Conversation With a Vulva

Fragment of ‘The Rose Thorn,’ a Poem About a Talking Vulva, Dated to the 1300s

by Jason Daley Smithsonian.com

The poem “Der Rosendorn” or “The Rose Thorn” is known from two manuscript copies dating to around 1500. But a new fragment of the poem discovered in the library of Melk Abbey in Austria’s Wachau Valley dates from 200 years before that, meaning that someone was writing about a talking vulva much earlier in the Middle Ages than previously believed.

Yes, reports Kate Connolly at The Guardian, the poem is actually a dialogue between a woman and her vulva, discussing which of them men are more attracted to.

The fragment is a long thin strip of parchment on which a few letters per line are visible, according to a press release from the Austria’s Academy of Sciences. When researchers tried to identify the letters, they found they corresponded with the text of “The Rose Thorn.” Previously, copies of the poem were found in the Dresden and Karlsrue Codices and were dated from around 1500.

The parchment on which the poem was written was cut up and reused as binding in a Latin theological text.

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Carol Duff, MSN, BA, RN

Carol graduated from Riverside White Cross School of Nursing in Columbus, Ohio and received her diploma as a registered nurse. She attended Bowling Green State University where she received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in History and Literature. She attended the University of Toledo, College of Nursing, and received a Master’s of Nursing Science Degree as an Educator.

She has traveled extensively, is a photographer, and writes on medical issues. Carol has three children RJ, Katherine, and Stephen – one daughter-in-law; Katie – two granddaughters; Isabella Marianna and Zoe Olivia – and one grandson, Alexander Paul. She also shares her life with her husband Gordon Duff, many cats, and two rescues.

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