The Name of the Rose
Sixth Day: Nones--Eco's chapter on "The Language of Gems" (pp. 444-52)
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Abbot Abo's exposition, addressed to Adso, on the virtues
of the gems in his official ring, makes use of the
complex medieval tradition of lapidaries, which catalogue
and describe precious stones, their virtues and their
symbolism. This tradition has three strands in the
Middle Ages: (1) classical encyclopedias, beginning with
Pliny's Historia naturalis, book 37, and including
Isidore's Etymologiae, book 16 (derived mainly
from Pliny); (2) medical treatises that include discussion
of the healing powers of certain gems; and (3) biblical
exegesis. To gain an understanding of this chapter, we
will want to focus on:
A. The three strands of lapidary tradition, especially
the classical encyclopedic background, which is very well
analysed by Peter Kitson in "Lapidary Traditions in
Anglo-Saxon England; part I, the Background; the Old
English Lapidary," Anglo-Saxon England 12 (1983): 73-123.
B. The role of lapidary tradition in images of the
Apocalypse, analysed by Peter Kitson in "Lapidary
Traditions in Anglo-Saxon England; part II, Bede's
Explanatio Apocalypse and Related Works," Anglo-
Saxon England 12 (1983): 73-123.
Some thoughts about the converging roles of the "language
of gems" in The Name of the Rose:
(A) The ring is a traditional symbol of an office or
official position in the Middle Ages. The Abbot, by
showing the ring to Adso, is acting in an official capacity
as Adso's superior, since Adso is also a member of the
Benedicting Order, unlike William, who, as a Franciscan friar,
is somewhat independent of Abo's authority. In this episode,
Eco explores the power relations between Abo, the abbot
of the wealthiest of all Benedictine monasteries, and Adso,
a mere novice who is there only as a visitor.
(B) Abo's attempt to get Adso to swear, on his ring, that
he must forget all the events that he had witnessed
in the monastery (p. 448), comes close to obviating the
novel. William interrupted, and prevented the boy from
making the oath that Abo had wanted. Had Adso sworn on
the abbot's ring, the manuscript upon which The Name
of the Rose was based would never have been written.
(C) Genre--encyclopedia: The "language of gems" contributes to
the generic identity of The Name
of the Rose as a medieval "encyclopedia," one of whose
chapters would be about gemstones.
(D) Genre--apocalypse: The "language of gems" contributes
to the generic identity of The Name of the Rose as
an "apocalypse," a revelation of the Last Times, because
of the traditional association of the lapidary with the Book
of Revelations and the apocalypse more generally.
(E) The lapidary theme contributes to The Name
of the Rose as an allegory of good and evil, because
"the Devil hates the language of gems" (p. 448).
"'Try to formulate a hypothesis. You must have learned how it
is done.'
'Actually, I have learned that I must formulate at least two, one in
opposition to the other, and both incredible'" (p. 449) [Judy Bolinger
comments] I hear Plato speaking through Eco. "You are right. But
there is one thing more you must do. If you want to be thoroughly exercised,
you must not merely make the supposition that such and such a thing is and
then consider the consequences; you must also take the supposition that that
same thing is not." Parmenides 136a.
"No one ever obliges us to know, Adso. We must, that is all,
even if we comprehend imperfectly" (p. 450) [Judy Bolinger comments] In
speaking of knowledge in this statement, William sounds like a student of
Plato who said: "Times out of number we have said, 'we know,' 'we don not
know,' 'we have knowledge,' 'we have no knowledge,' as if we could understand
each other while we still know nothing about knowledge." Theaetus 196e. And
then again, "Even so, the good man may as easily be made bad, by lapse of
time or fatigue or illness or some other accident, seeing that this is the
only real ill faring, to be deprived of knowledge." Protagoras 345b.