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Prestor-John-msg - 5/15/10

 

The legend of "Prestor John".

 

NOTE: See also the files: M-Cult-th-Lit-art, Cult-Vir-Mary-art, p-stories-msg, story-sources-msg, fairy-tales-msg, Arthur-F-and-F-art, Images-o-East-art, p-travl-guides-msg.

 

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NOTICE -

 

This file is a collection of various messages having a common theme that I have collected from my reading of the various computer networks. Some messages date back to 1989, some may be as recent as yesterday.

 

This file is part of a collection of files called Stefan's Florilegium. These files are available on the Internet at: http://www.florilegium.org

 

I have done a limited amount of editing. Messages having to do with separate topics were sometimes split into different files and sometimes extraneous information was removed. For instance, the message IDs were removed to save space and remove clutter.

 

The comments made in these messages are not necessarily my viewpoints. I make no claims as to the accuracy of the information given by the individual authors.

 

Please respect the time and efforts of those who have written these messages. The copyright status of these messages is unclear at this time. If information is published from these messages, please give credit to the originator(s).

 

Thank you,

    Mark S. Harris                  AKA:  THLord Stefan li Rous

                                          Stefan at florilegium.org

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Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:07:14 -0800

From: "Peter Fryer" <pfryer at iinet.net.au>

Subject: Re: [Lochac] Can of same-sex worms Re: urban legends

To: "'The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list'"

        <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

 

In the 14th and 15th centuries Prestor John was thought to be in Ethiopia so

in this particular bubble of reality an African monarch would be acceptable

and/or believable. If you go earlier say the 11th or 12th centuries Prestor

John was a King somewhere around India so the Asian monarch gets a look in.

 

 

Date: Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:15:08 +0700

From: JL Badgley <tatsushu at gmail.com>

Subject: Re: [Lochac] Can of same-sex worms Re: urban legends

To: "The Shambles: the SCA Lochac mailing list"

        <lochac at lochac.sca.org>

 

On Tue, Jan 12, 2010 at 7:00 PM, Lila Richards <lilar at ihug.co.nz> wrote:

<<< Surely not unless Prester John actually was African or Asian. Given his name,

either possibility seems unlikely. >>>

 

Actually, I was just (re-)reading the tales of Marco Polo, where

Prester John is mentioned and several possibilities exist for who

"Prester John" was. The "Prester", according to one commenter, might

come from "Presbyter" or "Priest-King".  "John" is the English form of

a Biblical name that can be found all over the place, which could

indicate an African or Asian king who had a Christian name (e.g.

through the Eastern Orthodox, Nestorian, Coptic, etc. traditions), or

a misunderstanding (and later mistranslating) of a foreign name.  The

particular 19th century commenter I'm thinking of seems to have

believed it may have stemmed from  tales of an Assyrian king.

 

That said, many different "kings" were thought to be the "Prester

John" of legend, including Ghengis Khan at one point.  However, one

could also point out that Europeans were likely to picture any "good

Christian king" as a European monarch, regardless of the reality,

though I wonder about that.

 

-Ii

 

<the end>



Formatting copyright © Mark S. Harris (THLord Stefan li Rous).
All other copyrights are property of the original article and message authors.

Comments to the Editor: stefan at florilegium.org