I have my doubts. This subject is way out of Coleman’s field of expertise (and he’s not a trained scholar to begin with, though he has an amateur track record – but I confess I can’t claim more for myself), he says he can’t give a good account just now, he’s publishing in a book, rather than in a peer-reviewed journal, and he talks about “decyphering”, which is always a red flag.
My local library has access to an entire county, and also participates in ILL, so I’ll look at it when it appears.
Yes; most interesting is that with all of the amazing claims mentioned in the synopsis, the location of the grail is considered “[m]ost important”.
Powers &8^]
Ooh I like these sort of books.
Round our way we already have the Ark of the Covenant a few miles down the road, so fingers crossed we get the Grail too!
Cripes! I just thought I might let people know in case they are interested. In this case, it was the original article by Cecil that triggered me off. Sorry about the spelling mistake - just finger trouble.
I did not know that I had to be an academic to simply write a narrative, and who could ‘peer review’ something that is entirely original?
The subject is not entirely knew to me. My main interest has generally been naval and polar history, but I have transcribed (and had published) the Travels of Sir John Mandeville (14th century). Several years ago I wrote a paper concerning the origins of King Arthur, and, more recently, I transcribed Perlesvaus from the middle English to a more readable ‘King James’ style. I am currently deeply immersed in the Plantagenet period.
‘The Grail Chronicles’ however, came about purely by accident. I had no intention of looking for the Grail - nor did I know where the trail would end. One thing simply led to another. The only time I tried to ‘jump the gun’, I ended going down a wrong path. With lesson learned, I regained the path - which led me to the chalice.
No-one would be more keen than I am to let the details out, but the owners of the chalice are totally unprepared at the moment for any resulting uproar (or whatever) that may result. Furthermore, the publishers have requested a clamp-down for the moment, for obvious reasons.
With best wishes to all,
E C Coleman
ill be darned, i think i have this…christmas prezzi from a friend… small white book with a period illustration of a sailing vessel on the cover? [it is boxed up pending renovation in my office or id check or certain…]
Is the OP saying he knows little about the subject of his book - and use of the English language?
Dear Sir,
Oops. Did it again. Could an amnesty be called on my finger trouble? I promise I will try harder next time - my excuse is that I dash these notes off whilst doing other things. I never claimed to be a multi-tasker. By the way, what is an OP?
Yours Faithfully,
E C Coleman
OP is Original Poster or the Original Post depending on context. Please don’t be put off continuing to post on the SDMB by some of the responses in this thread. It’s very friendly really! But, as **jjimm **says its a very sceptical audience and the Grail pushes many buttons…
As an amateur scholar, myself (the first editor of Lewis Theobald’s 1727 Double Falshood; or, The Distrest Lovers), I could hardly be strict that way.
At the very least, a mediaeval “decypherment” would appear to entail questions of cryptography, linguistics, palaeography, and other matters of document authentication.
As both a Christian and, in a small way, a student of these matters, I would like very much for the Grail to be found. But there has been a great deal of rubbish published on the subject in my lifetime alone, so I look, and I wonder, and I suspend my judgement.
In the meantime, have you read Charles Williams’ War in Heaven?
I told you- it’s on top of my curio cabinet, next to a cypress knee.
I am understandably skeptical that the very first hard proof of the existence of JC is a chalice.
Have you located any other Christ relics? The Spear Of Destiny? The Nails Of The Passion? The True Cross?
Dear Sir,
Like John W Kennedy, I would also have suspended my judgement in similar circumstances. I regret not having read (nor being aware of) ‘War in Heaven’ - it will have to be one for the future. In my case ‘decypherment’ means little more than the realisation of what was originally intended. Here we have a medieval object which has, over many centuries, attracted its own myths. Once they are cleared away, and taking into consideration its physical position, its original message becomes clear.
To Pan1, all I can say is, stay sceptical - I would.
DocCathode may be closer than he thinks. During my researches I visited an ancient cathedral to check on a particular object. Whilst reading a report on some restoration work done in the mid-19th century I discovered that the object in question had been removed and was found to have been secured by a nail ‘of ancient and foreign design’ . The nail was used to secure an object made of a particular wood only found (at that time) in the Holy Land. The object itself was connected to an ancient shrine - so who knows? (The full story is in the book). I do not, however, have a ‘Cyprus Knee’ - whatever that is.
Yours Faithfully,
E C Coleman
I am fascinated, and do intend to read this, even if the conclusions may not actually be particularly graily…
Now I need to get a gazetteer of British Cathedrals and go visiting…
Cyprus knee sounds very painful.
E C Coleman, I’m delighted you’re posting here, and I apologize for my earlier remarks. We do get spammers who sneak in, post once advertising their book/weight-loss technique/wart-remover etc. and then are never heard from again. We try to keep the spam out. So, my apologies for my earlier suspicions and welcome to the Straight Dope!
You’ll find that our posters tend to be extremely sceptical, well-read, and deep thinkers. So, look around, you might find other topics that interest you.
Dear C K Dexter Haven,
Thank you for your kind remarks. I never doubted for a moment the quality of the site - even though some of the contributors are rather testing! I have naver taken part in such a scheme before (I even thought that OP might be a rude rebuff - first word being ‘Old’). I intend to browse through and take full advantage of the many facets that are available.
Yours sincerely,
E C Coleman
E C Coleman said:
Wait, so you start with the location of the Grail and then decypher the clues to match that? Interesting…
Dear Sir,
A very good point by Irishman - only I was not talking about the Grail, but another object to which it was linked. The object in question fits exactly the description I gave. That is, get rid of centuries of myth accumalation, and the original purpose becomes clear. The fun part of my researches came about because I had no idea to where they were leading. As I mentioned earlier, at one point I suddenly believed I had the answer and went haring off in that direction - only to be brought down to earth with a bump. Then, only by going back to the point of departure, was I able to get back on track. Lesson learned.
Yours Faithfully,
E C Coleman