Order of the Knights of the Eye of Othin

This article is in development as of 13/1/10

The Order of the Knights of the Eye of Othin (German: Der Orden der Ritter des Wotansauge; Swedish Den Heliga Riddarorden av Odin) is the principle organisation, aside from the NAPN, that handles all government affairs in the Commonwealth of Niflungland.

Names
To be completed...

History
On the Winter Soltice in 1781, a small gathering of Dukes, Princes, and Margraves gathered in the crypt of the ruined cloister in the village of Lehnin in Brandenburg, the only secret meeting-place they could find safely. The group of twenty-one men styled themselves “Hochorden der Söhne Wotans”. Their purpose was the re-awakening and reorganisation of the pre-Christian religion of their ancestors. Many had studied Runic inscriptions throughout Europe, and had visited the ruins and historical remains of rune-stones and picture-stones in Götland, Sweden and Öland. Their initial symbol, the Valknut, was adopted as the Order grew, rivalling other large ceremonial organisations such as the Order of Free and Accepted Masons. By 1790, the King had heard of the organisation and was intrigued. He had spies infiltrate the Order to find a secret meeting place, and attended incognito in 1791. The meeting place he had been led to was in the Fichtelgebirge, the famous Teufelstisch (“devil's table”), a natural rock formation in the midst of the forest of the Fichtegebirge. Here he is said to have had a conversion experience that so overwhelmed him that he converted himself publicly to the Old Ways in 1795. The Order by this time had become known as the Hochorden der Wotansöhne, and had expanded membership into full and observing members, allowing a massive conversion between 1795 and 1798. By the time of King Jörg's death in 1800, fully 30% of the population had left Christianity and become at least observing members of the Order.

In 1805, King Robert I declared the existence of a united Christian Church, the Vereinigte Kirche Nibelungen (“United Church of Niflunga”), challenging the fledgling Order by bringing all Christians under a single umbrella church and therefore organising a resistance to the conversions and changes that Jörg II had brought about. The Order knew it had to organise more or its successes would be for naught. The King had made efforts in Scotland to suppress any Order activity, but in Germany such laws were harder to enforce, since a large percentage of the population were against the rule of the Scottish king and as a sign of loyalty to the Niflungan dynasty converted to the worship the last king had adopted. In an effort to take advantage of the general dislike of King Robert, the Hochorden reorganised itself into Der Orden der Ritter des Wotansauge, and dedicated themselves chiefly to Wotan (Óðinn in the original Norse). They structured themselves largely after the old Holy Orders of the Crusades, establishing ranks and titles beyond their primitive structure of the first 25 years. Specifically, they modelled the structure after the and the.

In 1807, Hákon Vilhjálmursson became Hochmeister of the Order, and immediately set out to reform the entire structure. By the next year he had laid down the structure which to this day is maintained with very small changes by the ORW. The Order exploded in the German lands amongst romantics who sought a return to the medieval structure of the Teutonic Knights and were disenchanted with Scottish rule instead of their native German king. By 1810, the original four balleis (“bailiwicks”) of the Order had exploded into 18 bailiwicks across Nibelungen. These have been maintained as “religious provinces” even to today, while the medieval term balleis refers to individual districts ruled by Komturen (Commandants) rather than Landkomturen (Provincial Commandants). King Malcolm took the throne in the same year that Hákon was elevated to the old position of Hochmeister, a title he altered to Großmeister in 1808. Malcolm ended his father's exile of the monarchy to Scotland, appealing to the people as a new dynasty of all Niflunga. This curbed growth of the ORW after 1812, but could not take away the success they had gained thus far by the Order. Securing the place of the Order both in the minds of the general population as well as the royalty was a foiled assassination attempt against the king in 1815.

The ORW won the good graces of the king for two high-ranking knights, both Scotsmen, who had to that point kept their membership secret for fear of being ejected or made enemy of the state. King Malcolm officially recognised the Order when he decorated both men for their services to the state and announced that the ORW was in no way responsible for the attack, instead blaming French spies, and expelling all French-speaking citizens of Niflunga. His actions won him a great deal of support within the ORW as well as the various German nationalist circles that had already begun to take shape.

The Order worked quietly to expand its numbers over the course of the next forty years, and sucessfully became the premier nationalist organisation in Niflunga; in fact, all of the representatives from Niflunga sent to the Nuremburg Reichstag were members of the ORW. Competition with the VKN was significantly weakened by the fact that by 1830, all Swedish-speaking citizens had become either Observing Members or First Degree Knights of the Swedish-language branch of the ORW, Den Heliga Riddarorden av Odin. The HRO, however, was only active in Öland, where the majority of Swedish speakers lived, and the ORW still competed with the VKN on the mainland with German-speaking Swedes. Work was made easier for the Scottish branch of the ORW, the Order of the Fathers, however, because of Malcolm's recognition of the organisation. The Highland Scots had converted to their pre-Christian Celtic traditions in larger numbers than any of the other Scots, bringing with them heavy Pictish influence that made the OF very unique from the ORW.

The successes of the ORW and its cadet Orders continued under Malcolm for the duration of his reign. The happenings of 1848-49 brought a very distinctly anti-communist policy to the ORW, leading to open and violent conflict between socialist revolutionaries and ORW Knights. It was during these conflicts that a uniformed, armed wing of the ORW began to develop and the new grade of Genosseritter, meaning “Companion Knight”, was created for knights of the ORW who took up arms in her name. The ORW fought on the pro-government side of the revolts, which often led to swift closure of any conflicts. After the rebellions, the ORW retained the arms and uniformed service it had adopted in a resurrected form of the Wotanssöhne. The Genosseritter grade was granted 18 degrees, one for each rank in the military service, and by 1850, the “Sons of Odin” consisted of nearly 10,000 men across Niflunga. This number declined somewhat during the reign of Johann I, whose grandson was elevated to Großmeister in 1902. This elevation followed a period of royal endorsement of the organisation, beginning with Johann I, whose son was brought into the OF when he was 14 years of age.

Prince John was very active in the ORW on the continent as well as in the OF, where he had spent the majority of his youth. He had by 1865 become the Landspitler (“Regional Archivist”) of the Order of Fathers, responsible for the archives of law and history of the ORW in Scotland. During his time as Archivist, he became intimately familiar with the Order, insofar as a regional office would allow access to important documents. He was instrumental as a member of the Generalkapital in the design of the 1868 seal of the Order, adopted to incorporate the new military aspects of the Order as well as to adapt the organisation to compete with other various Orders and secret societies that had arisen during the 18th and 19th century, such as the Christian Free Masons and Ancient Order of Hibernians that had arisen among Irish immigrants in Scotland. These numbers had significantly dwindled after the overthrow of British power in Ireland in the 1890s, and many Irishmen repatriating to Ireland from Niflunga at that time. The ORW played a integral role in converting Irish immigrants who remained in Glasgow and assisting the VKN in accepting protestant refugees from Ulster to Scottish lands. Up to this point, however, the OF competed with the AOH and Free Masons for membership in Scotland, making success there of the ancient faith a greater struggle than anywhere else.

During the reign of Johann I in the German and Swedish territories, the power of the ORW solidified, as Free Masonry was eventually absorbed into the VKN as a strictly Christian organisation, thus eliminating them as separate competition. The rise of martial movements elsewhere in Germany aided the ORW in redefining itself as a more medieval knightly order, a militant religious order with a social and military mission. The Generalkapitel of the ORW saw an opportunity in Scotland to seize upon an old Highland sense of clan struggle against foreign invasion. The redefinition of the VKN and Christianity as foreign invaders in Scottish lands brought the ORW into conflict with Johann II after he accessed the throne in 1873. The new king's own conflicts with the German Emperor demanded he sponsor the VKN, eliminating the ORW's advantage over its rival. Johann, however, was willing to send his son for the same training he himself underwent. Much to his chagrin, however, Karl Wilhelm eventually ceased to be a spy for Johann, who had abdicated his place as Archivist and merely maintained his knighthood in the Order. The young prince

To be completed...

Organisation
The Order is structured to this day according to the Rule of Hákon as was laid down in 1808, named for Hákon Vilhjálmursson, the assumed name of Heinrich Amsel, son of Wilhelm Amsel, one of the founders of the Hochorden in 1781. The Rule organised the ORW into a distinct structure, headed by the Großmeister (Grand Master), elected by the Generalkapital (General Council) of the Order upon the death or removal of his predecessor. Below him are three Hochmeisters (High Masters), each with a specific title and office.

The first and highest is the Ordenskanzler (Chancellor of the Order), who serves as religious deputy to the Grand Master and heads the religious wing of the ORW. Beneath him are three Landmeisters (Regional Chiefs)—who serve essentially as the counterparts to Catholic Archbishops—who, in turn, have beneath them a number of Landkomturen (Provincial Commanders), who oversee all legal and religious issues in the Order in specific province for which they are responsible. Below these are the Komturen (District Commanders), who are responsible for individual bailiwicks and all of the goðar (“priests”) in them and specifically deal with theological questions, with the ability to ordain new goðar, remove a goði from his ordination, hold ceremonies, and direct the local komturei, or “Commandry” of their district, dealing with local finances and record-keeping of the ORW. The lowest rung below the Ordenskanzler are the goðar themselves, the priests of the ORW's faith, who are ranked typically as 9th degree Ritter, (Knights). All Ritter below the 9th degree are regular members of district chapters.

The second Hochmeister is the Ordensmarschall (Marshall of the Order), who oversees the military wing of the ORW, the Wotanssöhne, who are today attached to the Niflungan military, but were once merely a small armed militia attached to the ORW. The ranks have developed over time, but the basic structure of Ordensmarschall – Rittermarschalls (Knight-Marshal) – Genosseritter (Knight Companion) still basically remains, and despite an increase in official militarisation, all members of the Wotanssöhne, regardless of rank, are Genosseritter of the ORW.

The final Hochmesiter is in charge of all internal functions of the ORW itself on a massive, nation-wide level, the Ordenskomtur. He oversees the actions of the three interior departments of the ORW: Großtrappier (Record-keeper), Großtreßler (Treasurer), and Großspitler (Archivist). These offices are typically held by the three Kommandantmeisters (Commandant Masters) of the Order.

The Generalkapitel of the ORW is comprised of all ranking members (i.e. above the rank of Fahrenritter), and is responsible for the election of a new Grand Master when the sitting Grand Master dies or is removed from his office by the veto power of all nine members of the Hochgericht (High Court), comprised of the three High Masters, three Commanding Masters, and three Regional Chiefs. The Chancellor of the Order leads the High Court of the Order as Chief Justice.

The structure of the ORW may be visualised thus:



Ranks
In addition to the Order's offices and titles, there are a division of ranks laid forth by the Rule of Hákon, arranged thus:

Grand Master (Großmeister)

High Master (Hochmeister)

Commandant-Master (Kommandantmeister)

Knight Warden- 3 degrees (Wächterritter)

Knight Companion- 18 degrees (Genosseritter)

Knight Errant- 9 degrees (Fahrenderritter)

Knight Ewart- 9 degrees (Ritterführer)

Knight- 9 degrees (Ritter)

Each of these has a place in the ORW in terms of rank. The first three are fairly straightforward, the Grand Master being both a title and rank, having no degrees, the High Masters, likewise having no degrees specific to them, and the Commandant-Masters likewise. The degrees of a basic Knight carry through straight to the Grand Master, who is legally a 33rd degree Knight of the Order, followed by High Masters, who are 32nd degree, Commandant-Masters who are 31st degree, and so on. In addition to this general degree, however, there are specific degrees which run parallel. There are 3 degrees of Wächteritter, or Knight Wardens, who by 3rd degree are eligible to be chosen by the Chancellor as Landmeisters. This is followed by 9 degrees of Fahrendritter, or Knight Errant, who from 6th degree and above are eligible to be made Landkomturen, and also 9 degrees of Ritterführer, the Knight Ewarts, who by 3rd degree may be made Komturen. Only a 9th degree Knight or higher, however, can be ordained a Goði to serve as a priest and intercessor in local communities. All members are 1st degree Ritter, or Knights of the Order, except for Observing Members, who maintain a status of membership without dues paid or without rights to conduct Blót, or sacrifice.