Hildegard of Bingen's Unknown Language: An Edition, Translation, and Discussion (The New Middle Ages)

The Lingua Ignota , brought forth by the twelfth-century German nun Hildegard of Bingen, provides 1012 neologisms for praise of Church and new expression of the things of her world. Noting her visionary metaphors, her music, and various medieval linguistic philosophies, Higley examines how the Unknown Language makes arid signifiers green again. This text, however, is too often seen in too narrow a context: glossolalia, angelic language, secret code. Higley provides an edition and English translation of its glosses in the Riesencodex (with assistance from the Berlin MS) , but also places it within a history of imaginary language making from medieval times to the most contemporary projects in efforts to uncover this woman’s bold involvement in an intellectual and creative endeavor that spans centuries. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 10 Plates......Page 12 Acknowledgments......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 Part I: The Lingua Ignota and its Place Within a History of Language Invention......Page 18 Introduction: Hildegard’s Language as Vineyard and Edifice......Page 20 One: An Unknown Language by a Visionary Woman......Page 30 Two: Glossolalia and Glossographia......Page 52 Three: Medieval Language Philosophy......Page 68 Four: Fifteenth- to Nineteenth-Century Language Inventions......Page 80 Five: Play and Aesthetic in Contemporary Language Invention......Page 96 Six: Greening Language: Hildegard’s Monastery Garden......Page 118 Notes to Part I......Page 130 Part II: Manuscripts, Edition, and Translation of the Lingua Ignota......Page 160 Manuscript Information......Page 162 Notes to Manuscript Information......Page 176 The Riesencodex Lingua Ignota with Additions from the Berlin MS......Page 178 Notes to the Translation......Page 206 Hildegard’s Lingua Alphabetized......Page 222 Bibliography......Page 248 B......Page 256 E......Page 257 H......Page 258 J......Page 259 N......Page 260 S......Page 261 V......Page 262 Z......Page 263 The Lingua Ignota, "brought forth" by the twelfth-century German nun Hildegard of Bingen, provides 1012 neologisms for praise of Church and new expression of the things of her world. Noting her visionary metaphors, her music, and various medieval linguistic philosophies, Higley examines how the "Unknown Language" makes arid signifiers green again. This text, however, is too often seen in too narrow a context : glossolalia, angelic language, secret code. Higley provides an edition and English translation of its glosses in the Riesencodex (with assistance from the Berlin MS), but also places it within a history of imaginary language making from medieval times to the most contemporary projects in efforts to uncover this woman's bold involvement in an intellectual and creative endeavor that spans centuries--Résumé de l'éditeur The Lingua Ignota, "brought forth" by the twelfth-century German nun Hildegard of Bingen, provides 1012 neologisms for praise of Church and new expression of the things of her world. Noting her visionary metaphors, her music, and various medieval linguistic philosophies, Higley examines how the "Unknown Language" makes arid signifiers green again. This text, however, is too often seen in too narrow a context: glossolalia, angelic language, secret code. Higley provides an edition and English translation of its glosses in the Riesencodex (with assistance from the Berlin MS) , but also places it within a history of imaginary language making from medieval times to the most contemporary projects in efforts to uncover this woman s bold involvement in an intellectual and creative endeavor that spans centuries. The Lingua ignota and its place within a history of language invention Introduction: Hildegard's language as vineyard and edifice An unknown language by a visionary woman Glossolalia and glossographia Medieval language philosophy Fifteenth- to nineteenth-century language invention Play and aesthetic in contemporary language invention Greening language : Hildegard's monastery garden Manuscripts, edition, and translation of the Ignota Lingua Manuscript information The Riesen codex Lingua ignota with additions from the Berlin MS Notes to the translation Hildegard's Lingua alphabetized. This book is an edition, translation, and philosophical commentary on Hildegard of Bingen's Unknown Language, a list of the things of her twelfth-century world recast in words of her own creation.