The Voynich Ninja

So I watched this video today: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.  .. And it made me think that some stuff people depicted in the past looked nothing like what they actually look like, it made me wonder if it's similar with the Voynich manuscript... Maybe this has been pointed out in the past but I've never seen anyone talking about it, I'd like to know if anyone has any view on it.

To take You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. as an example, I am already trying to use the depictions of animals in 15th century illustrations as a comparison. This is hardly possible otherwise, since the illustrations cannot be assigned to any known animals at first sight. It is also possible that they are not real animals at all but mythical creatures as they are depicted for example in bestiaries. This would exclude a comparison with real animals from the beginning.

I think animals in the vms seem pretty realistc with a couple of possibilities of not being as they seem. 

I have thought that the animals on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. are representative of the various natures of animals, ie reptiles found in desert vs reptiles in water,  mammals on land vs mammals in water. I like to think of it as the evolution page, with the big fish depositing the first human as per Anaximander's theory of origins where humans were incubated in fish mouths until the land was habitable for humans. 

I think the gold colored one represents a dugong, manatee, dolfin, whale, or seal, being a mammal but with the head colored green like the water, located in the water, showing that it has taken back to it, possibly to avoid the desert. If this is so then it is a hint that the body of water is a sea, rather than a lake or a pond. To me it is a further expression of the idea that the earth used to be different and explains a bit about the diversity of life in general.

In particular, i think this is a representation of the Red Sea. I find it interesting that the placement of the fish matches the rift in the bottom of the sea, and how it turns to the shore at that point. The fish, if straightened, would also look like the sea itself with its double tail, and the facial feature would be the islands to the south that are otherwise represented by the animals. As it is, there is a double bump on the left (north) side indicating the gulfs on that end, while still remaining vague enough to be a pond full of animals. The spray on the hand of the nymph matches dried remains of water erosion in that area. 

As to whether we are taking the drawings too literally, it depends on who "we" are and what "we" think the drawings are portraying, i guess. Which ones were you thinking of?

(08-08-2021, 05:14 PM)Linda Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I think animals in the vms seem pretty realistc with a couple of possibilities of not being as they seem. 

I have thought that the animals on You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. are representative of the various natures of animals, ie reptiles found in desert vs reptiles in water,  mammals on land vs mammals in water. I like to think of it as the evolution page, with the big fish depositing the first human as per Anaximander's theory of origins where humans were incubated in fish mouths until the land was habitable for humans. 

I think the gold colored one represents a dugong, manatee, dolfin, whale, or seal, being a mammal but with the head colored green like the water, located in the water, showing that it has taken back to it, possibly to avoid the desert. If this is so then it is a hint that the body of water is a sea, rather than a lake or a pond. To me it is a further expression of the idea that the earth used to be different and explains a bit about the diversity of life in general.

In particular, i think this is a representation of the Red Sea. I find it interesting that the placement of the fish matches the rift in the bottom of the sea, and how it turns to the shore at that point. The fish, if straightened, would also look like the sea itself with its double tail, and the facial feature would be the islands to the south that are otherwise represented by the animals. As it is, there is a double bump on the left (north) side indicating the gulfs on that end, while still remaining vague enough to be a pond full of animals. The spray on the hand of the nymph matches dried remains of water erosion in that area. 

As to whether we are taking the drawings too literally, it depends on who "we" are and what "we" think the drawings are portraying, i guess. Which ones were you thinking of?

I wasn't only thinking about the animals, I was thinking about the plants too and all the other quirky drawings... Many people can't identify the plants but if you looked at the animals in the video I posted and tried to identify them you probably wouldn't succeed either... It made me think that maybe the plants are just so badly depicted that people can't recognize them.

(08-08-2021, 05:49 PM)ekorre Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.It made me think that maybe the plants are just so badly depicted that people can't recognize them.

There's been extensive discussion in this forum about plants being depicted mnemonically

(08-08-2021, 05:14 PM)Linda Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.I think the gold colored one represents a dugong, manatee, dolfin, whale, or seal, being a mammal but with the head colored green like the water, located in the water, showing that it has taken back to it, possibly to avoid the desert. If this is so then it is a hint that the body of water is a sea, rather than a lake or a pond. To me it is a further expression of the idea that the earth used to be different and explains a bit about the diversity of life in general.

The animal you are mentioning doesn’t have a green head. The green color is from the other side of the folio.

IMHO, the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. animals can be seen as a heraldic manifestation of to me unknown Houses fighting over something. Your dolphin looks like a yellow lion/lioness to me.

(08-08-2021, 08:38 PM)Ranceps Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.[quote="Linda" pid='46802' dateline='1628439262']

The animal you are mentioning doesn’t have a green head. The green color is from the other side of the folio.

IMHO, the You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. animals can be seen as a heraldic manifestation of to me unknown Houses fighting over something. Your dolphin looks like a yellow lion/lioness to me.

That is possible. I now see the brush stroke could have been yellow. The part that comes through from the other side is more blue and the colour that results is very close to the colour of the water on this side so i had taken it to be green paint after originally thinking it was bleedthrough.

Linda, note that the image you use there was manipulated and involves some degree of interpretation by JKP. In my opinion he did a good job, but still it is worth mentioning.

There are several options for the yellow creature:
1) A very badly drawn lion. The color, claws and tail support this, but the neck and head/snout are a strong argument against this. Medieval lions were never drawn like this, since it was generally known that they were large felines, not horse-headed beings.
2) An unattested feline-equine hybrid.
3) All four creatures are generic "beasts". I'm afraid it looks most like this.

That is how i originally saw it, so i guess i am back to that. It sure did turn into almost the same formula of green as the green paint.

(08-08-2021, 09:50 PM)Linda Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.

From the video linked in the OP (which was funny, thanks OP) maybe these are chameleons.