The Voynich Ninja

One of the kids at Adelaide tried to match the frog with the unique words on the folio.

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His analysis got a little lost, veering off towards roots for some reason.  I understand, trying to find meaning in the VM can get a bit disorienting.   No proposal for frog was made.

(04-09-2020, 10:56 PM)davidjackson Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

(04-09-2020, 10:46 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Maybe it's one of the ingredients.

Very possible. But why the only one?
Recipes of the era tended to combine plant and animal indiscriminately.

In Middle Ages, toads were believed to be extremely poisonous. In fact, they produce poison, but it's harmless to humans (in quantities cintained in toads). So if this is meant to be a toad, and not a frog, this would probably mean toad poison as ingredient. Looking for medieval recipes which contain toad posion would be a good line of attack.

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And I would assume that most, if not all, examples above are toads, not frogs.

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Another nice article on topic with a focus on medieval treatment of both toads and frogs.

It may be difficult to distinguish.  Although toad does seem to be the better bet.

As an aside, frogs of course can be poisonous as well.  The frogs my students dissected during a stint l had as a bio teacher excreted a poison mucus - so gloves were needed.  But if l remember right, l think they were originally from S. America (no, not poison Dart frogs - they were not colorful) so highly unlikely to be applicable to the VM.

Revelation 16:13
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs.

Exodus 8:2-14 s 
But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt. ...

Psalm 105:30 
Their land swarmed with frogs, even in the chambers of their kings.

Psalm 78:45  
He sent among them swarms of flies, which devoured them, and frogs, which destroyed them.

Exodus 8:13-14  
And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields. And they gathered them together in heaps, and the land stank.

Exodus 8:1-14 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” ...

Exodus 8:13 
And the Lord did according to the word of Moses. The frogs died out in the houses, the courtyards, and the fields.

Exodus 8:2 
But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs.

Exodus 8:1-32 
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” ...

Exodus 8:7 
But the magicians did the same by their secret arts and made frogs come up on the land of Egypt.

Exodus 8:6  
So Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt, and the frogs came up and covered the land of Egypt.

Exodus 8:8  
Then Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord to take away the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people go to sacrifice to the Lord.”

Exodus 8:3  
The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls.

Exodus 8:1  
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me.

Revelation 16:13-14 
And I saw, coming out of the mouth of the dragon and out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet, three unclean spirits like frogs. For they are demonic spirits, performing signs, who go abroad to the kings of the whole world, to assemble them for battle on the great day of God the Almighty.

Exodus 8:5  
And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’”

Exodus 8:12  
So Moses and Aaron went out from Pharaoh, and Moses cried to the Lord about the frogs, as he had agreed with Pharaoh.

Exodus 8:1-15  
Then the Lord said to Moses, “Go in to Pharaoh and say to him, ‘Thus says the Lord, “Let my people go, that they may serve me. But if you refuse to let them go, behold, I will plague all your country with frogs. The Nile shall swarm with frogs that shall come up into your house and into your bedroom and on your bed and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens and your kneading bowls. The frogs shall come up on you and on your people and on all your servants.”’” And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to Aaron, ‘Stretch out your hand with your staff over the rivers, over the canals and over the pools, and make frogs come up on the land of Egypt!’” ...

Exodus 8:9 
Moses said to Pharaoh, “Be pleased to command me when I am to plead for you and for your servants and for your people, that the frogs be cut off from you and your houses and be left only in the Nile.”

Psalm 91:1-1 
He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will abide in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say to the Lord, “My refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” For he will deliver you from the snare of the fowler and from the deadly pestilence. He will cover you with his pinions, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness is a shield and buckler. You will not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day, ...


Exodus 8:11 
The frogs shall go away from you and your houses and your servants and your people. They shall be left only in the Nile.”

1500s British Library Egerton 845


One of the things I noticed about the VMS frog/toad is that the toes are drawn the same way as many of the nymph's fingers, roughly parallel lines without much definition. This is different from the way most medieval illustrators drew the frog feet and toes.

(05-09-2020, 12:30 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.In Middle Ages, toads were believed to be extremely poisonous. In fact, they produce poison, but it's harmless to humans (in quantities cintained in toads). So if this is meant to be a toad, and not a frog, this would probably mean toad poison as ingredient. Looking for medieval recipes which contain toad posion would be a good line of attack.

Paradoxically, they were also believed to contain a powerful antidote.
The toad could be a reference to toadstone.
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They could be used as protective jewelry against a range of diseases or suspended from a cord and dipped into any drink or food. If it contained poison the stone would change color.

Interestingly, if the frog = toadstone, it would be one of only two (identifiable) minerals in the VM... the other being the blue cube, on the back of the same folio.

And maybe we also have a ring
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