Hildegard of Bingen’s Unknown Language: An Edition, Translation, and Discussion

The New Middle Ages

by Sarah L. Higley

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.

Genres: History, Linguistics, Nonfiction, Language, Medieval, Mysticism, Germany

262 pages, Hardcover

First published December 10, 2007

Reviews

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is quite misleading. You'd never guess from it that a good deal of the book is about invented languages and their history - not just Lingua Ignota. The contents are fascinating, but a better title might have made this book more noticeable to its intended audiences.

The writing does jump around quite a bit, and sometimes the author seems to forget that she's writing for other people, rather than a conversation inside her own head. For example, the author will say things like, "As we know, it's not a secret language," but forget that, no, the audience doesn't know that yet. She does eventually give her evidence. However, overall it's a very good read, and I learned a lot from the book.

[Adelais · Rating 4 out of 5]

Трохи лінгвістики про Хільдегарду Бінгенську, бо вона не тільки з достойниками переписувалася і видіння мала, а й придумала власну мову. Пам'ятаю, як її гімни багато років тому звучали для мене зовсім чарівно і якось одночасно зрозуміло й інопланетно. Ось тут власне про це, а бонусом трохи про інші придумані мови та їхніх авторів, в тому числі й Толкіна. Здається, навіть клінгон згадують.

[M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Of great interest, the first part compares Hildegard's work and mysticism to contemporaries and people who succeeded her, even More and Tolkien. The second part is more dedicated to the study of the manuscripts and is not as accessible to the general public, but still must present a great source to scholars. It's not that the book takes that long to read, either. A chapter a day sounds like a good plan I wish I had followed through with.

[Pierre_menard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging review and contextualization of the Lingua Ignota and its intellectual history. Perhaps too wide-ranging, though forgivable given the paucity of the contemporary material. The very thorough descriptive work (about half of the book's pages) is notable.