Difference between revisions of "593: Voynich Manuscript"

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(Explanation: In the 3rd panel Randal clearly spelled it with a "T", so saying "it is glossolalia" is clearly incorrect. It isn't. Although he may have intended it to be.)
(More on fantasy books and also changing a title text, as it is Cueball all the way.)
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
The {{w|Voynich manuscript}} is a very detailed book written in an unknown script, describing plants and recipes, most of which lack a real-world analogue. Over the past few decades, linguists and cryptographers have unsuccessfully attempted to decode the book.
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The {{w|Voynich manuscript}} is a very detailed book written in an unknown script, describing plants and recipes, most of which lack a real-world analogue. Over the past few decades, linguists and cryptographers have unsuccessfully attempted to decode the book. A cut out from the book is depicted in the first frame (real or similar).
  
{{w|Tabletop role-playing game|Tabletop role-playing games}} (such as {{w|Dungeons and Dragons}}) are fantasy games with extremely detailed descriptions of fantastical worlds.
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{{w|Tabletop role-playing game|Tabletop role-playing games}} (such as {{w|Dungeons and Dragons}}) are fantasy games with extremely detailed descriptions of fantastical worlds. The invented language is probably a reference to {{w|The Lord of the Rings}} in which author {{w|J. R. R. Tolkien}} invented several language of which the Grey-elvish or {{w|Sindarin}} language is the most famous.
  
 
After being shown the manuscript for the first time by [[Megan]], [[Cueball]] argues that it should be obvious that it's just an ancient role-playing-game rulebook, since the human tendency to invent fantastical worlds must have also existed in the past.
 
After being shown the manuscript for the first time by [[Megan]], [[Cueball]] argues that it should be obvious that it's just an ancient role-playing-game rulebook, since the human tendency to invent fantastical worlds must have also existed in the past.
  
After concluding this, a shocked Cueball then asks in the title text how Megan got her hands on the original manuscript (which is in the Yale University's ''{{w|Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library}}''). Megan unexpectedly suggests the prosaic activity of playing {{w|Druid|Druids}} and {{w|Dicotyledon|Dicotyledons}}, assuming such a game could be defined by the manuscript.
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In the last panel the book is used, 500 years ago, to play a game  similar to Dungeons and Dragons. They speak in a somewhat outdated English. The reference to {{w|Aconitum|Wolfsbane}} could be a reference to another invented world as it is mentioned in the first book of the {{w|Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone|Harry Potter}} series.
  
Note that the use of the pronoun "your" in the last frame is anachronistic, as in early modern English it was used as a plural pronoun, or as a singular pronoun only to a superior; the proper pronoun would be "thy": "Thy Druid doth lose two points."
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After concluding this, a shocked Cueball then asks in the title text how Megan got her hands on the original manuscript (which is in the Yale University's ''{{w|Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library}}''). He then unexpectedly goes on to suggests the prosaic activity of playing {{w|Druid|Druids}} and {{w|Dicotyledon|Dicotyledons}}, assuming such a game could be defined by the manuscript.
  
In the third panel, Randal may have meant ''{{w|glossolalia}}'' rather than ''glossolatia''.
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Note:
 +
*In the third panel, [[Randall]] may have meant ''{{w|glossolalia}}'' rather than ''glossolatia''.
 +
*The use of the pronoun "your" in the last frame is anachronistic, as in early modern English it was used as a plural pronoun, or as a singular pronoun only to a superior; the proper pronoun would be "thy": "Thy Druid doth lose two points."
  
 
==Transcript==
 
==Transcript==

Revision as of 08:20, 21 March 2015

Voynich Manuscript
Wait, is that the ORIGINAL voynich manuscript? Where did you GET that? Wanna try playing a round of Druids and Dicotyledons?
Title text: Wait, is that the ORIGINAL voynich manuscript? Where did you GET that? Wanna try playing a round of Druids and Dicotyledons?

Explanation

The Voynich manuscript is a very detailed book written in an unknown script, describing plants and recipes, most of which lack a real-world analogue. Over the past few decades, linguists and cryptographers have unsuccessfully attempted to decode the book. A cut out from the book is depicted in the first frame (real or similar).

Tabletop role-playing games (such as Dungeons and Dragons) are fantasy games with extremely detailed descriptions of fantastical worlds. The invented language is probably a reference to The Lord of the Rings in which author J. R. R. Tolkien invented several language of which the Grey-elvish or Sindarin language is the most famous.

After being shown the manuscript for the first time by Megan, Cueball argues that it should be obvious that it's just an ancient role-playing-game rulebook, since the human tendency to invent fantastical worlds must have also existed in the past.

In the last panel the book is used, 500 years ago, to play a game similar to Dungeons and Dragons. They speak in a somewhat outdated English. The reference to Wolfsbane could be a reference to another invented world as it is mentioned in the first book of the Harry Potter series.

After concluding this, a shocked Cueball then asks in the title text how Megan got her hands on the original manuscript (which is in the Yale University's Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library). He then unexpectedly goes on to suggests the prosaic activity of playing Druids and Dicotyledons, assuming such a game could be defined by the manuscript.

Note:

  • In the third panel, Randall may have meant glossolalia rather than glossolatia.
  • The use of the pronoun "your" in the last frame is anachronistic, as in early modern English it was used as a plural pronoun, or as a singular pronoun only to a superior; the proper pronoun would be "thy": "Thy Druid doth lose two points."

Transcript

[Weird root vegetables surround a strange script.]
[Megan holding up book.]
Megan: This is the Voynich manuscript—a book, allegedly 500 years old, written in an unrecognized script. It's some kind of visual encyclopedia of imaginary plants and undeciphered "recipes".
[Cueball opens the book.]
Megan: It could be a hoax, a lost language, a cipher, an alien text, glossolatia—no one knows.
Cueball: No one? But it's obvious.
Megan: ...Obvious? Linguists and cryptographers have been stumped for decades.
Cueball: They forget. Human nature doesn't change.
Cueball: Just imagine someone found a book from our time, full of lists, illustrations, tables, and long, dry descriptions of nonexistent worlds written in an invented language. What have they found?
Megan: ...Dear Lord. It is obvious.
500 Years Earlier:
[Three people are standing around pawns and a die. One is holding a sheet of paper, another is holding a book, the third is holding a scythe.]
Person #1: Forsooth! I concoct an elixir of courage.
Person #2: Nae! The source booke sayeth that requires some wolfsbane!
Person #3: Your druid doth lose two points.


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Discussion

I feel that the title text is not well enough explained, but I don't know if it's enough to add an incomplete tag. 108.162.254.163 03:37, 2 January 2014 (UTC)

It has been proposed that the VM is a token artifact for Francis Bacon's utopian book New Atlantis. Under this theory, it would be akin to a prop replica made in relatively recent times. --I Should Get Out More (talk) 14:43, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

I feel like the Codex Seraphinianus should be mentioned, but I'm not sure how it would fit in. Leafy Greens (talk) 17:05, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

Alternately, Megan could be attempting to distract Cueball from his line of questioning about where she got the book, by suggesting they play a game (possibly with the book), to steer the conversation away from the difficult question of where she got it. 162.158.75.232 15:59, 28 June 2017 (UTC)

Why is Harry Potter part of this explanation? The idea of wolfsbane keeping werewolves at bay isn't anything like that new. --172.69.33.11 18:42, 27 August 2018 (UTC)

Am I the only one that noticed that Druids and Dicotyledons was likely abbreviated as D&D, much like Dungeons and Dragons is today?

It's a funny thought that it would be some old nerdy conlang that leaves various experts "stumped". 172.70.147.130 13:51, 11 May 2023 (UTC)