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64 The House of Israel

“Bearing the Name of Dan Their tions that Dan the Proud was “the first king of the
Father” northern folk in Denmark.”

There can be no doubt that a goodly portion of
ISRAEL’S TRIBE OF DAN was moved by
our northern peoples heading their movements into the
strong leadership. Jacob’s deathbed pronouncement: “He
British Isles -- and thence to the ends of the earth --
shall leap from Bashan” was fulfilled at an early period.
were Danites who never lost sight of the name of Dan
There is good evidence that a section broke away whilst
their father.
the tribe was in Egypt and moved to Greece. Soon after the
main body settled in Canaan they considered their alloca-
-- L. Buxton Gresty
tion of territory too small and a portion of the Danites
moved northwards to settle for a while in the northern lim-
its of the land of Israel. The Normans: Israel’s Final
Ingathering
The Scriptural record emphasizes the tribe’s
forceful parental affection: “They named it after Dan their “THE NORMANS of the 11th century were
father.” During their westward moving, trail-blazing men of Scandinavian descent, who had cast away ev-
journeyings, they clearly continued the practice. Their ery outward trace of the language, manners and feel-
ever-westward trek bears witness to this. As we know, ings which made them kindred to Englishmen, and had
Josephus placed the bulk of Ten-tribed Israel beyond the adopted instead the language, manners and feelings of
upper reaches of the River Euphrates, in ancient Scythia, Latin France.” Such is the authoritative statement of
on their way to the western isles and coastlands of Israel’s the great historian of the Norman Conquest of England
God-provided home -- the Appointed Place. Strong con- in his book under that title (Vol. 1, p. 149, ed. 1870).
tingents remained behind to found the countries of the
North Sea fringe as we now know them. No “French Conquest

The trail blazers of Dan had, perforce, to use the An immense amount of very careful study has
rivers. These would help in the establishment of forward been made in modern England of the Norman Con-
bases for the main body, as and when westward movement quest and the settlement in England of the Normans.
by way of forest trails became feasible. There would be a Less careful study of the event has occurred in France,
great deal of portaging up and between rivers. And so we where a great deal of spurious pride is felt in the fact
see the patronymic of “Dan their father” on the great rivers that England was “conquered by Frenchmen.” One
of the trail; such names as Don, Dnieper, Dneister, Dan- supposes that this is natural, as a compensation for the
ube. Vowels were then of no great consequence. At the numerous and heavy defeats later inflicted on France
North Sea, they reached a point at which progress was by England -- including the conquest of the French
halted for centuries, subsequently naming it Danmark. Empire in Canada and India. It is even said that some
indigenous Channel Islanders allow themselves airs as
Research into the history of the “northern” peo- representing England’s conquerors, the Islands being
ples from which the English-speaking and kindred folk the last relic of the former Duchy of Normandy.
have descended has uncovered a wealth of traditional tes-
timony to the movements of our ancestors from Scythia -- It is impossible to deny the importance of the
the jumping off spot from the Caspian region of Media. Norman Conquest, though in fact, its importance can
be over-estimated. Our country is England, not
Interesting confirmation emerges from the work Normanland; our language is English not French,
of Snorre Sturlason Heimskringla (the lives of the Norse though it is much influenced by Norman French. Our
Kings) edited and translated by Erling Monsen. It men- laws go back long before the Conquest, whilst the

The Berean Voice September-October 2002