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Capital N in incantations - Anton - 07-01-2020
Cod. Sang. 755 folio 186
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What's the MM here? Miserere mei?
RE: Capital M in incantations - Koen G - 07-01-2020
Ego sum alpha et O.
RE: Capital M in incantations - MarcoP - 07-01-2020
Hi Anton,
I feel quite sure it is N. for "Nomen": a placeholder where the name of the officiant, or the person object of the spell, must be inserted.
See for instance You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. in "Charms in Medieval Memory" (Lea T. Olsan)
Also, I found "N" in You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view..
Your incantation:
"Precipio vobis febribus ... ut recedatis a famulo dei +N.N. et amplius non ledatis"
I order to you, fevers, ... to recede from the servant of God +N.N. and not to hurt him any more.
RE: Capital M in incantations - Anton - 07-01-2020
Hi Marco,
Interesting! Do you think the symbol in VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. can be interpreted in the same fashion?
RE: Capital M in incantations - Koen G - 07-01-2020
(07-01-2020, 10:05 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Do you think the symbol in VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. can be interpreted in the same fashion?
Looking at the handwriting you provided, I would almost say it has to be interpreted that way. Compare the "N" and "maria" in both MSS:
RE: Capital M in incantations - Anton - 07-01-2020
Quote:I would almost say it has to be interpreted that way
That I tried to do... focused on "te" in f116v.
Means that the subject "anchiton oladabas" is passive here, having been somehow operated upon by the person N.
RE: Capital M in incantations - MarcoP - 07-01-2020
(07-01-2020, 10:05 PM)Anton Wrote: You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.Hi Marco,
Interesting! Do you think the symbol in VMS You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. can be interpreted in the same fashion?
Yes, excellent suggestion!
PS: in both Sang.755 and the planetary invocation I translated (from You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view.), 'N' is followed by a period '.', but this looks like a minor difference to me. I hope we can find more examples and see if the period is always there.
RE: Capital M in incantations - Anton - 07-01-2020
At any rate, the Voynich scribe apparently was not fond of punctuation
RE: Capital M in incantations - Koen G - 07-01-2020
An unlikely idea about the O, based on the mention of "alpha et O" in Anton's fragment. Might it be considered "magical" to start a charm sequence with "a" and end it in O? If the first word is "anchiton", then they might have added the O for this effect.
RE: Capital M in incantations - -JKP- - 07-01-2020
Alpha and Omega were FREQUENTLY included in charms (which reminds me, I have an unfinished blog with illustrations related to this that I have to get posted. I'll try to do it this evening after work).
Marco and Koen (in no particular order), I like that possible reading of the big letter as N. It's so much larger than the others it's almost as if it is being emphasized that is a capital/abbreviation.
In my experience, periods are often left out. Making the letter bigger is often enough to convey the meaning.