The Voynich Ninja

[attachment=1057]
.If that little critter is a camel-dragon (and the hump is a fuzzy dromedary hump), then the plant could be Cymbopogon, camel grass (a medicinal and culinary plant with parallel veins).



5th century mosaic, possibly from Syria. Image courtesy of the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..

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Camel with "turtle" hump (a blanket, I assume), from Persian miniature c. 1425.

This is a delightful thread; lots of fun, and lots of intelligence  all together.

Thanks to everyone who posted earlier.

May I make two points which apply in general to the work of analysing and commenting on imagery.

First, don't forget to address the issue of significance in the specific context.  A dragon in one image can be there for a very different reason than a dragon appears in a different context.  As example, in a Latin Christian work the dragon is usually an emblem of real or mythical or metaphorical evil; but in, say, medieval heraldry it may just mean "Wales".

Secondly, stylistics is absolutely vital, but like intended significance is constantly forgotten.  If something is differently conceived and presented, it comes from a "different place" in every sense.

Anyway, I think the significance of the dragon in f.25v is to signal the name of the plant which was originally called Dracaena draco, but later named D.cinnabaris.  That switch in taxonomic description has caused all sorts of confusion in Voynich studies.  D. draco was later made the name for the Mediterranean species which has flowers and fruit, though D. cinnabaris has neither.

As to style.. this little dragon is one of the few mnemonic elements in the botanical section that I would certainly attribute to western medieval culture.  It looks to me like Celtic style, and here's the example I cited - even though it has two heads.  The source I used says it comes from Clonmacnoise - and its anomalous, western and probably Christian character is what first led me to write about the Irish who had travelled east to Egypt and beyond.  They include Hugo the Illuminator who travelled with Symon Semeonis, and William the Irishman who travelled with Odoric of Pordenone.

But since I covered all this between 2008-2010, I daresay it's new old news to people here.

(05-01-2017, 04:18 PM)Oocephalus Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(05-01-2017, 11:46 AM)Koen Gh. Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Might the "shell" just be a folded wing? That does leave the sea horse like head and the "fin" that connects the back and the tail.

I think so. I don't see any other way to interpret what's going on near the tail end of the animal. I've outlined what I see as the left wing (red) and the tip of the right one (blue).

I see what you're getting at, but do you think those lines you've highlighted in blue could be part of the same "wing" you've outlined in red, if the wing itself is folded or curled over somehow?

(06-01-2017, 01:20 PM)Diane Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.As to style.. this little dragon is one of the few mnemonic elements in the botanical section that I would certainly attribute to western medieval culture.  It looks to me like Celtic style, and here's the example I cited - even though it has two heads.  The source I used says it comes from Clonmacnoise - and its anomalous, western and probably Christian character is what first led me to write about the Irish who had travelled east to Egypt and beyond.  They include Hugo the Illuminator who travelled with Symon Semeonis, and William the Irishman who travelled with Odoric of Pordenone.

But since I covered all this between 2008-2010, I daresay it's new old news to people here.

The arms are a bit similar, but beyond that I'm having trouble seeing much of a resemblance here.  What makes you think the VMS creature is connected to that Celtic dragon?

This doesn't look like the VMS dragony-critter, but it does show how fanciful these dragon critters could be.

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(From the Luttrell Psalter.)


I tend to think the VMS author(s) would somehow relate the creature to the plant which is why I thought the "camel dragon" might be a possibility, because it directly relates the creature not only to the name of the plant, but to the habitat (camels do browse on these).

I tried to find plants that might be associated with seahorses or the various names for seahorses, but haven't found any direct relationships yet. I'll keep an eye out, since it's possible there are some.

Sam G:

Quote:I see what you're getting at, but do you think those lines you've highlighted in blue could be part of the same "wing" you've outlined in red, if the wing itself is folded or curled over somehow?

Maybe. But then there would be a sharp bend in the wing tip, and apparently the distal end of the left wing would be hidden from view on the right side of the animal, which I think is unlikely.

Sam - it has to do with the draughtsman's mental image, recognising which is an important element in iconographic analysis.

So for example, we have many images of western manuscripts showing creatures with foliated (leafy-looking) limbs and tail and those examples informed the mental image of a draughtsman from that milieu.

But here, you see a particular idea of how the ears should look; the proportion of the nose to ears, the same oddly 'cute' character, the lack of overt demonisation. When you turn to the texts which also informed the western Christian way of thought, you find that the "draco" as serpent or as 'dragon' is constantly equated with evil, and with the devil.  It is not a thing loveable or cute as a rule in Latin works, but an enemy - THE enemy as often as not - to be vanquished.

So that 'cute' and strangely affectionate way of representing the little dragon is unusual for western Christian art, though the echo of foliated limbs and tail indicate such an origin.  Where we do find a conception of the 'cute little dragon' is in some insular and some northern work.  In this case, the example I showed (or 'quoted') comes from a centre that, in the ninth century, was directly linked to the old centres of Irish monasticism on the continent, including those whose libraries had begun with Columbanus: Bobbio among them.

Quote:The strategic location of the monastery helped it become a major centre of religion, learning, craftsmanship, and trade by the 9th century and together with You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. it was the most famous in Ireland, visited by scholars from all over Europe. - wiki 'Clonmacnoise'

It's not as easy as setting two images side by side, as I'm sure you'll appreciate.  One has to find just where the intersection occurs between the form given an image, where we may posit appropriate conception of the subject, and historical, archaeological, documentary and other matter which prove the opinion that two images are comparable: in origin, attitudes, style and intended significance.
 It is proverbial that iconographic analysis is the study of "everything human beings  think about".

I'm not sure if cuteness is a valid parameter. This one (two) looks extremely friendly but it clearly isn't:


Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 13096, f.86v. Apocalypse de S. Jean, en français (1313)

I'm with Diane on this one. The iconography of the beast is completely wrong. I also like the comparison she made. 
The trouble is that there is no reason for a 'dragon' to appear there. The image had a specific tradition and those meanings just aren't conveyed bya dragon nibbling a leaf. 
It's got to be some other animal, and we're projecting a dragon into it.
I have asked myself - and I'd like your opinion on it- is the beast original or added in later? 
It's unique in the book for its size, its definition and the way it is interacting with the reader, by looking at you head on.

I would agree that it could have been added by a later owner, if not for one thing: these snakes have a similar style and they are integrated into the picture.

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I agree with Diane though that the dragon appears to belong to a different stratum of the manuscript's evolution and that it is one of the more "medieval" things in the manuscript.