Paranormal
The King of terror was originally supposed to appear in September 1999. However, due to the recent World Trade Attacks, people are saying that his prophecy has been fulfilled, however, exactly 2 years late. Below are the previous translations, meant specifically for 1999. Before that is the interpretation for the year 2001.
Century 10, Quatrain 72
The year 1999, seventh month, [or simply "sept"]From the sky will come a great King of Terror.
To bring back to life the great King of the Mongols,
Before and after Mars to reign by good luck.
Year 2001 Interpretation
In the year 1999... now let's make that a 2001. From the sky will come a great King of Terror. This could be a reference to the plane crashes into the World Trade Center towers, causing so many losses. The King of the Mongols would probably be the mastermind behind these attacks, most probably, as everyone says, Saddam Hussein or Osama Bin Laden. The mention of Mars and reign by good luck means that this may continue for a good period of time.It is obvious that the below (1999) interpretations did not come true, however I have still included them.
John Hogue's Interpretation
In the year 1999 and seven months [July],
A great King of Terror will come from the sky.
He will bring back the great King Genghis Khan.
Before and after Mars rules happily.
Nostradamus’ most famous doomsday prediction warns future generations of a King of Terror descending from the skies in July 1999. This holy terror could be linked to the Third Antichrist who may be the fearsome Mabus of C2 Q62 or the North African Terrorist from C2 Q30 who is from the land of the infernal Hannibal’s God. "Baal" was also called "Hammon," a name that can mean "Lord of the Sky."
Many interpreters have tried to understand the prophetic significance of Nostradamus bringing back to life the Roi d’Angolmois (the great King of the Mongols) by the last July of this millennium. Genghis Khan united the Mongolians of the Central Asian steppes into an all-conquering army that forged the largest land empire in history. The vast Islamic western wing of his empire included modern-day Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union.
Genghis Khan was one of history’s greatest kings of terror. Tens of millions died in the bloody conquests initiated by the warlord and his successors, and his record of devastation and genocide is appalling. According to the prophet, Genghis Khan and his empire are now returning: the warlord has been brought back to life.
In 1990 in a major propaganda campaign, the leaders of the People’s Republic of China restored Genghis Khan to his "rightful" place in Chinese history.
The final line makes a cryptic reference to Mars. A consideration of the occult meaning of this planet which, in conventional wisdom, represents the God of war and mayhem, opens up the possibility of a positive outcome in the future. The phrase "before and after Mars rules happily" can be interpreted to mean that the higher aspect of Mars, as the God of magic and spiritual transformation, "rules happily" in the new millennium.
Erika Cheetham's Interpretation
In the year 1999 and seven months,
From the sky will come the great King of Terror.
He will bring back to life the great king of the Mongols.
Before and after war rules happily.
In this gloomy prediction of the coming of the Third Antichrist in July 1999, Nostradamus seems to foresee the coming of the Millennium. He was greatly influenced towards this opinion by contemporary thought. This quatrain indicates that it will be preceded by the coming of the Third Antichrist from the East, "the king of the Mongols," before the Final Coming of the Great King of Terror. It is interesting to note that Nostradamus foresees war both before and after his coming. He, therefore, does not envisage an instant End of the World.
Alternative Verse/Translation
L'an mil neuf cens nonante neuf sept mois
Du ciel viendra un grand Roy deffraieur
Resusciter le grand Roy d'Angolmois.
Avant apres Mars regner par bon heur.
When 1999 is seven months o'er
Shall Heaven's great Vicar, anxious to appease,
Stir up the Mongol-Lombard king once more
And war reign haply where it once did cease.
Whatever this verse is about, it is not (as most translations claim, to much justified public alarm) a great King of terror. Not as it stands, at least. The last word in line 2, which only acquired an apostrophe (thus making it 'd'effraieur') in corrupt subsequent editions, means 'defraying' or even 'buying off.' The expression 'du ciel' ('of/from heaven' or 'of/from the sky') suggests, as elsewhere in Les Propheties, that this big-spending or even appeasing ruler has some kind of divine authority. Far from being some kind of Antichrist, then, the figure concerned looks rather like the Pope himself.
In fact comparative horoscopy suggests that he is to be 'another Pope Gregory the Great' (who in fact came from Rome's Mons Caelius [='du ciel' again!]). 'Angolmois' is generally supposed to be an anagram for 'Mongolois,' though its first half is also an anagram for the first half of 'Langobardi' -- the 'Lombards' who invaded Italy in the 6th century, during Gregory's pontificate.
'Viendra . . . resusciter' is a standard Nostradamian form of future tense, as is 'regner.' 'Resusciter' itself (from Latin 're+sub+citare') originally meant 'to stir up again' -- and Nostradamus and his contemporaries were very prone to use classical words in their original senses. As for 'par bon heur,' this means not 'happily' (as many versions would have it) but 'by good luck.'
The gist therefore seems to be that in July 1999 a possibly appeasing Pope will in some way stir up a leader with Mongol (or possibly Lombard) connections (some French observers prefer to take the word 'Angolmois' literally, and refer it to the former François I, who was duke of Angoulême), with the result that a previously raging war will accidentally flare up again.
