Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
c.1300, Prestre Johan, legendary medieval Christian king and priest, said to have ruled either in the Far East or Ethiopia. From Vulgar Latin *prester, a transition between Latin presbyter and English priest. First mentioned in the West by mid-12c. chronicler Otto of Freising, who told how Johannes Presbyter won a great victory over the Persians and the Medes. Between 1165 and 1177 a forged letter purporting to be from him circulated in Europe. All this recalls the time when the Christian West was culturally backwards and militarily threatened, dreaming of a mythical deliverer. Compare Old French prestre Jehan (13c.), Italian prete Gianni.
Wikipedia
Prester John is a legendary Christian patriarch and king popular in European chronicles and tradition from the 12th through the 17th century. He was said to rule over a Nestorian ( Church of the East) Christian nation lost amid the Muslims and pagans of the Orient. The accounts are varied collections of medieval popular fantasy, depicting Prester John as a descendant of the Three Magi, ruling a kingdom full of riches, marvels, and strange creatures.
At first, Prester John was imagined to reside in India; tales of the Nestorian Christians' evangelistic success there and of Thomas the Apostle's subcontinental travels probably provided the first seeds of the legend. After the coming of the Mongols to the Western world, accounts placed the king in Central Asia, and eventually Portuguese explorers convinced themselves that they had found him in Ethiopia.
Prester John is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is based loosely on the legendary Christian king Prester John.
Prester John first appeared in Fantastic Four Vol.1 #54 (September 1966). He has mostly appeared as a villain, opposing Thor and Deadpool as well as the Fantastic Four.
Prester John is a Christian king in medieval legend.
Prester John may also refer to:
- Prester John (novel), a book by John Buchan
- Prester John (comics), a Marvel Comics character based on the legend
- Prestor Jon, a DC Comics character
- Prester John, the king of Osten Ard in the 1988-1993 trilogy Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn by Tad Williams
Prester John is a 1910 adventure novel by John Buchan. It tells the story of a young Scotsman named David Crawfurd and his adventures in South Africa, where a Zulu uprising is tied to the medieval legend of Prester John. Crawfurd is similar in many ways to Buchan's later character, Richard Hannay.
Usage examples of "prester john".
Was Morgenes trying to say that Prester John had not killed the Red Dragon, or only that he had not been chosen by God to do so?
I must see the boy Emperor safely installed upon the throne of Prester John in Aksurn.
And the legend of Prester John, blowing like a spring breeze into that stagnating waxworks, was as important as the crusades in stirring the minds of men and making them dream of distant horizons.
Anyway a time will come, Prester John, and I'd rather wait until I feel easy about it.
Come on, he said, and boosted her up onto Prester John's back and then swung up behind her.
Men like Prester John Taybard and the man you knew as Karitas have been sent from here to educate the people of this continent - to lead them towards an understanding of what they are, and from whence they come.
He was, however, a vassal of Un-khan, who, as we have already stated, was known by the appellation of Prester John.
When this came to the knowledge of Prester John, he was exceedingly grieved, being sensible that, from the strong situation of the castle, it would be in vain to march against it, or even to proceed to any act of hostility.
The king now reigning is a descendant of Prester John, and is still Prester John, and named George.
Sheba had her child by Solomon, and although she had two other children, the son of Solomon would ascend the throne and be known as Prester John.
You really were sent here by Prester John to save us from the Mongol invasion, weren't you?