01-11-2021, 02:42 PM
That is the illustration I started this thread with, but for some reason the images have disappeared.
I've been looking a bit closer into Hildegard's text. Apparently the third book is the one that was most widely circulated in the Middle Ages, but I am unable to find a freely available English translation.
Her text follows a repeating pattern. First, the vision itself, we experience the strangeness of it all without any explanation, as Hildegard herself would have experienced it. Then, an explanation of what every detail means. These explanations are the vast majority of the work. For example, vision 2 of the third book is a relatively short one, the vision text is 361 words in the Dutch translation, while the explanation is a whopping 7752 words. The majority of this explanation is "the voice from heaven" which speaks to her so she would know what everything means. It also includes many bible quotes to provide authority.
If only all manuscripts came with such clear user manuals
I've been looking a bit closer into Hildegard's text. Apparently the third book is the one that was most widely circulated in the Middle Ages, but I am unable to find a freely available English translation.
Her text follows a repeating pattern. First, the vision itself, we experience the strangeness of it all without any explanation, as Hildegard herself would have experienced it. Then, an explanation of what every detail means. These explanations are the vast majority of the work. For example, vision 2 of the third book is a relatively short one, the vision text is 361 words in the Dutch translation, while the explanation is a whopping 7752 words. The majority of this explanation is "the voice from heaven" which speaks to her so she would know what everything means. It also includes many bible quotes to provide authority.
If only all manuscripts came with such clear user manuals