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 1 Contents 10 Plates 12 Acknowledgments 13 Abbreviations 15 Part I: The Lingua Ignota and its Place Within a History of Language Invention 17 Introduction: Hildegard’s Language as Vineyard and Edifice 18 One: An Unknown Language by a Visionary Woman 28 Two: Glossolalia and Glossographia 49 Three: Medieval Language Philosophy 65 Four: Fifteenth- to Nineteenth-Century Language Inventions 77 Five: Play and Aesthetic in Contemporary Language Invention 92 Six: Greening Language: Hildegard’s Monastery Garden 114 Notes to Part I 126 Part II: Manuscripts, Edition, and Translation of the Lingua Ignota 156 Manuscript Information 157 Notes to Manuscript Information 171 The Riesencodex Lingua Ignota with Additions from the Berlin MS 173 Notes to the Translation 201 Hildegard’s Lingua Alphabetized 217 Bibliography 243 Index 250 A 250 B 250 C 251 D 251 E 251 F 252 G 252 H 252 I 253 J 253 K 254 L 254 M 254 N 254 O 255 P 255 Q 255 R 255 S 255 T 256 U 256 V 256 W 257 X 257 Y 257 Z 257 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. Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Introduction Hildegard’s Language As Vineyard and Edifice....Pages 3-11 An Unknown Language by a Visionary Woman....Pages 13-33 Glossolalia and Glossographia....Pages 35-50 Medieval Language Philosophy....Pages 51-62 Fifteenth- to Nineteenth-Century Language Inventions....Pages 63-77 Play and Aesthetic in Contemporary Language Invention....Pages 79-100 Greening Language: Hildegard’s Monastery Garden....Pages 101-112 Front Matter....Pages 143-143 Manuscript Information....Pages 145-160 The Riesencodex Lingua Ignota with Additions from the Berlin MS....Pages 161-204 Hildegard’s Lingua Alphabetized....Pages 205-230 Back Matter....Pages 231-246 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.