What does 古えの地綺譚 mean, how do you read it, and what is its origin?


Looking at the meaning of the individual kanji doesn't help much--Jisho says
each means: old or ancient; earth or ground; figured cloth or beautiful or
thin twilled silk fabric; and talk--and although I was able to find an entry
on [[奇譚]{きたん}](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/52687/meaning/m0u/), I still
can't fully piece together what this phrase means.

As far as reading goes, I get the feeling it's something along the lines of
[古え]{いにしえ}の[地綺譚]{ちきたん}, but I'm not certain.

With regard to the origin of this phrase, I have no idea. I'm less interested
in this than the other two, so if you can't answer this that's fine. It's more
or less a general curiosity.

* * *

**Note** : I am looking at [this
book](https://www.amazon.co.jp/%E3%83%AF%E3%83%B3%E3%83%80%E3%81%A8%E5%B7%A8%E5%83%8F-%E5%85%AC%E5%BC%8F%E3%82%AC%E3%82%A4%E3%83%89%E3%83%96%E3%83%83%E3%82%AF-%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%9F%E9%80%9A%E3%81%AE%E6%94%BB%E7%95%A5%E6%9C%AC-%E9%80%B1%E5%88%8A%E3%83%95%E3%82%A1%E3%83%9F%E9%80%9A%E7%B7%A8%E9%9B%86%E9%83%A8/dp/4047275700),
which is where I found the phrase.




Parse it as 古【いにし】えの地【ち】 + 綺譚【きたん】.

  * **古えの** : =古【いにしえ】の; of the ancient times, ancient (so-called "no-adjective")
  * **地** : place, land
  * **綺譚** : (beautiful/mysterious) tale, story (according to [this page](https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/826391.html), it's a word made up by [Kafu Nagai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaf%C5%AB_Nagai) in the early 20th century. 奇譚 literally means "mysterious tale" and 綺譚 literally means "beautiful tale", but the difference is not probably important here. Now this word is [found in the title of many books](https://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=%E7%B6%BA%E8%AD%9A).)

So those amount to "ancient place's story" or "tales of the ancient land". As
for the origin, I think it's just the subtitle of this specific book.




Parse it as 古【いにし】えの地【ち】 + 綺譚【きたん】.

  * **古えの** : =古【いにしえ】の; of the ancient times, ancient (so-called "no-adjective")
  * **地** : place, land
  * **綺譚** : (beautiful/mysterious) tale, story (according to [this page](https://oshiete.goo.ne.jp/qa/826391.html), it's a word made up by [Kafu Nagai](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaf%C5%AB_Nagai) in the early 20th century. 奇譚 literally means "mysterious tale" and 綺譚 literally means "beautiful tale", but the difference is not probably important here. Now this word is [found in the title of many books](https://www.amazon.co.jp/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?__mk_ja_JP=%E3%82%AB%E3%82%BF%E3%82%AB%E3%83%8A&url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=%E7%B6%BA%E8%AD%9A).)

So those amount to "ancient place's story" or "tales of the ancient land". As
for the origin, I think it's just the subtitle of this specific book.

