Who Do I Think I Am? (2)

I've been doing a bit of research into my family tree.

In my last post I described how I'd managed to trace my roots back as far as Ragnar Lodbrok Siggurdsson - semi-legendary King of Sweden from the eighth or ninth century (not to be confused with Ragnar Sigurðsson, the 21st century Icelandic footballer).

The emphasis here is 'semi-legendary' - once your family tree connects with one of those crusty old Vikings frankly you can trace it back to wherever you please. Once I got to King Ivar Vidfamne (via Ragnar's grandmother Aud) I was connected with the Skjöldungar - legendary Kings of the Danes which means, basically, that I'm directly descended from Odin, King of the Gods.

As an aside - it's worth mentioning here that I've owned a copy of Snorri Sturluson's Edda for years and years, but never bothered to read it. In it, (to quote from wikipedia) he proposes the theory that "mythological gods begin as human war leaders and kings whose funeral sites develop cults. As people call upon the dead war leader as they go to battle, or the dead king as they face tribal hardship, they begin to venerate the figure. Eventually, the king or warrior is remembered only as a god. He also proposed that as tribes defeat others, they explain their victory by proposing that their own gods were in battle with the gods of the others."

So, according to the Prose Edda, Odin is directly descended from Mennon (Munon) of Troy (who incidentally, was married to the daughter of King Priam of 'Trojan War' fame). Some sources give Memnon/Mennon/Munon a father named Tithonius, who apparently was the great-great-great grandson of Dardanus(King of Arcadia), who in turn was one of the many offspring of Zeus. Which still makes me directly descended from the King of the Gods, only Greek ones this time.

Unless you believe those other sources which cite Dara/Dardanus as the child of Zerah, son of Judah. Which, I have to say, is all rather convenient - because Zerah is the son of Judah, son of Jacob, son of Isaac, son of Abraham... blah blah blah blah... all the way back to the beginning.

So, it turns out I'm a direct descendant of Adam and Eve.

But then aren't we all?