Oera Linda
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The Oera Linda Book is a controversial Frisian historical, mythological, and religious text that first came to light in the 19th century. Though modern linguistic analysis has tended to favour the hypothesis that the book is a hoax, the overall themes presented within the text have led some people in each generation to consider it genuine. This has usually been attributed to its populist thematic appeal (primarily in the form of extreme Eurocentrism and general nationalism), but is equally likely to be derived from its largely female-oriented spiritual philosophy. At least one modern organisation, the Daughters of Frya, have based their religious beliefs and practices on the Oera Linda Book.
History
The Oera Linda Book or originally known as Thet Oera Linda Bok, came to light in 1867 when Cornelis Over de Linden (1811-1874) handed the manuscript, claimed to have been kept in the Over de Linden family for generations, over to Eelco Verwijs (1830-1880), the provincial librarian of Friesland, for translation and publication. Verwijs rejected the manuscript and Dr. Jan Gerhardus Ottema (1804-1879), prominent member of the Friesch Genootschap ter Beoefening van Friesche Geschiedenis, Oudheid en Taalkunde, published his translation in 1872 which was subsequently translated into English by William Sandbach (1876).
Over de Linden claimed to have inherited the book from his grandfather, via his aunt. The text is written in the ancient Westfriesch language, even older and purer [[Citing sources citation needed]] than the language of the Frisian Rjuchtboek, the book of old Frisian laws. The Frisian language is the language most similar to English in terms of linguistic grouping on the conventionally accepted model of Indo-European language family relationships.
The current manuscript claims to date from 1256 and states that it is a copy of older manuscripts that, if genuine, would have been written by a variety of people between 2194 BCE and 803. If the manuscripts are in fact genuine, they would constitute one of the most important surviving record of early European prehistory.
Themes
Themes running through the Oera Linda Book include catastrophism, nationalism, matriarchy, and mythology.
The matriarchal theme is the most obvious one to a casual reader. The text alleges that Europe and other lands were, for most of their history, ruled by a succession of ‘Reverend Mothers’ presiding over a hierarchical order of celibate priestesses, dedicated to the goddess Frya (an early variant [[Citing sources citation needed]] of the Norse Freya) and her father, the supreme god Wr-alda. Modern historiography is essentially ignored, particularly in the area of basic chronology of events in the recent and distant past of Europe.
The earliest portion of the Oera Linda Book, namely Frya’s Tex, was supposedly composed in 2194 BCE - whereas the most recent part, the letter of Hidde Oera Linda, dates to 1256. Almost half of the entire book comprises The Book of Adela’s Followers, the original text around which the rest grew. It is said to have been compiled in the 6th century BCE from a mixture of contemporary writings and ancient inscriptions, though none of this alleged source material has survived. The last two sections of the Oera Linda Book, the writings of Konered and Beden, contain a number of lacunae - indeed, the book itself breaks off in mid-sentence.
The book articulates the first known example of the concept of root races (though it doesn't call them that), and probably influenced H.P. Blavatsky to develop her own, much more elaborate ideas on the subject, as outlined in The Secret Doctrine (1888). It also mentions Atlantis under the name of Atland, which was supposedly submerged in 2194 BCE.
Scepticism
Immediately after its appearance there was great scepticism about the book, not only for the exceptional claims that were being made, but also because of a number of anachronisms it contained. Research was performed on the quality of the paper and this is reckoned to come from a papermill in Maastricht circa 1850. This has not stopped the book from being a source of inspiration for a number of occultists and speculative historians during the century or more since its emergence.
The authenticity of the book is supported by at least some Neo-Nazi groups, possibly because it indicates a Northern European origin for several Middle Eastern civilisations — this despite the fact that the book itself heavily criticises the ancestors of the Germans as uncouth barbarians. The book has also received interest from feminist and New Age groups and is commonly quoted in books about Atlantis.
Most speculation nowadays concerns the unknown author of the manuscript, the most likely candidates being Cornelis Over de Linden or Eelco Verwijs. A popular third choice of author is the Protestant preacher François Haverschmidt (1835-1894), well known for writing poetry under the pseudonym Piet Paaltjens. He lived in Friesland and was an acquaintance of Verwijs. Certainly only a handful of scolars in the Netherlands were well grounded in ancient Frisian and had extensive knowledge of Classicism. It has never been proven that any of the hoax authors ever wrote Thet Oera Linda Bok.
Latest developments
In 2004 the historian Goffe Jensma published a book about the case (De gemaskerde god. François Haverschmidt en het Oera Linda-boek). In his book he argued that Haverschmidt was the main writer of the book, with the help of Over de Linden and Verwijs. According to Jensma, Haverschmidt intended the Oera Linda Book as a parody on the Christian Bible.
External links
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