No blog last week because life is hard, and nothing new on the writing side of things this week. Instead, I’ve been relaxing by spending some time editing photos and adding them to my Google Portfolio. 

I also got back into roaming around on FamilySearch. 

FamilySearch is a free genealogy site that allows you not just to build out your family tree based on available sources but also to connect your family tree to the family trees of other users who also use FamilySearch, letting you take advantage of the work they’ve already done. 

Most of what you find within the past couple of generations is pretty accurate. There’s enough public records available, but it’s also owned by a religious organization that thinks the earth is only like 3000 years old. And, like any site that’s largely user-generated, the information is only as accurate as what’s been provided. Because of this, things can get a little dicey the further back you dig. 

One particular branch of my family tree was vastly built out already by other users, and when I started exploring it, I found some interesting things. According to this branch, I am related to nearly every single early monarch or mythical hero from every culture across Europe, Northern Africa, and parts of Asia. 

Here’s just a partial list of some of the people I am apparently related to (according to this family branch):

• Adam and Eve – only 3071 BCE, can you believe it?

• Lethuic, Konig der Langobarden

• Moundzouk Stammesfuher der Hunnen

• Gunderith, King of Gepids

• Charibert Nobilis in Neustria

• Hugobert, Seneschall der Merowinger

• Sobekemsaf, 2^nd Pharoah of Egypt

• Marcus Clausus III

• Dagobert Franks

• Thorismond de Burgundy

• King Marius Meric Meurig of Siluria

• Dyfnwal Moelmud ap Clydno, King of the Britons

• Harald “Fairhair” Halvdansson, 1^st King of Norway

• Raum “The Old” Norsson, legendary King of Alfheim

• Conchobar Abradruah, legendary High King of Ireland 

Some of these actually have documented their sources in the way of illuminated manuscripts from the middle ages, while others are just names and dates with no explanation. But I do wonder where the line between real, documented people in the family line and maybe real, not properly documented historical figures is. 

It also got me thinking about the line between fact and fiction in myths and legend. Because I could see that a lot of these lines went from European royalty in the middle ages to Biblical figures or famous historical figures further back, and I know that this is pulling from manuscripts or legends that were told during or near the reign of these monarchs as proof of the validity of their reign. These things were written into literal documented history at the time because it served their purposes. 

In the case of one family line, I could tell exactly what illuminated manuscript the “facts” were coming from. Once I started seeing names like Conchobar and Nuada, I knew that we were pulling from ancient Irish mythology. And because I know more than my fair share about Irish mythology, I knew they were pulling from the Annals of the Four Masters. 

And that’s where it gets interesting to me. Because the Annals are not purely fiction. They’re a mix of actual historic figures mixed up together with people who maybe existed and people who probably never existed. A lot of it is based upon older historical works which have been lost while some of it can be cross-referenced in other works, like the Leabhar Gabhála, but even in its own time, the work was criticized for its inaccurate or completely made up content. 

The fact is that no one knows where the line between fact and fiction is in such works. And I assume it’s similar for ancient texts from all over the world. In the end, we know that a lot of these people really existed, and we know that, especially among royalty in Europe, there was a lot of intermarrying. So it isn’t far-fetched that these people are all related to each other, maybe even in some of the ways documented on this family tree. And surely, that means that they must still be related to many people now. 

What I have a hard time buying into is the idea that all of these royal people are related to me specifically and that, somehow, we’ve lost all mention of such a history. Then again, for all I know, there could be veins of truth to this. After all, we’ve learned from recent history that a lot of myth and folklore ends up being more accurate than we give it credit for. 

I’m not going to go around telling people that I’m some sort of noble or anything anytime soon, but it is certainly food for thought.