My name is Frêthorik, surnamed oera Linda, which means over the
Linden. In Ljudwardia I was chosen as Asga. Ljudwardia is a new
village within the fortification of the Ljudgaarda, of which the
name has fallen into disrepute. In my time much has happened. I had
written a good deal about it, but afterwards much more was related to
me. I will write an account of both one and the other after this book,
to the honour of the good people and to the disgrace of the bad.
In my youth I heard complaints on all sides. The bad time was coming;
the bad time did come--Frya had forsaken us. She withheld from us all
her watch-maidens, because monstrous idolatrous images had been found
within our landmarks. I burnt with curiosity to see those images. In
our neighbourhood a little old woman tottered in and out of the houses,
always calling out about the bad times. I came to her; she stroked
my chin; then I became bold, and asked her if she would show me the
bad times and the images. She laughed good-naturedly, and took me
to the citadel. An old man asked me if I could read and write. No,
I said. Then you must first go and learn, he replied, otherwise it
may not be shown to you. I went daily to the writer and learnt. Eight
years afterwards I heard that our Burgtmaagd had been unchaste, and
that some of the burgtheeren had committed treason with the Magy, and
many people took their part. Everywhere disputes arose. There were
children rebelling against their parents; good people were secretly
murdered. The little old woman who had brought everything to light
was found dead in a ditch. My father, who was a judge, would have
her avenged. He was murdered in the night in his own house. Three
years after that the Magy was master without any resistance. The
Saxmen had remained religious and upright. All the good people fled
to them. My mother died of it. Now I did like the others. The Magy
prided himself upon his cunning, but Irtha made him know that she
would not tolerate any Magy or idol on the holy bosom that had borne
Frya. As a wild horse tosses his mane after he has thrown his rider,
so Irtha shook her forests and her mountains. Rivers flowed over the
land; the sea raged; mountains spouted fire to the clouds, and what
they vomited forth the clouds flung upon the earth. At the beginning
of the Arnemaand (harvest month) the earth bowed towards the north,
and sank down lower and lower. In the Welvenmaand (winter month)
the low lands of Fryasland were buried under the sea. The woods in
which the images were, were torn up and scattered by the wind. The
following year the frost came in the Hardemaand (Louwmaand, January),
and laid Fryasland concealed under a sheet of ice. In Sellemaand
(Sprokkelmaand, February) there were storms of wind from the north,
driving mountains of ice and stones. When the spring-tides came the
earth raised herself up, the ice melted; with the ebb the forests
with the images drifted out to sea. In the Winne, or Minnemaand
(Bloeimaand, May), every one who dared went home. I came with a maiden
to the citadel Liudgaarde. How sad it looked there. The forests of
the Lindaoorden were almost all gone. Where Liudgaarde used to be was
sea. The waves swept over the fortifications. Ice had destroyed the
tower, and the houses lay heaped over each other. On the slope of the
dyke I found a stone on which the writer had inscribed his name. That
was a sign to me. The same thing had happened to other citadels as
to ours. In the upper lands they had been destroyed by the earth, in
the lower lands by the water. Fryasburgt, at Texland, was the only one
found uninjured, but all the land to the north was sunk under the sea,
and has never been recovered. At the mouth of the Flymeer, as we were
told, thirty salt swamps were found, consisting of the forest and the
ground that had been swept away. At Westflyland there were fifty. The
canal which had run across the land from Alderga was filled up with
sand and destroyed. The seafaring people and other travellers who
were at home had saved themselves, their goods, and their relations
upon their ships. But the black people at Lydasburgt and Alkmarum
had done the same; and as they went south they saved many girls, and
as no one came to claim them, they took them for their wives. The
people who came back all lived within the lines of the citadel, as
outside there was nothing but mud and marsh. The old houses were all
smashed together. People bought cattle and sheep from the upper lands,
and in the great houses where formerly the maidens were established
cloth and felt were made for a livelihood. This happened 1888 years
after the submersion of Atland.
For 282 years we had not had an Eeremoeder, and now, when everything
seemed lost, they set about choosing one. The lot fell upon Gosa,
surnamed Makonta. She was Burgtmaagd at Fryasburgt, in Texland. She
had a clear head and strong sense, and was very good; and as her
citadel was the only one that had been spared, every one saw in that
her call. Ten years after that the seafarers came from Forana and
Lydasburgt. They wished to drive the black men, with their wives and
children, out of the country. They wished to obtain the opinion of
the mother upon the subject. She asked them: Can you send them all
back to their country? If so, then lose no time, or they will find
no relatives alive. No, they said. Gosa replied: They have eaten
your bread and salt; they have placed themselves entirely under
your protection. You must consult your own hearts. But I will give
you one piece of advice. Keep them till you are able to send them
back, but keep them outside your citadels. Watch over their morals,
and educate them as if they were Frya's sons. Their women are the
strongest here. Their blood will disappear like smoke, till at last
nothing but Frya's blood will remain in their descendants. So they
remained here. Now, I should wish that my descendants should observe
in how far Gosa spoke the truth. When our country began to recover,
there came troops of poor Saxon men and women to the neighbourhoods
of Staveren and Alderga, to search for gold and other treasures in
the swampy lands. But the sea-people would not permit it, so they
went and settled in the empty village of the West Flyland in order
to preserve their lives.
NOW I WILL RELATE HOW THE GEERTMAN AND MANY FOLLOWERS OF HELLENIA
CAME BACK.
Two years after Gosa had become the mother (303 B.C.) there
arrived a fleet at Flymeer. The people shouted "Ho-n-sêen" (What a
blessing). They sailed to Staveren, where they shouted again. Their
flags were hoisted, and at night they shot lighted arrows into the
air. At daylight some of them rowed into the harbour in a boat,
shouting again, "Ho-n-sêen." When they landed a young fellow jumped
upon the rampart. In his hand he held a shield on which bread and salt
were laid. After him came a grey-headed man, who said we come from
the distant Greek land to preserve our customs. Now we wish you to
be kind enough to give us as much land as will enable us to live. He
told a long story, which I will hereafter relate more fully. The old
man did not know what to do. They sent messengers all round, also to
me. I went, and said now that we have a mother it behoves us to ask
her advice. I went with them myself. The mother, who already knew
it all, said: Let them come, they will help us to keep our lands,
but do not let them remain in one place, that they may not become
too powerful over us. We did as she said, which was quite to their
liking. Fryso remained with his people at Staveren, which they made
again into a port as well as they could. Wichhirte went with his people
eastwards to the Emude. Some of the descendants of Jon who imagined
that they sprang from the Alderga people went there. A small number,
who fancied that their forefathers had come from the seven islands,
went there and set themselves down within the enclosure of the citadel
of Walhallagara. Liudgert, the admiral of Wichhirt, was my comrade,
and afterwards my friend. Out of his diary I have taken the following
history.
After we had been settled 12 times 100 and twice 12 years in the Five
Waters (Punjab), whilst our naval warriors were navigating all the
seas they could find, came Alexander the King, with a powerful army
descending the river towards our villages. No one could withstand him;
but we sea-people, who lived by the sea, put all our possessions on
board ships and took our departure. When Alexander heard that such
a large fleet had escaped him, he became furious, and swore that
he would burn all the villages if we did not come back. Wichhirte
was ill in bed. When Alexander heard that, he waited till he was
better. After that he came to him, speaking very kindly--but he
deceived, as he had done before. Wichhirte answered: Oh greatest of
kings, we sailors go everywhere; we have heard of your great deeds,
therefore we are full of respect for your arms, and still more for
your wisdom; but we who are free-born Fryas children, we may not
become your slaves; and even if I would, the others would sooner
die, for so it is commanded in our laws. Alexander said: I do not
desire to take your land or make slaves of your people, I only wish
to hire your services. That I will swear by both our Gods, so that
no one may be dissatisfied. When Alexander shared bread and salt
with him, Wichhirte had chosen the wisest part. He let his son fetch
the ships. When they were all come back Alexander hired them all. By
means of them he wished to transport his people to the holy Ganges,
which he had not been able to reach. Then he chose among all his
people and soldiers those who were accustomed to the sea. Wichhirte
had fallen sick again, therefore I went alone with Nearchus, sent by
the king. The voyage came to an end without any advantage, because the
Joniers and the Phoenicians were always quarrelling, so that Nearchus
himself could not keep them in order. In the meantime, the king had
not sat still. He had let his soldiers cut down trees and make planks,
with which, with the help of our carpenters, he had built ships. Now he
would himself become a sea-king, and sail with his whole army up the
Ganges; but the soldiers who came from the mountainous countries were
afraid of the sea. When they heard that they must sail, they set fire
to the timber yards, and so our whole village was laid in ashes. At
first we thought that this had been done by Alexander's orders, and
we were all ready to cast ourselves into the sea: but Alexander was
furious, and wished his own people to kill the soldiers. However,
Nearchus, who was not only his chief officer, but also his friend,
advised him not to do so. So he pretended to believe that it had
happened by accident, and said no more about it. He wished now
to return, but before going he made an inquiry who really were the
guilty ones. As soon as he ascertained it, he had them all disarmed,
and made them build a new village. His own people he kept under arms to
overawe the others, and to build a citadel. We were to take the women
and children with us. When we arrived at the mouth of the Euphrates,
we might either choose a place to settle there or come back. Our pay
would be guaranteed to us the same in either case. Upon the new ships
which had been saved from the fire he embarked the Joniers and the
Greeks. He himself went with the rest of his people along the coast,
through the barren wilderness; that is, through the land that Irtha
had heaved up out of the sea when she had raised up the strait as
soon as our forefathers had passed into the Red Sea.
When we arrived at New Gertmania (New Gertmania is the port that
we had made in order to take in water), we met Alexander with his
army. Nearchus went ashore, and stayed three days. Then we proceeded
further on. When we came to the Euphrates, Nearchus went ashore
with the soldiers and a large body of people; but he soon returned,
and said, The King requests you, for his sake, to go a voyage up
the Red Sea; after that each shall receive as much gold as he can
carry. When we arrived there, he showed us where the strait had
formerly been. There he spent thirty-one days, always looking steadily
towards the desert.
At last there arrived a great troop of people, bringing with them 200
elephants, 1000 camels, a quantity of timber, ropes, and all kinds of
implements necessary to drag our fleet to the Mediterranean Sea. This
astounded us, and seemed most extraordinary; but Nearchus told us that
his king wished to show to the other kings that he was more powerful
than any kings of Tyre had ever been. We were only to assist, and that
surely could do us no harm. We were obliged to yield, and Nearchus
knew so well how to regulate everything, that before three months
had elapsed our ships lay in the Mediterranean Sea. When Alexander
ascertained how his project had succeeded, he became so audacious
that he wished to dig out the dried-up strait in defiance of Irtha;
but Wr-alda deserted his soul, so that he destroyed himself by wine
and rashness before he could begin it. After his death his kingdom
was divided among his princes. They were each to have preserved a
share for his sons, but that was not their intention. Each wished
to keep his own share, and to get more. Then war arose, and we could
not return. Nearchus wished us to settle on the coast of Phoenicia,
but that no one would do. We said we would rather risk the attempt to
return to Fryasland. Then he brought us to the new port of Athens,
where all the true children of Frya had formerly gone. We went,
soldiers with our goods and weapons. Among the many princes Nearchus
had a friend named Antigonus. These two had only one object in view,
as they told us--to help the royal race, and to restore freedom to
all the Greek lands. Antigonus had, among many others, one son named
Demetrius, afterwards called the "City Winner." He went once to the
town of Salamis, and after he had been some time fighting there, he
had an engagement with the fleet of Ptolemy. Ptolemy was the name of
the prince who reigned over Egypt. Demetrius won the battle, not by
his own soldiers, but because we helped him. We had done this out
of friendship for Nearchus, because we knew that he was of bastard
birth by his white skin, blue eyes, and fair hair. Afterwards,
Demetrius attacked Rhodes, and we transported thither his soldiers
and provisions. When we made our last voyage to Rhodes, the war
was finished. Demetrius had sailed to Athens. When we came into the
harbour, the whole village was in deep mourning. Friso, who was king
over the fleet, had a son and a daughter so remarkably fair, as if
they had just come out of Fryasland, and more beautiful than any one
could picture to himself. The fame of this went all over Greece, and
came to the ears of Demetrius. Demetrius was vile and immoral, and
thought he could do as he pleased. He carried off the daughter. The
mother did not dare await the return of her joi (the sailors wives
call their husbands joi or zoethart (sweetheart). The men call their
wives troost (comfort) and fro or frow, that is, vreuyde (delight)
and frolic; that is the same as vreugde.)
As she dared not wait for her husband's return, she went with her
son to Demetrius, and implored him to send back her daughter; but
when Demetrius saw the son he had him taken to his palace, and did
to him as he had done to his sister. He sent a bag of gold to the
mother, which she flung into the sea. When she came home she was out
of her mind, and ran about the streets calling out: Have you seen my
children. Woe is me! let me find a place to hide in, for my husband
will kill me because I have lost his children.
When Demetrius heard that Friso had come home, he sent messengers
to him to say that he had taken his children to raise them to high
rank, and to reward him for his services. But Friso was proud and
passionate, and sent a messenger with a letter to his children, in
which he recommended them to accept the will of Demetrius, as he
wished to promote their happiness; but the messenger had another
letter with poison, which he ordered them to take: But, said he,
your bodies have been defiled against your will. That you are not to
blame for; but if your souls are not pure, you will never come into
Walhalla. Your spirits will haunt the earth in darkness. Like the bats
and owls, you will hide yourselves in the daytime in holes, and in
the night will come and shriek and cry about our graves, while Frya
must turn her head away from you. The children did as their father
had commanded. The messenger had their bodies thrown into the sea,
and it was reported that they had fled. Now Friso wished to go with
all his people to Frya's land, where he had been formerly, but most of
them would not go. So Friso set fire to the village and all the royal
storehouses; then no one could remain there, and all were glad to be
out of it. We left everything behind us except wives and children,
but we had an ample stock of provisions and warlike implements.
Friso was not yet satisfied. When we came to the old harbour, he went
off with his stout soldiers and threw fire into all the ships that
he could reach with his arrows. Six days later we saw the war-fleet
of Demetrius coming down upon us. Friso ordered us to keep back the
small ships in a broad line, and to put the large ships with the women
and children in front. Further, he ordered us to take the crossbows
that were in the fore part and fix them on the sterns of the ships,
because, said he, we must fight a retreating battle. No man must
presume to pursue a single enemy--that is my order. While we were
busy about this, all at once the wind came ahead, to the great alarm
of the cowards and the women, because we had no slaves except those
who had voluntarily followed us. Therefore we could not escape the
enemy by rowing. But Wr-alda knew well why he did this; and Friso,
who understood it, immediately had the fire-arrows placed on the
crossbows. At the same time he gave the order that no one should shoot
before he did, and that we should all aim at the centre ship. If we
succeeded in this, he said, the others would all go to its assistance,
and then everybody might shoot as he best was able. When we were at
a cable and a half distance from them the Phoenicians began to shoot,
but Friso did not reply till the first arrow fell six fathoms from his
ship. Then he fired, and the rest followed. It was like a shower of
fire; and as our arrows went with the wind, they all remained alight
and reached the third line. Everybody shouted and cheered, but the
screams of our opponents were so loud that our hearts shrank. When
Friso thought that it was sufficient he called us off, and we sped
away; but after two days' slow sailing another fleet of thirty ships
came in sight and gained upon us. Friso cleared for action again,
but the others sent forward a small rowing-boat with messengers,
who asked permission to sail with us, as they were Joniers. They
had been compelled by Demetrius to go to the old haven; there they
had heard of the battle, and girding on their stout swords, had
followed us. Friso, who had sailed a good deal with the Joniers,
said Yes; but Wichirte, our king, said No. The Joniers, said he,
are worshippers of heathen gods; I myself have heard them call upon
them. That comes from their intercourse with the real Greeks, Friso
said. I have often done it myself, and yet I am as pious a Fryas man
as any of you. Friso was the man to take us to Friesland, therefore
the Joniers went with us. It seems that this was pleasing to Wr-alda,
for before three months were past we coasted along Britain, and three
days later we could shout huzza.
THIS WRITING HAS BEEN GIVEN TO ME ABOUT NORTHLAND AND SCHOONLAND
(SCANDINAVIA).
When our land was submerged I was in Schoonland. It was very bad
there. There were great lakes which rose from the earth like bubbles,
then burst asunder, and from the rents flowed a stuff like red-hot
iron. The tops of high mountains fell and destroyed whole forests
and villages. I myself saw one mountain torn from another and fall
straight down. When I afterwards went to see the place there was
a lake there. When the earth was composed there came a duke of
Lindasburgt with his people, and one maiden who cried everywhere,
Magy is the cause of all the misery that we have suffered. They
continued their progress, and their hosts increased. The Magy fled,
and his corpse was found where he had killed himself. Then the Finns
were driven to one place where they might live. There were some of
mixed blood who were allowed to stay, but most of them went with the
Finns. The duke was chosen as king. The temples which had remained
whole were destroyed. Since that time the good Northmen come often to
Texland for the advice of the mother; still we cannot consider them
real Frisians. In Denmark it has certainly happened as with us. The
sea-people, who call themselves famous sea-warriors, went on board
their ships, and afterwards went back again.
Hail!
Whenever the Carrier has completed a period, then posterity shall
understand that the faults and misdeeds that the Brokmannen have
brought with them belonged to their forefathers; therefore I will
watch, and will describe as much of their manners as I have seen. The
Geertmannen I can readily pass by. I have not had much to do with them,
but as far as I have seen they have mostly retained their language and
customs. I cannot say that of the others. Those who descend from the
Greeks speak a bad language, and have not much to boast of in their
manners. Many have brown eyes and hair. They are envious and impudent,
and cowardly from superstition. When they speak, they put the words
first that ought to come last. For old they at; for salt, sât; and for
man, ma--too many to mention. They also use abbreviations of names,
which have no meaning. The Joniers speak better, but they drop the
H, and put it where it ought not to be. When they make a statue of
a dead person they believe that the spirit of the departed enters
into it; therefore they have hidden their statues of Frya, Fâsta,
Medea, Thiania, Hellenia, and many others. When a child is born, all
the relatives come together and pray to Frya to send her servants to
bless the child. When they have prayed, they must neither move nor
speak. If the child begins to cry, and continues some time, it is a
bad sign, and they suspect that the mother has committed adultery. I
have seen very bad things come from that. If the child sleeps, that
is a good sign--Frya's servants are come. If it laughs in its sleep,
the servants have promised it happiness. Moreover, they believe in bad
spirits, witches, sorcerers, dwarfs, and elves, as if they descended
from the Finns. Herewith I will finish, and I think I have written
more than any of my forefathers. Frethorik.
Frethorik, my husband, lived to the age of 63. Since 108 years he
is the first of his race who died a peaceable death; all the others
died by violence, because they all fought with their own people,
and with foreigners for right and duty.
My name is Wiljo. I am the maiden who came home with him from
Saxsenmarken. In the course of conversation it came out that we
were both of Adela's race--thus our affection commenced, and we
became man and wife. He left me with five children, two sons and
three daughters. Konreed was my eldest son, Hachgana my second. My
eldest daughter is called Adela, my second Frulik, and the youngest
Nocht. When I went to Saxsenmarken I preserved three books--the book
of songs, the book of narratives, and the Hellenia book.
I write this in order that people may not think they were by
Apollonia. I have had a good deal of annoyance about this, and
therefore now wish to have the honour of it. I also did more. When
Gosa Makonta died, whose goodness and clear-sightedness have become
a proverb, I went alone to Texland to copy the writings that she had
left; and when the last will of Frana was found, and the writings
left by Adela or Hellenia, I did that again. These are the writings
of Hellenia. I have put them first because they are the oldest.