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VMs: Libra nymph transcription...



Hi everyone,

I've now transcribed the Libra volvelle (as the page was very legible): my next step is to see if I can work out if the leg-positions & arm-positions do indicate where inside each associated label the (pairified) letter is to be found (and hence construct some kind of monoalphabetic cipher ordering).

I've sequenced the inner ring of nymphs first, proceeding clockwise from the score mark in the inner ring text (as about "half-past-eight"), and have checked my transcription with the interlinear file. This also matches John Grove's nymph numbering, which is somewhat reassuring. :-)

Even though the interlinear file is occasionally ambivalent about whether labels are left-associative or right-associative, I'm pretty sure that they're intended to *appear* left-associative (ie, linked to the nymph on their left) - check out those volvelles with four nymphs at the top, for example.

For arms, I see each position as steganographically encoding an "X" or "Y" shape: so, an arm that crosses over the front of a hip codes an "X", an arm that goes behind the hip codes a "Y".

Though I've also tried to categorise the nymph leg positions in a similar sensible sort of way, I'm not 100% comfortable with this just yet. It could well be that different leg positions indicate some kind of different label associativity: for example, W (wide) might mean to look at two labels to the right (rather than just one), and T (twisted hips) to look at the label to the left - C (crossed at ankles) I'm unsure about.

Plenty of stuff to think about... =:-o

Cheers, .....Nick Pelling.....

* * * * * * *

Notation: a nymph notated "#1  8RBO  o-ee-ol-y" is shorthand for:-
#1		<-- unique reference number for sign (rather than for ring)
8	[7/8/9]	<-- number of points in star
R	[L/R]	<-- facing direction (Left/Right)
Y	[X/Y]	<-- hand/hip relationship (X=hand in front of hip/Y=hand behind hip)
O	[TCOW] <-- legs (Twisted hips / Crossed ankles / Open / Wide open)
o-ee-ol-y	<-- EVA label, pair-transcribed

Libra, inner ring of nymphs:-
#1	8RYO	o-ee-ol-y
#2	7RXN	ok-y-dy
#3	7RXO	ok-ee-y
#4	7RXO	oiin-y
#5	7RXO	o-ee-y
#6	7RYT	ok-e-dy
#7	7RYO	yp-air		[yp-aim?]
#8	8RYO	ok-al-air
#9	6RYO	o-ee-o-dy
#10	8RXO	ok-e-al		[ok-e-ol?]
Libra, outer ring of nymphs:-
#11	8RXO	o-ee-ot-y
#12	8RXO	octh-y
#13	8RYO	ot-e-ol-y
#14	8RXO	ok-e-ol-y
#15	7RXO	o-eee-s
#16	8RXO	ocfh-sh-y	[hard to transcribe]
#17	7RXC	o-ee-s		[crowned nymph is on left of label]
#18	8RYW	ok-ee-ol-y
#19	8RYO	ol-al
#20	8RXO	aiin-o-d
#21	8RXO	o-dy-dy		[might be "o-d-a-d"?]
#22	9RYO	ot-e-o-d
#23	7RXC	yt-e-o-d
#24	7RXW	ok-ee-o-dy
#25	7RYO	ok-al
#26	9RXO	yt-al
#27	8RYO	o-eee-or	[might be "o-eee-o-s"]
#28	8RXO	ot-e-of-y
#29	8RXC	ee-i-o-e-p-y	[weird-looking label?]
#30	9RXC	yk-ee-dy


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