The Voynich Ninja

Since before I blogged about Diepolt Lauber, I've been trying to track down the earlier workshops (2 in particular) that might have been somehow connected with (or influenced) the Lauber workshop. That includes trying to figure out Lauber and Schiller's genealogies (I was trying to determine if Lauber's father or uncle might have owned or been involved with one of the earlier workshops), but it's difficult to do, most of the information is probably not online (and when I first started looking into this almost nothing about Lauber was online).

I have managed to sample the scripts in quite a few of the manuscripts, however. And I almost have enough information to connect some of the scribes in different manuscripts. Several of the manuscripts scored in the mid-60s to low 70s.

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But one thing I've noticed that may or may not be relevant to the VMS is that some of them are sprinkled with Norse words, and ONB 3069 is one of them. In fact, I encounter this quite frequently with some areas of Switzerland and Bavaria/Tyrol but I particularly noticed it here.

I haven't figured out if this is because of language influences from Scandinavian colonists (some of the words are more Swedish than Danish) or if it's bits and pieces of Saxon German (which is more Danish than Swedish) that filtered south. I did find evidence of a Danish commune in the Swiss mountains, but it's not an area that generates manuscripts (they were farmers).

Getting back to ÖNB 3069, the writer used öch (Swedish) for "and" (rather than German "und"), but sometimes uses "und" (usually abbreviated "un'"), and "lad" (Danish/Saxon "let") and sometimes laz (abbreviation) rather than German "lassen". The scribe also used "sal armoniax" which is consistent with Middle English "sal armoniac/armoniak" except that it is spelled with "x" (which is not the common way to do it). Also "ze" for "the". The articles are mixed languages. Also, this is the only place I think I've seen camphor spelled canpfor. There are numerous other words like this.


The grammar on 116v is very strange even if some of the words are familiar, so either it's not a native German speaker (and not a native Romance-language speaker), or... the text has been deliberately manipulated in some way to obscure it.

For a long time I've been trying to figure out if there's a connection between these various oddities in the Workshop manuscripts and the text on 116v.

But even though the style of the script is similar to the scripts used by the Workshops, I can't see any Scandinavian peculiarities in 116v. I'm more inclined to think it may have been written by someone in the melting pot that borders Provençe/Italy/Switzerland, a section that was under Burgundian rule for a while, but has always been culturally and linguistically diverse. Even if 116v was written by someone from this area, it doesn't mean the main text was generated by the same person[s].

Oh, I forgot to mention when I wrote the previous post... one of the reasons the spelling of sal armoniax in ÖNB 3069 is important is because it helps confirm that "pox" on 116v could be read "bok/boc".

The substitution of "p" for "b" is very common, the substitution of "x" for "k" is less common but I do see it and "sal armoniax" isn't the only word/phrase in this manuscript (or other manuscripts) that substitutes the "x" for "k".

The idea of "bok" for "pox" wasn't my idea but I will continue to support the suggestion because there's plenty of evidence for these specific substitutions. "pox" can be other things, of course (I have a list), but I've seen people dismiss the possibility of "bok" and I don't think they are justified in doing so. In Middle German dialects, it's not uncommon to see p for b and x for k variations.

I think it's easier to explain these as genitives rather than spelling variation of the nominative. For öch I would first check whether it's related to auch.

JKP,

I sometimes have difficulties to comprehend some of your readings and conclusions, some of them are unorthodox to say nothing else

Substituting b for p is something I see in a very large number of manuscripts (puch for buch, perg for berg, poch for boch, etc). Very common, just as substitution a for e (ain, main, for ein, mein). I also frequently see nit for nicht in certain areas.

Substituting x for k/c is something I see in specific areas (not as common).


I frequently see Saxon spellings in manuscripts from southeast Germany and they are very consistent with many of the modern (and old) Scandinavian spellings. In fact, "gås" is Scandinavian for "goose" even today.

Quote:Koen: "I think it's easier to explain these as genitives rather than spelling variation of the nominative. For öch I would first check whether it's related to auch."

Scandinavian and German (and also English) are from Germanic roots. There's a lot of overlap. Many words are exactly the same, or they are the same, but the Scandinavian lacks the "-en" verb ending. Swedish/Danish/Norwegian are mutually intelligible by people with reasonably good language skills, and sometimes it's only the spelling that differs. In Danish "and" is og and in Swedish it is och. It's the same word, only the pronunciation and spelling differs, just as German dialect puch and German buch are the same word with slightly different spelling and pronunciation. But German and Scandinavian are also different enough that it's noticeable when a Scandinavian verb form is used instead of German.

Actually, the word och consistently uses a triangular letter rather than the usual way he writes "o" or "a". I notice art/ort is also written with this same triangular vowel. So now I'm not sure whether he means "o" or "a". I'll have to read through the rest to see which one it represents. Hmm, now I'm not sure. He uses the triangle shape for "oder" but also for "ein", so it seems to be an almost generic substitution (at the beginnings of words) for vowels.

I notice he's using "pläu" for "blau", and  "pûchsn" for buchsen (for the canon barrel) and often leaves out the apostrophe at the end.


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I had the same question-mark in my head when I discovered a large number of Greek manuscripts in the libraries around Florence (along with many Greek words in Latin manuscripts), and wondered if the manuscripts were brought in from other areas or if they were created locally. I thought it might have some relevance to the VMS. Then I noticed many signatures in Greek handwriting in some of the local legal documents, which suggested the Greeks were local. I wanted to know why and discovered there were pockets of Greek colonists in the Veneto and Florence around the time the VMS was created.

When I looked into Greek immigrants in Lombardy and the Veneto, I found there was quite a bit of friction between the Greek orthodox and Catholic church in the late 14th and early 15th century, which they tried to resolve in the late 1430s, which is part of the reason there were so many documents signed in Greek handwriting. The immigrants may also account for the large number of Greek manuscripts (I still don't know if they created them locally or brought them in, but at least some were created locally).


On the same subject, when I was reading Bohemian manuscripts written in German, I came across a couple that left out vowels the same way the Czech language leaves out vowels. I can't remember if I screen-snapped them. Words that seem quite strange to westerners are not strange in Czech. There are quite a few Czech words with no vowels. When this same way of leaving out the vowels is applied to German, it comes out looking like modern text-speak. Or somthng lik ths in Englsh. So even though it was German, mostly, I had the feeling it was written by someone whose native language was Czech or one of the medieval Slavic languages.


And there's one more that particularly intrigued me since it reminded me of the text on 116v... I was reading a couple of manuscripts from the southeast of Switzerland (it's a while ago, but I think they were from Einseideln) which were a fascinating blend of old Latin, German, and Italian.

Huge baggy sleeves:

John de Foxton, Liber Cosmographiae (1408)
Trinity College, Cambridge, Ms R.15.21

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As a side note, I would like to point out that the clothing depicted in manuscripts does not necessarily represent worn clothing. It was mostly the transfigured view of the clients on the common people. For example, in the Book of hours of the Duc de Berry (June). No farmer's wife walked in the field in blue and white colored Sunday clothes

Of course, that was different with rich people. The more fabric used, the more expensive was the clothing and therefore the more affluent the wearer.

Good point bi3mw, i think everyone wears current styled clothing no matter what point on the timeline they may be from, as i generally see the zodiac people as representing the past, and am not sure about the timelines of the quire 13 nymphs.

This consideration makes the VM dating-by-Zodiac-fashion even more relevant though, since we are talking about conventions that were observed during certain periods in art. 

Either way the question reality vs. art in fashion is a difficult one since not much actual clothing survives. Manuscripts, frescos... are our main sources to learn about fashion in certain time periods.

(08-07-2019, 07:05 PM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view....
Either way the question reality vs. art in fashion is a difficult one since not much actual clothing survives. Manuscripts, frescos... are our main sources to learn about fashion in certain time periods.

There were clear guidelines on what to wear according to the state and profession. According to medieval sources, for example, the farmer should dress only in gray or brown. Only for Sunday church was a different color, mostly blue, allowed. Linen, hemp and nettle or sheep's wool were allowed as fabrics for the lower classes.