The Oera Linda Book, from a Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century — John Shaqi
The Oera Linda Book, from a Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century
History
The Oera Linda Book, from a Manuscript of the Thirteenth Century
Frisian language -- Texts
But we would not recognise Min-erva as a goddess, because she herself
had told us that no one could be perfectly good except the spirit of
Wr-alda. Therefore we chose Geert Pyre's daughter for our mother. When
the priests saw that they could not fry their herrings on our fire
(have everything their own way), they left Athens, and said that we
refused to acknowledge Min-erva as a goddess out of envy, because she
had shown so much affection to the natives. Thereupon they gave the
people statues of her, declaring that they might ask of them whatever
they liked, as long as they were obedient to her. By these kinds
of tales the stupid people were estranged from us, and at last they
attacked us; but as we had built our stone city wall with two horns
down to the sea, they could not get at us. Then, lo and behold! an
Egyptian high priest, bright of eye, clear of brain, and enlightened
of mind, whose name was Cecrops, came to give them advice.
When he saw that with his people he could not storm our wall, he sent
messengers to Tyre. Thereupon there arrived three hundred ships full
of wild mountain soldiers, which sailed unexpectedly into our haven
while we were defending the walls. When they had taken our harbour,
the wild soldiers wanted to plunder the village and our ships--one
had already ravished a girl--but Cecrops would not permit it; and
the Tyrian sailors, who still had Frisian blood in their veins, said,
If you do that we will burn our ships, and you shall never see your
mountains again. Cecrops, who had no inclination towards murder
or devastation, sent messengers to Geert, requiring her to give
up the citadel, offering her free exit with all her live and dead
property, and her followers the same. The wisest of the citizens,
seeing that they could not hold the citadel, advised Geert to accept
at once, before Cecrops became furious and changed his mind. Three
months afterwards Geert departed with the best of Frya's sons, and
seven times twelve ships. Soon after they had left the harbour they
fell in with at least thirty ships coming from Tyre with women and
children. They were on their way to Athens, but when they heard how
things stood there they went with Geert. The sea-king of the Tyrians
brought them altogether through the strait which at that time ran
into the Red Sea (now re-established as the Suez Canal). At last
they landed at the Punjab, called in our language the Five Rivers,
because five rivers flow together to the sea. Here they settled, and
called it Geertmania. The King of Tyre afterwards, seeing that all
his best sailors were gone, sent all his ships with his wild soldiers
to catch them, dead or alive. When they arrived at the strait, both
the sea and the earth trembled. The land was upheaved so that all the
water ran out of the strait, and the muddy shores were raised up like
a rampart. This happened on account of the virtues of the Geertmen,
as every one can plainly understand.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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