# No, your magical Christ nail DIDN'T win WWII for us **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [April 1, 2005, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308 "2005-04-01T21:53:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/41 "2005-04-02T14:10:38Z")
Tell your bozo to do some serious research on Longinus. Then point him at Barry Sadler’s series of novels about Casca, the Eternal Mercenary. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/42 "2005-04-02T16:09:19Z")
So where is this magic spear now? Where was it during Korea and Viet Nam? ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/43 "2005-04-02T16:13:11Z")
Without actually digging out my copy, I recall the final chapter of Trevor Ravenscroft’s THE SPEAR OF DESTINY (the “authoritative” :rolleyes: source) noted it is on public display in the Austrian Hapsburg (sp?) Museum. ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/44 "2005-04-02T16:17:48Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > And since the spear was sitting in a Vienna museum the day Austria was invaded (and, of course, the whole point of the invasion was to secure the Spear of Destiny :rolleyes: ) AND since Hitler made a beeline to it immediately after his victory parade (maybe, depending on who you ask) not receiving it until April, 1945 would mean he should’ve sent it via FedEx rather than DHL. It didn’t do the Austrians much good in '38, did it? Wonder why Hitler wanted it so bad… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/45 "2005-04-02T18:17:45Z")
“So it isn’t the original building?” I had asked my Japanese guide. “But yes, of course it is,” he insisted, rather surprised at my question. “But it’s been burned down?” “Yes.” “Twice.” “Many times.” “And rebuilt.” “Of course. It is an important and historic building.” “With completely new materials.” “But of course. It was burned down.” “So how can it be the same building?” “It is always the same building.” Well, hey. I’ve heard every cell in our bodies gets replaced in the course of seven years. So we’re all original buildings with all new material (except that for some reason we keep getting rebuilt with older and crappier material every time.) ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/46 "2005-04-02T18:34:49Z")
> [@FriarTed](#): > > Was your Dad in on that also? I thought I was the only one who knew! > > 😃 That’s mission classified. Some day I can tell the story about him and the lost scrolls of Constantine, but even that still needs about 7 more years to clear. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Sakamoto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/898d66/32.png) [@Mr\_Sakamoto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Sakamoto)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/47 "2005-04-02T18:43:36Z")
Your university offers a wine-tasting class? I hate you. In fact, I’m so mad, I’m going to go register for the glass blowing class taught between spring and summer. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@wolf\_in\_second\_hand\_clothing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_in_second_hand_clothing)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/48 "2005-04-02T19:53:14Z")
> [@Mr Sakamoto](#): > > Your university offers a wine-tasting class? I hate you. In fact, I’m so mad, I’m going to go register for the glass blowing class taught between spring and summer. Yes, it’s a hotel/restaurant institution management course. Unfortunately, our glass blowing class was dropped due to budget cuts. We also have horseback riding classes and classes on the works of Tolkein. All for credit. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/49 "2005-04-02T22:42:47Z")
> [@Bryan Ekers](#): > > The “Spear of Destiny” was a plot device in Roy Thomas’s 1980s comic-book series _All-Star Squadron_, set during WW2. Hitler possessed it and thus was able (in conjunction with the Holy Grail, in the possession of the Japanese) to keep the most powerful of the superheroes (Superman, Wonder Woman, the Spectre, Green Lantern, etc.) out of Axis territory, thus explaining why they didn’t wrap up the war in about twenty minutes. And in Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Spear of Longinus, thrown by a giant cyborg, pierces the force field of an orbiting angel, killing it instantly. The spear then falls into orbit around the moon. Damn, I love that manga 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2005, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/50 "2005-04-02T23:18:32Z")
**SlyFrog** , I don’t know if you are a published author or not, but if you are let hear about it, I want to read your stuff!!! ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/51 "2005-04-03T03:45:56Z")
Wasn’t there a computer game based on this called **Spear of Destiny**? ---
**Author:** ![RandomLetters](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8edcca/32.png) [@RandomLetters](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RandomLetters)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/52 "2005-04-03T08:56:04Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > It didn’t do the Austrians much good in '38, did it? Wonder why Hitler wanted it so bad… Well, the Austrians just left the Spear sitting in a museum, collecting dust. Had Wilhelm Miklas met the Nazis at the border with the Spear, they wouldn’t have been annexed by Germany. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 11:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/53 "2005-04-03T11:30:26Z")
In yet another video game appearance, the spear also pops up in **Tomb Raider Chronicles** , this time aboard a Russian submarine chartered by the Russian Mafia for the purposes of retrieving it. Don’t ask me why, because I can’t remember - I think they salvaged it from a Nazi sub, with predictable consequences. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/54 "2005-04-03T16:23:35Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > Isn’t that spear the one that the guy was trying to find all the parts to int the execrable USA Network presentation of [The Librarian: Quest for the Spear.](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412915/)? I enjoyed spotting the articfacts in the movie, but I could not understand why the spear looked nothing like a real roman spear. > [@SlickRoenick](#): > > Wasn’t there a computer game based on this called **Spear of Destiny**? [Yes.](http://www.gamefaqs.com/search/go.php?id=564605&tp=2.html) I loved it. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/55 "2005-04-03T21:19:45Z")
> [@BraheSilver](#): > > Likewise, the [sequel](http://www.idsoftware.com/games/wolfenstein/spear/?id=227f03fbd950372406d98461b6c14633) to Wolfenstein 3d was not based on a true story. Although I think there might have been a guy named Hitler running around Germany the time the game is supposed to take place. And next you’ll be telling me that the nazis weren’t really building zombie-cyborg supersoldiers with mini-guns and rocket launchers like in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/56 "2005-04-04T01:30:07Z")
> [@HPL](#): > > And next you’ll be telling me that the nazis weren’t really building zombie-cyborg supersoldiers with mini-guns and rocket launchers like in Return to Castle Wolfenstein. What about the leather wearing lesbian Nazi assassins? Those _had_ to be real! They’re just too hot to not be real! ---
**Author:** ![mza662](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f4b2a3/32.png) [@mza662](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mza662)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/57 "2005-04-04T08:21:03Z")
> [@Hamish](#): > > And in Neon Genesis Evangelion, the Spear of Longinus, thrown by a giant cyborg, pierces the force field of an orbiting angel, killing it instantly. The spear then falls into orbit around the moon. > > Damn, I love that manga 😃 the evangelions arent cyborgs, theyre living creatures. and it’s later retrieved if i recall correctly, during the process of the third impact. and there are copies made of it to accompany some new evangelions who destroy eva-02. i love that manga too hehe ---
**Author:** ![Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dfb087/32.png) [@Scoundrel\_Swanswater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scoundrel_Swanswater)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/58 "2005-04-04T10:42:27Z")
> [@Stranger On A Train](#): > > 'Minds me of an anecdote from Betrand Russell, in which he received a letter from a woman in response to an op-ed he wrote in which he doubted the existant of sincere solipsists. According to Russell, she claimed to be a solipsist and was surprised that there were not more. :eek: > > Stranger That is just hilarious !!! ---
**Author:** ![SlyFrog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@SlyFrog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlyFrog)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/59 "2005-04-04T15:27:25Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > **SlyFrog** , I don’t know if you are a published author or not, but if you are let hear about it, I want to read your stuff!!! I’m honored, but I unfortunately am not even a writer. I wisely chose to be a professional white collar worker. Now I reap the benefits, staring out the window at the spring sun in a dull funk. ---
**Author:** ![Scott\_Plaid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Scott\_Plaid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scott_Plaid)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308/60 "2005-04-04T15:41:42Z")
I am just speaking out of my ass, or does looking out the window in a dull funk sound like the perfect period of time to start writing The Great 'Merican Novel? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/no-your-magical-christ-nail-didnt-win-wwii-for-us/297308.md?page=4)