In May of
1863, geologist Professor Otto Lidenbrock, theof 's 1864 novel finds a
coded note written on parchment in the runic manuscript of a medieval Icelandic saga that he has
recently acquired.
With the help of his young nephew Axel, he transliterates
the text of the norse runic letters into those of the Latin alphabet only to discover that the
text is still incomprehensible. Declaring that the seemingly random letters actually are a
cipher, Lidenbrock is determined to crack the code.
The Professor observes
that the note is written in a hand different than that in the book, employing characters that
were only in use two hundred years after the date of the manuscript. Examining the manuscript
with a magnifying glass, Lidenbrock is able to make out the name of Arne Saknussem, a celebrated
scholar and alchemist of the sixteenth century and realizes it must be he who has left the
baffling cryptogram.
The professor suddenly ordains that not only he but also
Axel and the entire household must go without food until the cryptogram has been deciphered. He
then runs out of the house. In his uncle's absence, Axel happens to pick up the parchment to fan
himself and realizes he is able to read the coded message backwards upon glancing at the reverse
side of the document.
Yet Axel refuses to tell his uncle what he has
discovered, realizing he would immediately leave on a dangerous voyage that would put his life
at risk. At length, he finally relents and reveals the contents of the message to the rapt
professor:
Go down into the crater of Snaefells Yocul
which the shadow of Scartaris caresses before the calends of July, O audacious traveller, and
you will reach the center of the Earth. I did it. Arne Saknussem.
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