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There are no images or representations of King Arwald. No oral descriptions or even
romanticised epithets. All we know, Wihtwarians of the 21st century, is that he
died valiantly as did all his people, the Wihtwara on that bloody day in 686C.E.
All because neither he, nor his family, nor the Wihtwara would recant on
their deep spiritual beliefs in Nerthus, our Earth Mother, Wōden, Thunōr, Tiw
Freyja, Sunni and Mōnā.
The importance of research in establishing authenticity cannot be overlooked. I have dedicated my time to research and research again to provide a true authentic narrative to the Wihtwara Trilogy books and this extends to the portrayal of the Wihtwara. And this pictorial evidence has now been established.
So, now, the Pagan community on the island have asked me to bring this to light and set the record straight.
Firstly King Arwald, his family and his people fought to the end as dedicated Pagans, fighting to keep their culture and their spirituality alive. In death, to face the final insult of having his sons/brothers killed to recant into Christians making Arwald a saint is ignominy in the extreme. Genocide covered up and made palatable for the 1200 Wessex Christians who flooded onto the island post-massacre.
Every Pagan I know of on the island protest at this repugnant sainthood landed on our dead King! And, while applauding the skill of the sculptor who fashioned the portrait of King Arwald, hanging in the Roman Villa in Newport, we question the authenticity of his source material.
It holds a remarkable resemblance to a romantic portrait by John Speed, from the 1600, of Cerdic, the first King of Wessex, ancestor to Cædwalla who was responsible for the massacre with his invading Christian Wessex warriors. From the headdress to the painted lines on his face, it is a replica! And it could not be further from the truth of what the Wihtwara looked like and dressed themselves.
I give notice:
As soon as the last book in the Wihtwara series is with the publisher, I will be getting my canvas out
to paint a more accurate portrait of King Arwald.
May he rest in Peace.
Bletsunga Beorhte
Jan Harper Whale (Wahl)
My deep research is always ongoing to uncover more clues and archaeological facts that ground this narrative.
The Suevii, (the confederacy of seven tribes to which the Eudose and Anglii belonged) all men and some women, all wore their hair in the Suevian knot.
So, we have at last an image of King Arwald that is archeologically true.
Arwald was young, as were all the protagonists in this final scenario. From Wulfhere, to Wilfrid to Cædwalla. The dates mesh into a gruelling encounter of ferocious warriors, not older men.
Arwald fought and died bravely. The oral legend that has come from many
generations of island-born "caulk heads" speaks of the biggest battle
taking place at the foot of the Longstone, in the
Chessell valley, and the dead being buried in what is known as the "black
barrow".
King Arwald and his wife would have been buried elsewhere. It was a custom for the Suevii to bury their high-born kings and queens, with their ancestors, in existing Bronze age barrows. There are over 300 un-excavated barrows on the island.
Of the survivors, there are no facts. The 'church' was so determined to purge these Pagans, there would have been no issue.
But this IS a fact... their powerful spirits walk this island, they speak to us in the language of nature, never words written. We feel them and know them. They will live on as long as we remember them and honour The Wihtwara.
Bletsunga Beorhte
Jan Harper-Whale.
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Our Ancestors the Wihtwara facing The Religious warIf we could take our lives back to the time of the Wihtwara, shed the tarmac roads, the fast cars, and (Oh my days!) the internet!. With our spirits lighter we would be living a purer, simplified, yet sometimes hard life. We would be living more intimately, and closer to our Nature spirits, the wood Dryads, the water Sprites. Mother Earth, Nerthus would be intertwined with our daily lives and our Gods Wōden, Thunōr, Sunni and Mōnā would be close and all-embracing. Imagine, then, the inexorable march of a one-god religion, demanding fealty to this exclusive god, and forsaking all the natural spiritual life close to Nerthus, our Earth Mother. Imagine the tools of this religious war were not fought with seax and swords, but with "Tongue Science", rhetoric, the clever use of words to undermine the wisdom of ages past. Imagine then, that our Ancestors are finding that this new religion as unfulfilling and deficient. Searching their souls, they found it impossible to recant. They simply could not imagine a life without their beloved Gods and Goddesses. And so, in 686 C.E, they gave their lives for the purity of their spiritual life on Wihtland. May we never forget: That Wihtland means the Isle of Spirits and the Wihtwara are people of the Spirit. Bletsunga Beorhte Jan Harper-Whale. |
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Mayday 2022 (Beltane)
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Greetings Wihtwarians and caretakers of our Earth Mother.
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