Robert Langdon, #2
The Da Vinci Code
by Dan Brown
Contents
CHAPTER 72
Overview
Langdon, Sophie, and Teabing decipher the mirrored inscription as an English iambic-pentameter riddle pointing toward the cryptex password. The clue ties the Grail, Mary Magdalene’s scattered family, the Knights Templar, a mysterious headstone, and the Atbash cipher together, but the group cannot yet determine what word will open the device.
The chapter shifts the quest from identifying the message to solving a more specialized historical and cryptographic puzzle. Sophie’s unease suggests Saunière’s clue has another concealed layer and that the cryptex may not reveal the Grail as straightforwardly as Langdon and Teabing hope.
Summary
High above the ground on Teabing’s jet, Langdon focuses on Saunière’s newly revealed mirror-image poem while Sophie copies it onto paper. The three read the verse as a riddle meant to explain how to open the cryptex: it speaks of an ancient word of wisdom, a scattered family, a headstone praised by Templars, and Atbash revealing the truth.
Before working out the password itself, Langdon notices that the poem is written in iambic pentameter. Teabing excitedly connects the meter and the English language to Priory traditions, explaining that English has been treated by certain anti-Church secret societies as a “pure” language because it is not rooted in Latin.
Sophie presses for the practical answer: the five-letter cryptex password. The group considers whether the “ancient word of wisdom” is connected to the Templars. Teabing reasons that the “headstone” must be some kind of grave marker, possibly linked to Mary Magdalene’s tomb, but that clue is not immediately useful because they do not know the tomb’s location.
Sophie recognizes “Atbash” from cryptology, and Langdon identifies it as one of the oldest known substitution ciphers. Teabing adds that Atbash appears in Jewish mystical and scriptural traditions, making it a fitting Priory clue. However, Langdon points out that they have no text or word to which they can apply the cipher, leaving them stuck until they identify the Templar-praised headstone.
After several minutes of frustration, Teabing admits he is stymied and leaves to get food and check on Rémy and their captive. Sophie, exhausted and uneasy, senses that Saunière’s poem contains another hidden layer they have not yet perceived. She also doubts that the cryptex will simply yield a direct map to the Grail, knowing from her grandfather’s riddles that Saunière never surrendered secrets easily.
Who Appears
- Robert LangdonRecognizes the poem’s meter and explains Atbash while searching for the cryptex password.
- Sophie NeveuCopies the mirrored poem, identifies Atbash, and suspects Saunière hid more in the clue.
- Leigh TeabingInterprets Priory, Templar, and language references but cannot solve the headstone clue.
- Jacques SaunièreAbsent but influential; his layered riddle guides and frustrates the group’s search.