The Voynich Ninja

Here is my reading and interpretation of the line following the "Hotspur" line presented above.

Thus the following is the 6th line of text up from the bottom on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. :

EVA transliteration:
[ skaiin  shokal  chockhy  qoky  chcthy  ykeeshy  shoekar ]

Currier transliteration:
[ 2FM  ZOFAE  SOX9  4OF9  SQ9  9FCCZ9  ZOCFAR ]

Yorkist cipher letter values:
" ltO  thOtis  YOnK  hOtK  YmK  KteethK  thOetiR "

My interpretation of this line:
" al-to siteth yong, hoting acme gatteething riteth "

[2nd, 5th, and 7th words written backwards]

Modern English translation:
" He absolutely rules young, promising at maturity he stabs the gap-toothed [Bolingbroke] "

It is and was well-known that Henry IV (Bolingbroke) had a You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., including a disfiguring skin disease whose precise nature is debated by historians. He repeatedly fell gravely ill during his reign, beginning at least in 1405. Indeed this is a plot line of Shakespeare's You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view., as Prince Hal prepares to succeed to the throne as Henry V as his ailing father falls ill. Thus it is no surprise that this Yorkist anti-Bolingbroke text mocks their enemy's physical appearance.

============== ======= = 

al-to (ME) - "completely, utterly, absolutely"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

siteth (ME) 3.sg. alt.sp. of sitten - "to sit; to occupy a special seat of honour, pre-eminence, etc."
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

yong (ME) - "young"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

hoting (ME) - "promise; the act of commanding"
(hoting out of contre - "banishment, exile")
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

hoten (ME) - "to name; to command; to promise"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

acme (E) - "highest point; mature age"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

gat-tothed (ME) - "gap-toothed, having teeth set wide apart"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.
"(c1387-95) Chaucer CT.Prol.(Manly-Rickert)A.468 : She koude muche of wandrynge by the weye; Gat tothed [vrr. gate toþede, Gaptothe] was she soothly for to seye."
"(c1395) Chaucer CT.WB.(Manly-Rickert)D.603 : Gat [vrr. Gayte, Gad, Gap, Gapt] tothed I was, and that bicam me weel; I hadde the preente of seynt Venus seel."

te:th (ME) pl. form of to:th - "teeth"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

riteth (ME) 3.sg. alt.sp. of ritten - "cut through (armor), split; stab, pierce"
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

============== ======= = 

Geoffrey

I believe that now is a good moment to provide a brief summary of several various rules of this "Yorkist cipher" as I have provisionally deduced them at this stage of the investigation. I have attempted to provide below a clear description of all the cipher rules that are necessary to interpret the "Yorkist cipher letter values" of the lines of text that I provide above as the actual intended Middle English words of the same lines of text that are also provided above, for example in the 7th and 6th lines of text up from the bottom of page You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. , which refer to the recently deceased "Hotspur" Henry Percy and his son and successor.

============== ======= = 

Rule A: The letter "a" is not written at all in the text. Perhaps this is because the first two vowels in "Lancaster" are both "a", and/or because according to the "backwards alphabet" theme of the cipher, omitting "a" makes the first letter of the hated "BolingBroke" become the last letter of the backwards alphabet. (I told you this was a venomous Yorkist diatribe against the Lancastrian king!)

Rule B: Every word that begins with "B" is written backwards, so that the hated first letter of "BolingBroke" will always appear last in words.

Rule C: Words can also be written either forwards or backwards in order to make them appear with the same first letter as "YorK" or "MortiMer" (the Yorkists' favoured claimant to the English throne). [Note: It is not a contradiction for the Yorkists to support both Mortimer and Percy, because in the so-called You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. of 1405, the plan was to divide up England and Wales into three parts, with Mortimer taking southern England, Percy (Northumberland) taking northern England, and Glyndwr taking Wales and part of western England. See You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..]

Rule D: Furthermore, the same forwards/backwards rule applies to making words appear with initial "TH" or "N", because in the Voynich script the characters for "Y" and "TH" have a very similar shape, and the characters for "M" and "N" also have a very similar shape.

Rule E: The character to which I assign the value "K" can represent "k", "hard c", "hard g", "gh", "ng", or "-ing". The motivation is to make it appear the same as the final letter of "YorK".

Rule F: In line with the above rules, words are written forwards or backwards in order to make them appear with this final "K" character wherever possible, in order to match the final "K" of "YorK".

Rule G: The characters to which I assign the value "O" are also special because "O" is a letter in "YORK". This "O" can represent "o", "ou", "u", or an unstressed "e" in endings such as "-er" or "-eth". Indeed even in modern English we pronounce the unstressed endings "-er" and "-our" or "-or" identically. Again the motivation for this rule is to make the letter "O" in "YORK" appear as frequently as possible in the text.

============== ======= = 

With all of these rules, and with the correspondence table previously posted, plus the additional value EVA [q] (Currier [4]) = "h", it should be possible for anyone to independently verify the interpretation of the following lines of "Yorkist cipher letter value" text as the actual intended Middle English text that follows it:

" spOr  theOs  hOtOR  thiris  nOs  thOsiR  O  theOMiB "
" ltO  thOtis  YOnK  hOtK  YmK  KteethK  thOetiR "

" Spur soueth hotər : theiris son risəth o bimoueth "
" al-to siteth yong, hoting acme gatteething riteth "

(" Spur ["Hotspur"] sows/begets hotter : their son rises, ever mocks [Bolingbroke] "
" He absolutely rules young, promising at maturity he stabs the gap-toothed [Bolingbroke] ")

============== ======= = 

Geoffrey

I understand that many professional scholars of medieval manuscripts, like many experienced researchers on this forum, find evidence in the style of the Voynich script itself that they believe points to a Central European origin. Anton has also made the point in this thread about the German text found in the ms that likely dates back to the time of its original composition.

Thus, I realize that it is understandable that such experienced scholars and researchers may be skeptical about a theory of the Voynich manuscript's possible English origin on this basis alone. Taking this criticism seriously, I have researched the issue with regard to my own hypothesis, and I can at least offer the following possible explanation that might possibly -- just possibly, not necessarily of course -- reconcile the Central European origin of the script with the "Yorkist" English origin of its inventor and author:

The biographical information about Edward, 2nd Duke of York, already my favourite candidate to be the inventor and designer of the Voynich ms script and cipher, as I have presented in multiple posts earlier in this thread, contains the following interesting episode:

"In the late 1390s, Edward was sent on embassies to France and to the Count Palatine". (See the second paragraph of You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for this information.) My understanding is that in this time period, "the Count Palatine" would be understood to mean either the Rhenish or Lower Palatinate, with its capital at Heidelberg, or the Upper Palatinate in northern Bavaria. (See You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. for a brief description of the two historic Palatinates and their locations.)

Here it is possible that such a talented linguistic and literary figure, the future translator of The Master of Game from French into English, could well have learned Central European styles of scripts.

Of course this is not yet positive evidence of any kind, but at least it shows how it would have been possible for a Yorkist Englishman to learn a Central European style of script and possibly incorporate it into an enigmatic script and cipher that he invented.

Geoffrey

Grammatica weeps when she sees your work, Geoffrey.

"Completely sits young, promising top gaptoothing stabs".

@ Geoffrey

The Britannica artile is slightly misleadingm, the Count Palatine is always the 'Pfalzgraf bei Rhein', one of the prince electors, who rules the Lower P., Untere Pfalz and part of the (later so called) Upper P., Oberpfalz, he is not one of the dukes of Bavaria, both are Wittelsbach, of ourse

(29-04-2021, 08:24 AM)Helmut Winkler Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.@ Geoffrey

The Britannica artile is slightly misleadingm, the Count Palatine is always the 'Pfalzgraf bei Rhein', one of the prince electors, who rules the Lower P., Untere Pfalz and part of the (later so called) Upper P., Oberpfalz, he is not one of the dukes of Bavaria, both are Wittelsbach, of ourse

Thank you very much for this most informative feedback, Helmut!

This means we can definitely place Edward, 2nd Duke of York, as an ambassador of Richard II at Heidelberg in the late 1390s. I like the timing: If he learned such scripts and began to invent his own one then, it would have given him several years to practice and perfect it, so that by 1404 at the time he began composition of the Voynich manuscript, he had mastered the writing of his script.

Clearly this also means Edward must have had a certain proficiency in German as well, which would explain the German marginalia in the Voynich manuscript (in the same way that I, for example, could very well have written Russian marginalia in my notebooks after studying the language and spending six months there on a student exchange program). 

Geoffrey

(29-04-2021, 05:26 AM)Koen G Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Grammatica weeps when she sees your work, Geoffrey.

"Completely sits young, promising top gaptoothing stabs".

Wow, I hadn't realized that Grammatica is proficient in Middle English!

Seriously, I will be more than happy to discuss and parse the grammatical structure of these lines in detail.

Again, I read and interpret the line as follows:

"Al-to siteth yong, hoting acme gatteething riteth"

"sits" does not do justice to the meaning of "siteth". I quote from Definition 3. at the Middle English Compendium:

"To occupy a special seat of honor, pre-eminence, etc.: (a) of a king: to sit enthroned, sit in state; with prep. phrases: ~ in (o) kinesetle, ~ in sege (sete, throne), ~ on (upon) se, etc., sit on the throne; fig. hold kingship, reign; ~ in davides sete (on davides throne, on solomones solie), rule Israel; ~ upon the chaiere of moises, of Scribes and Pharisees: assume the authority of Moses; (b) to hold an episcopal or the papal see, be bishop or pope; also, with noun complement: ~ pope, be pope; ~ in popehede (the sege..mynster), occupy the papal (an episcopal) see; © to have a seat in a legislative, investigative, or advisory body, sit in council, assembly, etc.; with inf.: meet in session (to do sth.); ~ on billes, hold deliberation on bills; ~ upon verdit, of a jury: deliberate upon a verdict; (d) to sit as judge, sit in judgment; hold judicial proceedings, hold court; also, sit as a defendant in judicial proceedings [quot.: 1457]; with noun complement: ~ juge, be a judge; ~ as domesman (justice), ~ for juge, sit as a judge; ~ in dom (jugement), ~ on dom setle, ~ upon sete of domesman, etc., act as judge; ~ on (upon), sit in judgment on (sb.); preside over an inquest upon (a death); pass judgment in (a case); (e) of a confessor: to hear confession; (f) of God or Christ: to sit enthroned in Heaven; of the Virgin Mary, saints, souls of the saved, etc.: have a place in Heaven, sit in Paradise; of Lucifer: make (his) seat; of Antichrist: sit (with Lucifer in Hell); also in oaths and asseverations: bi god that sittes aboven; ~ upon sise, of Christ: hold court at the Last Judgment; (g) of a court: to be in session. You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view."
You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

Thus, the actual appropriate translation for this word is not "sits", but "reigns".

"Completely reigns young" indeed makes grammatical sense, although we would amend it slightly in modern English as "He completely reigns young" or as "Completely the young one reigns".

For the record, the famous Wycliffe Bible itself is now criticized by modern scholars for being an excessively literal word-for-word Middle English translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible. But the author of this text could very well have been following the stylistic example of the Wycliffe Bible in these lines!

Thus, I read "young" as an attributive adjective that actually represents an unwritten understood noun: "the young one".

I admit that the second half of this line is more complicated. I am reaching out to try to find Middle English scholars who may be willing and able to assist me with the more difficult details of reading and interpreting such text. But at the same time, for now I have to try to do this work myself, until I can show a sufficient amount of text to get scholars to take my work seriously. So this is a double-edged sword for me. Yes, I'm sure I will make some mistakes in the details that a more knowledgeable and experienced scholar could have fixed. But such a scholar won't even take a second look at my work until I have shown that my system can read and interpret more than just a couple lines here or there. So for the time being, I must proceed, little mistakes and all.

For example, I do not know if "acme" is the actual word here or not. "YmK" is rather ambiguous in this cipher. That is the price the author paid for making every word look as much like "YorK" as possible. [I should have added a Rule H: "Y" can also represent "i" or "e" in order to make the word appear to begin with the same letter as the first letter of "YorK".] I chose "acme" because it can mean "Mature age; full bloom of life" in English. See definition 3. at this link: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. . If this is indeed the word here, then it does present an antithesis (contrast) with "young" in the first part of the line. 

That is to say, the point of the line is that "Percy (son of Hotspur) is a young ruler now, but when he comes of age he will fulfill his promise and avenge his father by vanquishing Bolingbroke."

The English grammar of the line may seem somewhat opaque to us as written, but I argue this may be seen as a parallel to the apparently "poor style" of the Middle English of the Wycliffe Bible since it was written as a very literal word-for-word translation of the Latin Vulgate Bible.

At the end of the line, the order of the object (the insulting epithet for Bolingbroke) and the verb are inverted. This is permissible in English in a poetic style of writing. It is clear who is the subject and who is the object of "riteth" = "stabs" here! There is even a bit of internal rhyme in the two parts of the line: "yong siteth, acme riteth". Again, "acme" is intended to represent "the mature one" or "the mature Percy", just as "yong" represents "the young one" or "the young Percy".

Geoffrey

Personal pronouns are not optional in Middle English, it's not Latin. But even if we interpret "young" as "the young one", there must be an article. Possibly also inflection like in modern German and Dutch: "jung, der Junge; jong, de jonge", but I do not know this for certain about Middle English. Either way, what you write makes no grammatical sense in any language, and this has nothing to do with a translation to Modern English.

Clearly this also means Edward must have had a certain proficiency in German 

I would not bet on that, the Western principalities of the Empire (Palatinate, think of Isabeau de Baviere, Luxemburg counts, bishops Trier) were losely affiliated with France and its rulers at the time, it is more likely they spoke French and Latin of course

(29-04-2021, 02:45 PM)Helmut Winkler Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Clearly this also means Edward must have had a certain proficiency in German 

I would not bet on that, the Western principalities of the Empire (Palatinate, think of Isabeau de Baviere, Luxemburg counts, bishops Trier) were losely affiliated with France and its rulers at the time, it is more likely they spoke French and Latin of course

I agree that the official language of diplomatic communication was more likely French and/or Latin, yes, I do not doubt that.

But a curious and brilliant linguistic mind such as Edward, 2nd Duke of York, the famous translator of The Master of Game from French into English, would certainly have had the curiosity to learn some German while he was stationed at his diplomatic post in Heidelberg. Perhaps this is why the meaning of the German marginalia in the Voynich ms is somewhat unclear: because it was written by an English nobleman who only knew a little German and was just playing around with the language. Just a hypothesis.

Another interesting and curious historical note: Heidelberg University was founded in 1386, just about a decade before Edward's diplomatic appointment in the city. The city must have been a hub of enthusiastic new scholarship at that time. In such an atmosphere, it is not difficult to imagine Edward having the interest and curiosity to learn styles of scripts typical of the region, which may well have piqued his curiosity for their distinction from those he was familiar with in England and/or in France. I can easily imagine such a person preferring to use the more "exotic" (for him!) style of script as the basis for such an invention as the Voynich script and cipher.

Geoffrey