The Viking lady of the Brandberg?

The Brandberg Mountain in Namibia:

Brandberg Mountain is located in former Damaraland, now Erongo, in the northwestern Namib Desert, near the coast, and covers an area of approximately 650 km2.[3] With its highest point, the Königstein (German for 'King's Stone'), standing at 2,573 m (8,442 ft)[1] above sea level and located on the flat Namib gravel plains, on a clear day 'The Brandberg' can be seen from a great distance.

en.wikipedia.org...

There is a piece of rock art there known as the "white lady".

And the identity of the "white lady" in this San (Bushman) work of art has recently again created controversy:

What I can't agree with however is that all Khoisan rock-art was religious and shamanic.

Then why did they paint the first ox-wagons and caravel ships?
And they certainly did.
africanrockart.britishmuseum.org...

The lady of the Brandberg compared to a Viking lady:


www.thepetitionsite.com...

Although never scientifically dated, the Brandberg rock art is anecdotally dated within 2000 years.

The idea is that Vikings may have sailed as far south as Namibia to trade for precious stones and minerals.

Why this is so controversial and "historio-clastic" is beyond me.

a reply to: halfoldman

Why this is so controversial and "historio-clastic" is beyond me.

Because it's like a religion, similar to Egyptology.

Interesting to me is the flower symbolism and that she was deemed shaman. The Nordic and Viking culture has these elements also the feather symbolism, depicted as wings sometimes.



Also Brandberg means "mountain that burned" or "mountain where burnings happen(ed)" in old Germanic language, that has ties to Viking and Nordic cultures in linguistics. More in a past sense but it can be used for like ritual burnings, the word "brand".

What is your opinion on that word?

The Khoisan only painted their religious hallucinations on the walls ...
Oh really?
Never like a diary?
www.iol.co.za...

She does seem to fit the description with Artemis.

a reply to: ThatDamnDuckAgain

It is a German colonial name, what the indigenous peoples called it I'm still trying to establish.
And then one wonders whether the people at the point of colonialism were the original San artists.

Although Khoisan languages are fascinating to view, because they use all kinds of grammatical markers to indicate various clicks.

So our national motto in South Africa is of the virtually extinct /Xam language:

! ke e: /xarra //ke

It means "diverse people unite".
Apparently so anyway, there was actually some debate on that.
But:

The motto is: !ke e: /xarra //ke, written in the Khoisan language of the /Xam people, literally meaning diverse people unite. It addresses each individual effort to harness the unity between thought and action. On a collective scale it calls for the nation to unite in a common sense of belonging and national pride - unity in diversity.

www.gov.za...

Anyway just noting, pronouncing the "original name" may not be easy.

Incidentally, how the SA National Motto is actually pronounced:

a reply to: halfoldman

Then it could be a play on Brand(en)burg.

It's a state in Germany and a Burg is a castle with defenses, almost every time located on a Berg (hill/mountain).

Here in SA's Western Cape we have the Tygerberg.
Essentially the "tiger's mountain".
Yet, tigers never lived in Africa.

So one story goes it's called the Tygerberg because the tawny grass with seasonal burning spots looked like a leopard-skin.

And in 1652 the Dutch who came here only distinguished between lions and tigers at the time.
If it wasn't a lion, it was a tiger.

So, the "Tiger's Mountain" is actually the "leopard's mountain", although the indigenous people actually called it the "Tortoise Mountain".

Just saying, place-names can become very blurred over time.

a reply to: halfoldman

Fascinating! Sometimes place names even fade into similar words that have a complete different meaning.

Somewhat illuminating, perhaps:

How did Brandberg get its name? The name of the 30 km long and 23 km wide Brandberg derives from the glowing colours that the setting sun paints onto the mountain range as if the mountain was on fire. The closest town is Uis, which is about 30 km away and offers several overnight facilities.

greedhead.net...