The Codex Gigas, also known as the Devil’s Bible, has recently drawn a lot of attention from the media, as emerging myths suggest that this mysterious manuscript was written by Lucifer himself, thus causing its inside pages to be cursed. The Codex Gigas, which is the largest existing medieval manuscript in the world, is currently housed at the National Library of Sweden, Stockholm.
At 9 inches thick and 36 inches tall, the book is believed to have required over 160 animal skins to complete. Inside the book is a full-page coloured image of the Devil, leading many to speculate that a human being could not have possibly written such a large, weighty book. The text needs at least two individuals to lift its 165 lbs leather bound vellum pages. Yet, little is known about its creation or creator.
Legend suggests that a monk from the Middle Ages, who was sentenced to being walled up alive for breaking his ascetic vows, promised to write, in one night, a book containing all human knowledge in order to be pardoned. At the stroke of midnight, the monk grew desperate and turned to Lucifer for help, promising to offer the devil his soul if he would help him complete the book. Apparently, Lucifer agreed to the pact and signed the text by adding a self-portrait of himself.
According to National Geographic, palæographer Michael Gullick analyzed the text’s calligraphy at National Library of Sweden several years ago to conclude that the entire manuscript had been composed by a single scribe. This finding is supported by a handwritten signature within the text, also known as hermann inclusis, which points towards the possibility that there was in all likelihood a single author for the entire book. The ink used to pen down the manuscript was acquired from compressed insect nests and Gullick claimed that it was unlikely that one scribe would use different kinds of ink for a single text.
Meanwhile, tests to reconstruct the lettering of the Codex Gigas suggest that it would take over five years of continuous writing to create it.
“Clearly, the author of this massive tome was possessed by something to create such a masterwork. Whether it was the power of light or darkness, is lost to time,” the report claims.
The Devil’s Bible contains five lengthy texts apart from the complete Bible. The manuscript begins with the Old Testament, is then followed by two works of Flavius Josephus from the first century CE, then the New Testament before ending with the Chronicle of Bohemia that was written by Cosmas from Prague.
According to some researchers, the legend of the sentenced monk stems from a misunderstanding of the signature that reads ‘hermanus inclusus’. Inclusus, a Latin word, was misunderstood to mean a horrifying punishment though the word truly means ‘recluse’. This understanding could mean that the signature was made by a lone monk, who chose to isolate himself from the rest of the world and dedicate his life to writing the Devil’s Bible instead.
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