Nymphs Survey - February 2026

[pjburkshire]

Nymphs Survey - February 2026

What are your thoughts on what the nymphs represent?

- Real human women
- Symbolic figures representing something
- Other
- Don't know
- Don't bother asking, it's all a hoax

[pjburkshire]

Poll closes in 14 days.

[Jorge_Stolfi]

Poll closes in 14 days.

I voted "real human", but I think they are just decoration. That is, they are meant to be human women, not spirits or angels or symbols for anything.  But they are generic, not specific with names and parents.

And they are not real. The author did not intend to imply that there was actually a  woman holding each star of the Zodiac, or a little woman inside the stomach.  If the nymphs had been omitted, the drawings would contain exactly the same information.  They would only be more boring...

All the best, --stolfi

[dashstofsk]

I do believe the manuscript is a hoax. But I don't believe that it should not be asked. The figures do represent something. In my opinion quires 11 and 12 are an attempt to illustrate beliefs about angelic magic and try to give the impression that the manuscript holds some secret on this. I tried to say something about this previously [ You are not allowed to view links. Register or Login to view. ].

[pjburkshire]

I voted "real human", but I think they are just decoration. That is, they are meant to be human women, not spirits or angels or symbols for anything.  But they are generic, not specific with names and parents.

Good point.  I didn't think about specific real humans vs generic real humans.

[Jorge_Stolfi]

The figures do represent something. In my opinion quires 11 and 12 are an attempt to illustrate beliefs about angelic magic and try to give the impression that the manuscript holds some secret on this.

I did not mean that all figures are decoration.  I believe that the "organs" and "veins" of the Bio section are meant to convey some anatomical information, some of the Cosmo diagrams may contain non-decorative parts, the Pharma sketches were meant to show what the herbs/roots look like, etc.  But I believe that all the nymphs are just decoration.  Including their tubs, hats, and crowns.

All the best, --stolfi

[Lyndon]

The nymphs in Voynich Manuscript are sexy.

[Koen G]

What was your prediction for the poll?

[pjburkshire]

What was your prediction for the poll?

I had not thought about the Alchemy idea for a long time but I did think the Symbolic figures option would include ideas from all across the board.  My guess is that everyone who selected the Symbolic figures option has their own unique ideas.

Response has been good.  I'm glad to see that 17 people have participated in the Poll/Survey.

[JustAnotherTheory]

I'm gonna go ahead and conjecture that these are Barbara of Cilli's "harem", if you can call it that. I have 3 arguments in the favour of this assumption:

1. Barbara of Cilli was known for organizing gatherings of many young women in her castle when her husband was out of town (the King Sigismund, that is). According to some, these were lesbian orgies. She even got the nickname "Black Queen" for it.
   
2. Her crown matches the VMS Libra crown on the female's head.
   
3. She owned the castle in which Jabous of Tepenecz lived later on.
   

For me these are definitely real human beings.