Between Solo and Yogya

[A. G. Maisey]

Pak Usmen, if you believe the legends surrounding Empu Ramadi, as I believe the legends surrounding Arthur, then your belief is as mine:- rather fragile.

I am of the opinion that serious researchers into legend are in more or less general agreement that many, if not most legends have a basis in fact, but that basis may be very, very different from the legend as it stands at this point in time.

As I have already stated:- we should not confuse legend with fact.

All of these beliefs and legends are interesting, and provide useful background which will allow people to come to an understanding of the way in which many people in Jawa regard and feel about the keris. The legends are of anthropological value, but they are not of historic value, and bearing in mind that history itself is very often open to question, they can most certainly never be accepted as factual.

Let us be aware of the legends, but let us not confuse the legends with facts, nor with hypotheses which can be supported with logic or with evidence.