The Voynich Ninja

Rampant sure, but lion or horse? It looks like both. 

General note on the scales: upon closer consideration this pattern on an animal can mean three things: scales, feathers, or an area of thicker fur/longer hair. It is found in the manes of bestiary horses and lions. 

Since the whole body is covered, this makes me reconsider my stance on the ram. Especially since for scales and feathers the pattern would be drawn backwards. For fur, it doesn't matter which way they overlap, although I don't think I've seen examples of the VM direction elsewhere.

The direction of the scales are as they are in my interpretation because the water flow goes in that direction. It is a mountain first, an animal second. I now think it is an ibex, and in both cases it is correcting previous drawings, as the ibex is always drawn bashing its horns into the ground, but with the points, whereas the vms drawing more correctly shows how the horns would protect the animal's head.



If you remove the top right of the mountain as being the Austrian Alps, then turn everything 90 degrees, you end up with a similar shape and scale direction to the vms creature. However the vms drawing corrects the positioning of the curve with respect to the shoreline, being the nebuly line, which runs aporoximately from the Rhone delta to the Italian peninsula, which is in keeping with the removal of the Austrian Alps. It also adds far more detail.



Here we see mountains with scales again, and an ibex saved by its horns. 

The range of Capra ibex is the light green line, basically the Alps. Therefore if you recognize the animal, it acts as a hint regarding the area being portrayed.




The female ibex has a lot in common with the vms creature, the tail, the horns, the pointy chin, the line of the abdomen, the furriness. The feet are not all correct but many are drawn with three or four toes instead of hooves.

The identity of the creature of VMs You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. has been found in an illustration from BNF Fr. 13096.

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The sources is here; "The Apocalypse of S. Jean" 1313, Belgium

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There has been a lot of speculation regarding the identity of the critter in VMs f80v: armadillo, pangolin, sheep, catoblepas, some other type of mythcal beast. All suggestions have been based on the appearance of the illustration, based on the tentative identification of the animal on its own. However, the creature is only one part of a more complex representation. The critter is only the first part. Below it is an undulating line. And below that are a number of short vertical lines.

The identification is based on structure, with appearance being a secondary factor. The illustration from BNF 13096 shows a lamb in a vesica piscis, framed by a cloud-band, indicating it's divine nature. Below the vesica piscis there are a number of red markings indicating drops of blood, which is surely the blood of the lamb.

The critter in the VMs has some similarities to a sheep. It has been compared with the example found in the Order of the Golden Fleece. The so called wobbly line fits the heraldic definition of a nebuly / gewolkt line because the crests and troughs are bulbous. The etymological derivation of the descriptive term (nebuly / gewolkt) is from the Latin / German word for cloud, and thus maintains the same interpretation as the cloud-band / Wolkenband. The markings under the VMs illustration are done in ink and thus appear to be something falling from the cloudy line, but the lack of color prevents an absolute identification (intentional ambiguity).

Nevertheless, is clearly appears (IMO) to be the same structure in both illustrations, the same three parts in the same ideological relationship. The VMs critter is part of a representation of "The Blood of the Lamb" based on the correspondence between the respective structures of the two illustrations.

This doesn't relate directly to the mystery critter, but I thought you might enjoy seeing it.

Without cheating and looking it up on the Web, can you guess the animal? (You can use spoiler tags if you want to hide the answer so others can guess without seeing the other guesses): 

Code:

[spoiler]animal name[/spoiler]

 

[attachment=3837]

My guess is

 

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giraffe, based on  the neck and the elephant on the other side 

I'll give it a day before I post the answer.

I am sure it's an armadillo.

Happy New Year to everyone :-)

Hmm... 
Ps... Its that an elephant bleeding in from the other side of the folio?  

Go on jkp, what's the answer?