Language of the Nymphs

I propose that the nature and purpose of the Voynich language can be ascertained from a proper reading of the illustrations and wider context of the manuscript. 

The basic presentation of the work is:

The celestial nymphs communicate their knowledge (secrets) to the terrerstrial nymphs, which knowledge (secrets) the author of the work claims to possess (and has applied to certain pharmacological processes.)

The claim being made in the work is that the author has (or is proposing) a pharmacological method of extracting the celestial powers of herbs, and this method has been taught to him by the mountain nymphs.

The text is intended to be a record of these commnunications and this body of knowledge (secrets). 

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The nymphs speak two cognate tongues, one low and one high. The celestial nymphs speak a formal language. The terrestrial nymphs speak a corresponding vernacular or demotic language. These are Currier B and Currier A respectively. 

Voynichese, then, is literally presented as the Language of the Nymphs - Lingua Nympharum - in both its high and low dialects. 

* * * 

It is obviously a constructed language - but we cannot rule out that it is based upon an existing pair of cognate languages that have a high/low relationship, such as: Latin vs Vulgar Latin, Hebrew vs Yiddish, Greek vs Koine. 

* * * 

The structural principle guiding the interaction of the two languages - and the philosophical basis of the work - is the COINCIDENTIA OPPOSITORUM. It is because of the coincidence of opposites that the terrestrial corresponds to the celestial. This principle is embodied in the language itself. 

The keyword of the celestial nymphs is: QOKEEDY. The keyword of the terrestrial nymphs is: CHOLDAIIN. These two words mean the same thing - two versions of the same word, one in Currier B, one in Currier A. The text arises from the extrapolation and interplay of the elements of these two keywords. They are coinciding opposites. 

* * * 

The wider context of the work is the transfer (assimiliation) of a body of Oriental knowledge to an existing body of local knowledge - this, after the pattern of the relocating of pilgrimage symbolism from Jerusalem to the local (Italian) landscape at the end of the Crusades. In effect, the celestial nymphs possess the Oriental knowledge; the terrestrial nymphs possess the local knowledge. 

That is, what is being presented as a communication of knowledge from the celestial realm to the terrestrial realm is, in fact, a transfer of knowledge from east to west. 

* * * 

I identify the ancient alpine herb tradition of the Dolomites and its tradition of mountain nymphs - with its centre in the Rosengarten mountains, and preserved in the Ladin languages - as the tradition being recorded and developed in the Voynich manuscript.

I have previously placed the work - and especially the language - in the intellectual world of Nicholas of Cusa - Neoplatonic, under the influence of Ramon Llull, with direct connections to the relevant region and traditions. This is correct, but the most likely author of the work was Giovanni Fontana during his time as Municipal Physician, with oversight of apothecaries, in the city of Udine. 

Studies in these pages seek a solution to the mysteries of the manuscript, and a decoding of Voynichese, within this framework. It is important to realize that, in its context, the Voynich text is being presented as the language of the nymphs.

R. Blackhirst, Dec 2024

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