanksgiving when the majority of people want to identify with the Puritan Pilgrims and how they set the standard for a theocratic government.
The truth as I see it is that Columbus discovered the West Indies; the first colonists were businessmen who settled Jamestown; the Pilgrims were the second group to be known and cherished as the founders of what is said to be the America we know now. But perhaps we have overlooked other explorers that have mysteriously been forgotten or ignored.
Since the 1500s, shortly after the discovery of the New World, Welsh patriots had promoted the story that a Welsh prince named Madoc had discovered America in 1170, some three centuries before Christopher Columbus. Supposedly, Madoc landed somewhere in the vicinity of present-day Mobile, Alabama. Eventually, he and his men made their way up the Missouri River where their fair-skinned descendants lived on. Even today, there are still adherents running around claiming to have proof that this or that tribe–usually the Mandans of North Dakota–are descended from the Welsh.
Lewis and Clark were said to have encountered the fair-skinned Native Americans called the Mandans and, perhaps, this is where the legend of the Welsh-speaking Indian began. Still mired in legend, there are many who say that most of these so-called historical facts are merely conjecture.
I laugh at all of the so called “conjecture” accusations because those who are able to accuse someone of revising history are the same people that told me Columbus discovered America and that the Pilgrims were all happy little Christians and not fanatics that no one could tolerate.
Another interesting artifact that has been tossed around as a brilliant hoax, or a fascinating reality is the Kensington Runestone. The Kensington Runestone was supposedly discovered in 1898 in Minnesota by Swedish-American farmer Olof Ohman. This rectangular stone slab is covered on two sides by Runic writing, the script of the Vikings. The translation goes:
Vinland is the Viking name for the area they explored in North America. Götaland is a region of Sweden. It wouldn’t be strange for Vikings to write “Ave Maria” in 1362 because they had converted to Christianity by then. Most supporters of the stone believe the inscription is proof that Vikings ventured inland from their coastal settlements.
This would clearly be a document of huge importance for the history of the European exploration of North America.
It claims that a part of eight Goths (Swedes) and twenty-two Northmen (Norwegians) had reached the midwest of the USA, setting out from Vinland, far to the east; ten of the party had been killed at a camp by a lake one day’s journey to the north. Kensington lies to the south of an area of numerous lakes.
Ten other men had been left to guard their ships at a location fourteen days’ journey from the site, which is described as an “island”, although at the time of discovery, it was a knoll.
Recently, claims have been made that an analysis by Scott F. Wolter proves conclusively that the Kensington Runestone has been shown to be of medieval date. What has many investigators questioning Wolter’s discoveries is that Wolter has made a connection to the Knights Templar whom he hypothesizes fled Europe following the suppression of their order in 1312.
Wolter also believes that misinterpretation of one runic inscription led to the assumption that the visitors were, well, just visiting. He suggests instead that the rune-covered marker “was a land claim. They were not just on a journey of discovery, but a journey of acquisition.”
Another misreading of the runic text suggested that the Norsemen had been attacked and were “red with blood and dead.” Instead, Wolter believes, they wrote they were “red with blood and death,” which could have been their way of saying they suffered from the plague.
The sole basis of the supposed Templar connection is the link between a rune shape and a cross shape which they claim to be a Templar cross on the stone itself.
Now we are demonstrating one more possibility as to who wanted the new world. Is it now a Viking crew that had with them knowledge of the Knights Templar and were they fleeing their land for religious freedom as well? Science and skeptical archeology wants to dismiss the entire story as a hoax. Yet the stone slab is evidence of come intricate working and some interesting runes that when compared to medieval writings tend to be authentic if not close to authentic.
It seems that science is always in the process of debunking that which forces them to rewrite much of what they have religiously pushed for 400 years. Historians also would hope that we would just leave well enough alone. After all when I even hear of remarkable breakthroughs that will allegedly force a rewrite of history I just don’t hear about it or see it enforced.
It is kind of like when Astrologers had decided that they wanted to once again include the 13th house of the zodiac purists were outraged and many astrologers had dismissed something that had always been part of astrology only ignored and pushed aside. So now shall we limit our possible pasts for the convenience of mythology?
I believe it is common because of some unspoken agenda that we all speculate exists and yet we cannot figure out why it does.
We often say out of convenience that “It can’t be A, therefore it must be B.” However that also can be limiting and yet a hooked X is now the evidence of a Templar Knight discovery of America. There are so many possibilities that it cannot be left to being dismissed out right. Do we limit our thoughts and choices by saying it was an elaborate hoax for the year 1910 or can we conclude that what was found was truly a 14th century artifact.
We must remember that history, like science, is a work in progress. Politics, arrogance, jealousy and fear have influenced history and they often dismiss new discoveries that are capable of providing a clearer picture of our possible past, present and the future.
Text – Check out Ground Zero Radio with Clyde Lewis Live Nightly @ http://www.groundzeromedia.org
2012-11-21 11:20:09
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