joanhello2:

prokopetz:

A fun fact I learned today: technically, Queen Elizabeth II claims descent from Odin.

Yes, that Odin.

To elaborate, Queen Elizabeth II’s official family tree goes back to Alfred the Great, King of Wessex from 871-899.

Alfred’s grandfather was probably Egbert of Wessex, who in turn claimed to be descended from Cedric, the First King of Wessex.

And Cedric? Well, depending on which traditional genealogy you consult, Cedric was either five or nine generations down the direct patriline of Odin himself.

(Amusingly, not only would this mean that Queen Elizabeth III is distantly part Aesir, but Thor is technically her great-to-the-nth granduncle. I’d like to see that family reunion.)

The whole reason so many of the king stories and warrior stories from ancient sacred mythology survived when the rest were wiped out by Christianity is that the king and warrior stories were part of the family history of various ruling families and were tied up with their right to rule. Probably every royal family in Europe has some divine connection in their genealogy.