Prophecies: quills that raise men, dice, and the lantern
Riddles solved by the pen, paper, dice, the horn lantern and the axe-handle
A full page of text in mirror-script, written upside-down, with no diagrams. It continues Leonardo's series of prophecies, each an alarming prediction unmasked as an everyday object. Feathers that raise men to the sky are quill pens and their letters; bones that rule a man's fortune are dice; oxen that defend the fire from death are the horn plates of a lantern; and the woods that bear their own destroyer are the wooden handle of the axe.
On this page
Feathers that raise men to the sky (the quill)
Feathers will raise men toward the sky as they do the birds. The answer is the letters written with quill pens.
Disunited things that restore memory (paper)
Things disunited shall unite and gain such power that they restore to men their lost memory. The solution is paper, made of separated fibres, which keeps the record of men's deeds.
Bones of the dead that rule fortune (dice)
The bones of the dead will be seen governing the fortune of the one who moves them with swift motion. The answer is dice.
Oxen that defend the fire from death (the lantern)
Oxen with their horns will defend the fire from its death. The solution is the lantern, whose sides were made of thin plates of horn.
Woods that bear their own destroyer (the axe-handle)
The forests will bring forth children that will be the cause of their death. The answer is the wooden handle of the axe.