The Voynich Ninja

Hi everyone,

I can't believe there isn't a specific thread about the thing yet... you know what I mean: the thing.



Whatever it is, it must be pretty important since it is shown twice.

I've heard it described as bellows, or as part of a flower or bud, or as spinning equipment. Sorry for not referencing that better, I can't remember who said what or when.

I'm curious about everyone's opinions on this thing, and about the connections forum members may make with other objects.

To get the ball rolling, and without much conviction, I'll present these eel traps:


Luttrell Psalter (BL Add MS 42130) c1320-1340, f 181r.

On f82r, to the left and behind the nymph there is something poking up through her hair. Is this the stem of the Thing? If so, it is rather long.

EMS: it's hard to tell with all the hair, but you may be right that a straight line is emerging from tge back end of the thing (this is so going in the glossary).

IF this is the case, I would deduce that the spike is in fact retractable, which is why it is gone from the front end, resulting in a longer handle in the back.

Emma May Smith & Koen Gh,
yes, it does seem to be that way.
Could the thing be affixed to the end of a staff of some sort?
I also think the idea that it may have retractable (or maybe removable?) parts is interesting.
Is it a mechanical thing?

Whatever the thing is, it seems to be making an impression on the other nymphs in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , and not necessarily a good one: the nymph facing her has both her arms up, and the one below seems to be pointing towards or reacting to the nymph who carries the thing.
Is the thing surprising, impressive, or maybe even frightening?

It may also be worth noting that in both folios, the nymph holding the Thing occurs in close proximity to a nymph holding a ring.

By the way, I would definitely put my money on a spindle.

The spindle is one of the earliest ID's for the thing, and definitely a possibility.
If that is the case, spinning seems to be an important theme in the bathy section, as there is one more possible spindle represented (at the top of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ).

If the thing is a spindle, the following image may also give us a hint about why the thing and the "ring" are pictured together in the Voynich:


You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.,The Trojan War (ÖNB 2773, fol. 137r), c. 1445-1450

But I still am bothered by the fact that although the outline of the thing may be shaped like a spindle, the actual pattern on it does not at all look like thread.
If it is a spindle, why the row of dots on the thing, rather than lines like coiled thread?

VV: 
I was about to reply with a post explaining why it just can't be a spindle, but I may have to reconsider.

In my opinion, and a thread throughout much of my personal Voynich analysis, is that very much in tge manuscript is two things at once. Sometimes seemingly unrelated things. Like if you tried to draw something that would evoke in the modern viewer both a television and a fork.

Now of course these things are not unrelated at all! They each tell something about the image. For example, if I draw a guy watching a television shaped like a big fork, this might mean that he was a famous fork salesman on a tv show. In the VM we can't read the text, but I might add 'Johnny missed selling forks on tv' and you would have no problem understanding my image.

Why was this done? Well, one possible explanation is that these things are incredibly powerful memory boosters. If I actually drew this image, and then ask you days later what Johhny used to do for a living, you would certainly still remember. It has to do with the way our brains are wired, and people before the printing press were masters at this stuff.

Back to the figure. Quite some time ago, through analysis of the implied storyline on this page, I concluded that she had to represent either Ursa Major or Ursa Minor. One of the Bear constellations. This did not help me to understand the thing at all, but the only logical conclusion was that a bear had to be there. This is supported by the base upon which she stands and the shape evoked by her upper body, but I won't go into details here.

I just didn't know what the thing was.

Diane had explained the thing as a navigator's tool. She later told me that this and other clues in the figure itself had led her to believe she was Ursa Minor. That is of course a massive coincidence, because we had come to the same conclusion through a different path. 

This was great news for me. Since Ursa Minor spinned so closely around the celestial pole, she was the preferred constellation by the best navigators. So such a tool made sense.

One thing that kept bothering me is that in iconography, this tool was always represented with a curve in the body, like a cornucopia with a spike on top.

And this thing is shaped like a full spindle. As if she'd been spinning rather well. Around the pole, perhaps.

Thanks for your insight Koen Gh.
I get the cornucopia idea, but as you note, these tend to be curved.
I also get what you're saying about the fact that that many elements in the Voynich appear to be two things at once. This may be the case... or it could be that the objects are the spitting image of something we haven't thought of yet. 

I've located the post where Diane analyzes the thing. For those interested, it can be found You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. .
The traveler's horologium, as she shows it, is cylindrical, and has no handle, but it's a possibility. Here's how the horologium is represented in an early 14thC manuscript (leftmost image): That one seems slightly better as it has a handle on the bottom, allowing it to be held like the Thing.


British Library MS Burney 275, f.390v

Also, I have no idea what the tan colored object on the table in the image below is, but it does have a somewhat similar shape, and appears in the context of bathing:


British Library, Add. 17987, folio 111v

Roman fresco from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., close You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., from Villa di Arianna, called Cosiddetta Flora.

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Description 
English: So-called Flora.
Français : « Flora ».
Italiano: Cosidetta Flora.
Date 1st century AD
Medium fresco
Current location  (Inventory)Naples National Archaeological Museum Link back to Institution infobox template wikidata:Q637248


--- more information

Her name is derived from the Latin word "flos" which means "flower"

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Bei Ovid wird sie mit der ansonsten nicht belegten griechischen Nymphe Chloris gleichgesetzt:
„Und während sie sprach, hauchte sie Frühlingsrosen aus ihrem Munde: Chloris war ich, die ich Flora genannt werde.“ 

Sie wird im Frühling von der Verkörperung des Westwindes Zephyr verfolgt und zu seiner Frau gemacht.[2]

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Das Füllhorn (gr. κέρας Ἀμαλθείας keras Amaltheias „Horn der Amaltheia“, lat. cornu copiae „Horn der Fülle“) ist ein mythologisches Symbol des Glückes. Es ist mit Blumen und Früchten gefüllt und steht für Fruchtbarkeit, Freigebigkeit, Reichtum und Überfluss.

Füllhorn
Das Füllhorn ist ein trichter- oder tütenförmiger Flechtkorb, der vor allem zur Weinlese Verwendung gefunden haben dürfte. In der griechischen Mythologie gehörte das Füllhorn zuerst zu der mythischen Ziege Amaltheia, die damit Zeus aufzog, wird dann aber auch von den Gottheiten der Erde Gaia, des Friedens Eirene, des Schicksals Tyche (Fortuna) und des Reichtums Plutos verwendet.

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The "Flora" bust

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In 1910, the son of Richard Cockle Lucas – Albert Dürer Lucas – claimed that a bust of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., which had been purchased by the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., Berlin, under the belief that it was by You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., was created by his father.You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., the general manager of the Prussian Art Collections for the Berlin Museum, had spotted the bust in a London gallery and purchased it for a few pounds. Bode was convinced that the bust was by da Vinci and the Berlin Museum authorities, and the German public, were delighted to have "snatched a great art treasure from under the very noses" of the British art world. 

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Davidsch,
that is a beautiful image... would you care to add a few words about what it is and how it relates to the Thing?
(Edit: Thank you for adding the information!)
Still:
I see the cornucopia (fullhorn) there, but cornucopias, as their name indicates, are horn-shaped, narrow at one end, large at the other, and more often shaped like a curved cone. The thing is not: it is straight and tapers at both ends. That has been my issue with this interpretation of the Thing all along.