A cousin followed our family's genealogy to the ends of available records, and claimed that we have a remote ancestor in King Herod. Yes, the baby killer! Apparently the descendants of Herod surfaced in the bloodline of Yaroslav of Kiev, who also claimed descent from Scandinavia. So the Rus nation was formed.

As was habit in the time young Scandinavians, when not raiding Paris or Britain, would travel east to seek their fortune in service of the Byzantine Emperor. It is interesting that the ossified symbol of top-down government, the corpse of the Roman Empire, would employ as its protectors freedom-loving fighters, men who were familiar with that archetype of Parliament, the Ting, where subjects could challenge their rulers, where laws were made by common consent. 

One such was Harald Hardraade, who rose to command the Guard of several Emperors, a well-paid position. He banked his money with Prince Yaroslav in Kiev with whom he shared a common culture. When he returned he also brought a greater prize: Yaroslav's daughter Elisiv. Surely a love story that would inspire Hollywood? And from there, so I am told, one thread of my ancestry unrolls. 

The history of the Rus, their interaction with the remnants of Rome, with the Cossacks, their resistance against and eventual conquest by the Mongols are part of the rich history of these people. 

Which brings us to the present war. President Zelensky of Ukraine said: 'This is not a war of two armies. This is a war of two worldviews.' George Soros said more or less the same thing. Perhaps this conflict demonstrates the difference between 'top-down' and 'bottom-up' approaches to politics and life in general. 

On the one hand we have a nation that, in the recent past, has been moving towards western standards and principles, rediscovering their Rus and Cossack traditions of free exchange of ideas and of expression, on the other a nation that has steadily been moving towards increasing centralism, intolerance, repression of dissent and free expression of opinion. 

There was another King, of Scandinavian origin: Canute the Great, King of England, Denmark and Norway. (No relative as far as I know.) He demonstrated to fawning courtiers that, however important and powerful he was, he could not hold back the tide. 

The tide towards freedom of ideas and expression, of free democracy is being denied by many leaders in Africa. We saw how American political forces sought to control political expression by violence. We see how financial interests everywhere are seeking to block the tides of thought. 

A thousand years after Harald met Elisiv in Kiev the world again stands face to face with a conflict between control and freedom, between individual rights and the rule of power and force. 

The cycle continues.