[David]

Originally Posted by A. G. Maisey

Detlef, you have possibly heard and read the same, or similar things to those that I have heard and read. However, I have the character defect that I do not believe everything I read or am told. I want a lot more than somebody's personal, or group, belief that something is so. Most particularly where keris beliefs come into play, I want a lot more than 20th. century Javanese belief, or imaginative hypotheses constructed to suit a personal hobby horse.

All the ideas and stories are interesting, and in the right context can provide the foundations for congenial conversation. But after the conversation is finished, nothing has been substantiated, and all the big questions are still left standing with no supported answers.

There are at least two ways that we can approach the subject that Cedric has raised:- we can pull out all our interesting stories and ideas, or we can attempt to provide solid, supported answers. I've probably heard most of the interesting stories, so these don't hold much interest for me, but I would really appreciate some solid supportable answers, because in spite of a great deal of searching, I have yet to find these answers.

Frankly Alan, while i quite understand your position here, many of us do not personally have your experience or access to all the "ideas and stories" in regards to this question. Ideas and stories can be more than a foundation for congenial conversation. They can sometimes feed hypothesis or spark theories and can lead us on to further discovery. Then sometimes they just lead us only to dead ends. But i see no reason to quash discussion here simply because the answers might remain unsubstantiated or because you have already heard all the stories. My only disclaimer here is that when we speak from a place of folklore it cannot be held up as absolute fact. It is what it is and must be examined and valued as such. But i think at this point we are probably all aware that there are many aspects of the keris that will always remain somewhat unsubstantiated to some extent.