An Odd Voynich Translation

Intro 

In this age of technical sophistication like AI and Google, it should be quite easy to pinpoint the language and hence the origin of the Voynich manuscipt...or at least find a relative to it. With that power in our hands, we may be able to peer into the manuscript and produce either a few words or some blaring flubs. At any rate, it's fun to try. But there is a pivotal question: have we gotten the transcription at least close enough to produce meaning?

I ran an experiment. 

I transferred the page below using the transcription that most closely resembles Scottish Secretary Hand, a pretty obscure writing style that renders what at least look like words that you can read aloud. I have a hunch that this writing style has its origins in Old Permic script. It seems counter-intuitive to say the least, but I believe the people to which the manuscript belongs were travelers and traders, especially in and around the marine and riverine passages in northern Europe, including the region's many subterranean courses.

Keeping line and paragraph breaks as its only punctuation, I plugged the following passage from Quire1-f2r of the Voynich manuscript into Google Translate. 

Lasona apkei som elkoi apkom feita 

Serkera klar t her fa fe 

Jelom fua a ker ka asa kom

?onsa housa klessa pa soit kellom s 

eleker oi hesom keison alkom son 

tom sons slei ter aleisa skei ska fa 

her fa soma keison 

Lason hom jea t hei pesan alh ei hua sonrisa 

sithe lei hua jelka alesa te kei ala son some 

jela kei om hei hula som fua lu ei som som 

ekon soi ka soier hon son eit om hua fer 

eloi ka ker aer on kon tom kula kala toi 

he alko kua som ufa 

Leem kepker elom eson ker son hla 

luelka he hei jelke iekut jella ker som 

elka ker iha kei kesa keson ufa som 

he keie kuor kesom 

Luor ha som ufea thua ser kei som

ser kei ker kei luei ka ula som elker con 

som keluka jeluka kelker kuut ur ukom 

kelerhu ker kei kei seiesa 

Luket jepoi kei fei souss 

akuer ker sos jelkes kos 

eker jeuker kei som fua 

teka ker koi kos kos ke 

Jelei keieia t kos fei 

elkei jesom ker her sore 

aher ker kei ela sose 

he ?er hueisos elkese ei 

a sor keifor 

 

The Result

Immediately, GT detected Finnish and nothing else. As you may know, I have believed that the Voynich language derives from some lesser known Finnic language. The thing is, there are many of them, some already extinct. I have covered this in another page titled Language Candidates

But what if we selected various languages in GT? Do any of them return legible words or even better sentences with even the slightest meaning?

Yes, one and only one does. 

This language, which produced more than a smattering of meaning, shockingly, was Hindi. It returned full sentences in a style which closely resembles Helkavirsi...weirdly.

What the heck are Helkavirsi?

A helkavirsa is a Finnish poem in the Kalevala meter (trochaic tetrameter), especially one sung in a helkajuhla. From helka +‎ juhla (“celebration”). The initial component from Old Norse helgr (“holy”). It is Säaksmäki's spring singing festival for girls. 

Girls, perhaps, like these two, who are watching two matrons with fancy headdresses dance?

Confusing matters, Finnish poet Eino Leino published collections of his poetry in 1903 and 1916 under the title Helkavirsiä. Whether he borrowed from the actual, authentic canon of Helkajuhla songs is outside of our scope, so I'll just leave it at a mention.

First, the Name

Origin of Helka/Áile: Old Norse or Old Finnic?

As usual, it's assumed to be originally a Germanic origin, but it could be much, much older, an Old Finnic term created by the Sami, who have resided in northern Europe for millennia.

heilagr

Old Norse Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *hailagaz (“holy, sacred”), whence also Old English hāliġ, Old Frisian hēlich, Old Saxon hēlag, Old High German heilag, Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌹𐌻𐌰𐌲𐍃 (hailags). Akin to heill +‎ -agr.

Adjective heilagr (comparative helgari, superlative helgastr): holy, inviolable, sacred

Old Norse Helga ("holy"), a pre-Christian term, feminine form of Helgi. Doublet of Olga.

From Old Norse helga, from Proto-Germanic *hailagōną. Cognates include English hallow.

Verb helga (present tense helgar, past tense helga, past participle helga, passive infinitive helgast, present participle helgande, imperative helga/helg): to hallow, sanctify, to ornate, (reflexive) to visit

Olga: Borrowed in the 19th century from Russian О́льга (Ólʹga), a saints' name borne by Russian royalty, a medieval form of Helga, Old Norse heilagr (“holy, prosperous”). Doublet of Helga.

Áile

Old Norse

NAME ROOT: HELGI > Heilagr

This name derives from the Old Norse “helgi > heilagr,” meaning “holy, blessed.” This name and its variants (Hege, Helle, Helge, Helga, and Helka) are a female name used mainly in Scandinavia, Iceland, Germany, and Hungary. The name was in use in England before the Norman Conquest but appeared to have died out afterward. It was re-introduced to English-speaking nations in the 20th-century from Germany and the Nordic countries. Eastern Slavic name Olga derives from it. The Scandinavian male equivalent is Helge or Helgi. The name day is celebrated: Estonia: May 31, Hungary: October 3, Latvia: August 11, Sweden: November 21, Finland: May 31, Greece: July 11.

Áile

Northern Sami

Etymology

Uncertain, possibly related to Helga or Alice.

Koponen, Eino; Ruppel, Klaas; Aapala, Kirsti, editors (2002–2008) Álgu database: Etymological database of the Saami languages‎[1], Helsinki: Research Institute for the Languages of Finland

From Sami; an Inari Sami variant of Aili. Possibly related to Laila.

Now the Event: Helkajuhla

Below is a description of the Helkajuhla by Anssi Alhonen.

Hela, or helka party

With spring and the melting of the snow, the festivities moved to nature: meadows, fields, groves and mountains. Some places that started with Helk or Hiisi are known to have been places where the Hela or Helka party was held. By celebrating the festival, the fertility of the fields and meadows and a good harvest were ensured. In Hämee, Satakunta and Uudellama, lucky candles have been burned around which people sang, played and danced.

Whites were burned on the eve of Maundy Thursday or, depending on the locality, also at other times until Pentecost or Midsummer. Fires could also be lit several nights in a row. According to Ganander's description from the 18th century, the people of Hämälä had fun at the helavalke, drinking good beer, playing music and cheering. The girls had to get a swing for themselves on the eve of Maundy Thursday. If you couldn't get a boy by your side that night, you couldn't get any other time the whole year.

There are certain rules associated with lighting a bonfire. The fire could be made as a friction white and only certain trees could be burned in it. According to information recorded from Central Finland, nine different types of wood were used for lighting. The villagers could also have a habit of bringing one tree, branch or sparrow to the fire. Juniper and tar were burned in the fire, the acrid smoke created by them was believed to drive away malicious people.

There are plenty of known party places and they are often located in high places. Local helka places have been, for example, Kankaanmäki in Juhtimäki in Ikaalisten, Inkula helkaketo in Viljakkala, Helaaketo in Oriniemi in Punkalaitumen, and Kalmonmäki at the northern end of Lemakkajärvi in ​​Hämeenkyrö.

The most famous helka festival is celebrated on Pentecost in the village of Ritvala in Sääksmäki. At the party, the maidens walk the route to Helkavuori and sing carnival-style songs as they go. The celebration has also traditionally included dancing, playing and burning candles. In addition, the girls are said to have picked Helkavuori's flowers for their baskets. It was believed in the village that Ritvala's fields would stop yielding if the people stopped celebrating the festival.

Saaksmaki

Helkajuhla 2017

Here is a snippet from a legendary poem of the Big Bull*, the gist of which recurs in various forms from eastern Karelia to western Finland: 

Is the broth cooked,

Old crowed,

For the tired crowd,

For the rising youth?

Is there any bread in your castle

Without baking bread?

Is there butter under the mountain

Without asking Kirnu?

Is there meat in the castle?

Without killing the bull?

*Excerpted from  Kantelettare's studies I, by Julius Krohn, 2014.

You'll notice the immediate, intimate tone, cryptic allusions to events peculiar to the region, questions, and lots of metaphorical detail.

And here is a snippet of the translation from Hindi to English:

You will see that it has the same intimate tone, similar questions, and allusions whose sources have been obscured by time and distance, and so the meanings remain positively cryptic.

So...how do you celebrate the ancient rites of your ancestors without ticking off the church fathers who wish to abolish and erase your heritage? Well, you could keep the gist and throw in mention of a Mary and a Jesus to calm the clergy's vigilance. After all, they may speak Swedish, German, and Latin, but their Finnish may be spotty, so keep the language, sprinkle it with Christian names, and wink-wink rhetorically as you and your sisters process up the hill. That seems to be the Helkavirsi we have today. See Kaarina Kailo's The Helka Fest—Traces of a Finno-Ugric Matriarchy and Worldview?

As for deriving the most meaning from a Hindi translation? That's intriguing to say the least, and it opens a can of worms that wriggle toward the dangerous waters of Frisia and a treacherous sojourn into Punjab, India...but that's for a future post.

For more information related to Hel/Ail/Hol, such as Frau Holle, Helya’s Night, Huld, and the Huldra, see the post called The Rites of the Hidden.