The Family Tree
Verse 137 of Hávamál reads: I trow I hung on that windy Tree nine whole days and nights, stabbed with a spear, offered to Odin, myself to mine own self given, high on that Tree of which none hath heard from what roots it rises to heaven. My people come from Northern European stock. I have always considered myself Austrian/German, and figured we were fairly unimportant farmers throughout history, as such things go. My Great-Great Grandfather, Jeremiah Rassbach, moved to Wisconsin from Pennsylvania in the late 1800s. Rumor has it he was Pennsylvania Dutch (Lutherans, Mennonites or Amish). Rumor has it he married a Native American, and that's why he moved from the relatively settled East to the wild Midwest. Rumors abound. There are a number named Roßbach in Germany and Austria, and spellings vary. However, chances are my people are from somewhere in that area. My mother's side is a mix: Norwegian and English. My Grandmother was from the Pope family, and all I know is tha...