Offa of Angel, Original Nobility

We are all familiar with the concept of “Original Sin”, that one is born with inherent guilt. Instead of looking to the Nobility within, we are taught to get on our knees and beg to a foreign deity without. Christians may argue over its exact context, but it is clear from the bible itself that their “God” sees our inherent nature as evil.

The LORD smelled the pleasing aroma and said in his heart: “Never again will I curse the ground because of humans, even though every inclination of the human heart is evil from childhood. And never again will I destroy all living creatures, as I have done.”

(Genesis 8:21)

This is in total contrast to our intuitive mind, that Children represent the absolute in innocence. For my mind it is not that we are born with some inherent guilt, but more an inherent nobility. The whole idea of “Original Sin” abuses the Europeans natural desire to be honourable. It takes our original nobility and places it in the hands of an aggressive foreign deity who demands our submission.

Being blessed with such a rich history, a collective memory, if you will, our ancestors have left us many lessons through their acts that we can learn from. The Story of Offa of angel, I find most insightful in trying to understand the counter arguments of “Original nobility” Verses “Original Sin”.

It is told that under king Wermund, the Angles became prosperous and happy. It looked as if king Wermund, now frail and blind in his old age, could die with a great name. His son Offa was set to marry the daughter of Freawine, a powerful chief from Schleswig. All the merry planning was not to last long though, as Freawine was challenged to single combat and killed by a Warlord called Atisl. Freawine left behind two sons, Ket and Wig and as a mark of honour to his friendship with Freawine, Wermund brought them up as his own. Unbeknownst to Wermund, this act of kindness would cost the Angles their honour.

Ket and Wig, sad and angry at their father’s death plotted an ambush to avenge him. They found Atisl alone in a forest and succumbing to ignoble temptation, the brothers slew him out of love for their father. The brothers, having fought two versus one, had sacrificed not only their own honour, but also that of the Angles while avenging their beloved father. Calls of “cowardice” and “dishonour” rang out in the neighbouring Tribes. With the Angles’ good name now in ruins and being led by a blind old king, the Saxon tribe the Myrgings saw opportunity for expansion. They sent an envoy to Wermund’s court where they openly mocked the old man in an attempt to humiliate him into submission. Wermund, despite his personal health, in a last ditch attempt to restore the honour of the Angles offered a duel to the king of the Myrgings. It was at this moment his son Offa, who was assumed a simpleton because he had never uttered a word, stood up. He announced to the court that his muteness was caused not by some birth defect, but out of choice because of the great dishonour that hung over his kin’s head. Without hesitation Offa demanded a duel with not one but two princes of the Myrgings. The young Offa slew both men with his father’s sword Skræp. In doing so, he had restored the honour and freedom of the Angles. Offa went on to become a great king, eventually even subjugating the Myrgings who had mocked his father in his own court, thus securing his name in the minds of men for as long as his kin walked the earth.

In this story we can see a few parallels to “original Sin”, the first being “collective shame”. Offa, although having played no part in the act that caused his kins folk’s dishonour, clearly felt a “collective shame” for it. Offa internalized the shame of his kin, quite simply because he is one with his kin. The bonds of blood to our ancestors were vital for their collective survival, the survival of their blood. They shared a common history and are destined through blood to share a common fate. Offa took personal ownership of his blood; he did not shirk his duty towards it.

The second parallel was self punishment (penance). So great was Offa’s feelings of shame he “penanced” himself by remaining mute throughout his childhood. Now it may seem counter-productive, but it offers us insight into Offa’s character (original Nobility). Offa being of “original Nobility” did not need a priest to dish out his “penance” since it came from within. The depth to which he internalized the shame was only matched by his bravery in absolving it. The instance of shame and self punishment (discipline) of Offa is a great example of its true interplay. Shame (dishonour) is simply the counter to honour. A man like Offa, who has a greater capacity for shame, also has a greater capacity for honourable acts. Feeling shame is not a weakness, it is a trait of the European that has driven untold numbers of heroes to acts of valour and bravery worthy of the Gods themselves.

There are also obvious differences to the idea of original sin – the first being agency. Offa did not look to the heavens for his “atonement” since he looked to himself. Through his own acts he could “absolve” himself and his kin from the dishonour. I chose the words “atonement” and “absolve” to show Offa in a “messianic ” light. Now I am not claiming Offa of Angel is “the son of god” although it is claimed his lineage comes from Wodan himself. Offa did not die for his kinsmen’s sins, but he did settle their debt of honour, and in doing so freed them and himself from the shackles of shame and subjugation. Our ancestors did not see their salvation in the hands of deities, but rather their own.

The second difference is one of time. Offa only looked to the last weighing of honour; Offa knew his responsibility was, where the scales lay in his lifetime. As the latest incarnation of his noble blood, Offa knew it was his duty to leave the scales firmly weighed in his kin’s favour. Once the outstanding debt (dishonour/sin) was settled it was final. The Angles now only looked to build upon their Honour, and no more time was paid to shame.

As I have mentioned, Offa is said to be descended from Wodan. The concept of descending directly from Gods was not uncommon among Germanic tribes. This fact has led many Heathens, including myself, to see some of our Gods and Goddesses in ancestral roles. But whatever your personal thoughts on this are, it is clear that our ancestors held themselves as the sons and daughters of the divine. They saw their Blood as sacred and thus the source of all great achievement and the purpose of such achievement. Blood was king. Germanic tribes would even celebrate the victories of other tribes that shared a common Blood. Take for example Beowulf, who himself was a Geat, yet was celebrated in the Anglo-Saxon Epic poem of the same name. In turn, in Beowulf we see Offa celebrated with the words…

…Hence Offa was praised
for his fighting and feeing by far-off men,
the spear-bold warrior; wisely he ruled
over his empire. Eomer woke to him,
help of heroes, Hemming’s kinsman,
Grandson of Garmund, grim in war.

Beowulf

Offa is a great example of “original Nobility”. Offa penanced for his kin’s dishonour (sin) then absolved himself and his kin through an act of honourable bravery. No book was needed to teach Offa what he should or shouldn’t feel. He needed to go through no God; it was all within him, in his own hands.

The whole morale code is just a warped form of the honour code. The bible through its ideas seeks to disempower the individual, forcing him on his knees and at the mercy (judgement) of another. Where as a code of honour seeks to empower the individual, and gives him the ability to be his own “messiah”.

As Christianity’s grip on the west has loosened, a new form of original sin has been pushed upon the European. In these times we are told our ancestors were some monsters of history, and just like Christianity we are told to get on our knees and beg for forgiveness. Even the great Wermund, weakened by old age and blind, chose an almost certain death in single handed combat over this “solution”. Offa did not “beg” for mercy, he faced “his” shame, he got off his knees with sword in hand and met it with bravery and dignity. Offa was still in possession of the key to “sin” (dishonour) which was pride (honour). The ancient priest aware of this ability of self “emancipation” bound our hands, the very same schools of thought that produced original sin, also told them pride was a sin. Today we see the same too, showing any sort of pride in our European history is considered hateful; a sin in of itself.

Blood carries within it the sum total of all that has gone before, all that is and all that can be. Blood is eternal; it is the timeless landscape through which the story of our kin is told. The illusion of time and space puts Offa in a different Era and far off lands, but the truth of blood has us sharing the same breath. Your blood is noble; you don’t need a foreign book to define you or some news personality. The only book you need is blood, and all you need to know about who you are is contained within it. After all, no book was written without it. All knowledge comes from observation filtered through blood (you).

If Offa had not stood up that day the angles would be no more. they would have been absorbed by the Myrgings. The Great angle kingdoms of England would never have been. England itself would not have existed as we know it today, as even the word derives from Angleland.

Nature does not look kindly up on that which cannot defend its blood. History forgets those who cannot honour it. For those who cry “it is a different time now” or “it was simpler back then”. when Offa stood he faced either death or victory, with the Angles as a whole facing freedom or slavery. In all eras of man, death is death, and a slave is a slave.

Today we are symbolically in Wermunds court, mocked in our ancestral lands our enemies think us weak and ready to submit. Dragging our forebears names through the mud in an attempt to sell us their “solutions”, they think our silence is complacence. It is time for us to break our silence as did the mighty and noble Offa. To restore our ancestral names and secure a future for our posterity.