Popol Vuh

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The oldest written account of Popol Vuh (ms c.1701 by Francisco Ximénez, O.P.)

Popol Vuh (Popol Wu'uj in modern K'iche'; IPA: [popol wuʔuχ]) is a corpus of mythistorical narratives of the Classic Quiché kingdom in Guatemala's western highlands. The title translates as "Book of the Community," "Book of Counsel," or more literally as "Book of the Mat."[1] Popol Vuh's prominent features are its creation myth, its diluvian suggestion, its epic tales of the Hero Twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué[2] , and its genealogies. The mythistory leads with the exploits of anthropomorphic ancestors and concludes with a regnal genealogy, perhaps suggesting an assertion of divine right rule. As with other texts such as Chilam Balam, a great deal of Popol Vuh's significance lies in the scarcity of early accounts dealing with Mesoamerican mythologies. Popol Vuh's fortuitous survival is attributable to the 17th century Dominican friar Francisco Ximénez.

Contents

[edit] Content, Structure, and Plot

Popol Vuh encompasses a range of subjects that includes creation, ancestry, history, and cosmology. There are no content divisions the Newberry Library's holograph, but popular editions have adopted the organization imposed by Brasseur de Bourbourg in 1861 in order to "facilitate" comparative studies.[3] Though some variation has been tested by Tedlock and Christenson, editions typically take the following form:

Preamble

  • A brief statement attesting to the antiquity of the mythistory, its perpetuation in oral form, and its post-conquest writing.


Part 1

  • Account of the creation of living beings. Animals are created first followed by humans. The first humans of earth and mud soak up water and dissolve. The second humans are created from wood, "but they did not have souls, nor minds."[4] They lose favor with the gods who cause them to be beaten and disfigured before receiving a deluge of heavy resin.
  • Hero twins. Exploits of hero twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué, their defeat of Vucub-Caquix and his sons Zipacná and Cabracán, presentation of ball-game motif.


Part 2

  • Lineage of principle figures. Xpiyacoc and Xmucané beget Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú; Hun Hunahpú and Xbaquiyalo beget Hunbatz and Hunchouén.
  • Demise of Hun Hunahpú and Vucub Hunahpú and origin of hero twins Hunahpú and Xbalanqué. They are summoned to the underworld of Xibalbá for playing their ball game too noisily. They are killed; Hun Hunahpú's head is placed in a calabash tree. This skull later impregnates Xquic, daughter of a Xibalbé lord, by spitting into her hand. She flees the lords and lives with Xmucané where she gives birth to "Hero Twins" Hunahpú and Xbalanqué. Mistreated by their half-brothers Hunbatz and Huchouén, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué trick them into climbing a tree. Hunbatz and Huchouén transform into monkeys.
  • Rediscovery of ball game and defeat of the lords of Xibalbá. Upon finding the father's equpiment suspended from the ceiling, Hunahpú and Xbalanqué are also summoned to Xibalbá for playing too boisterously. They outwit the lords and ascend to the night sky as constellations.


Part 3

  • Creation of humans, migration, and first dawn. Animals gather white and yellow corn from which the gods create Balam-Quitze, Jaguar Night, Naught, and Wind Jaguar. Their four wives are later created while they sleep. Their descendants travel to Tulán Zuiva to await the first dawn. The god Tohil gives fire, but it is extinguished by hail. Tohil requires concessions to restore their fire, but the Quiché hide themselves in smoke and obtain their fire without conditions. The Quiché rise to prominence over the other tribes. The first dawn appears, dries out the land, and turns original animals to stone. Distinct languages evolve.


Part 4

  • Migration and division. The Quiché travel into the mountains, find Gumarcaah where Gucumatz (the feathered serpent lord) raises them to dominance. Gucumatz institutes elaborate rituals. Cities are founded, significant architectural structures emerge to which fortifications are later added. Inter-tribal strife ensues. Anthropological correlation to terminal classic classic period (roughly 790 - 1000 CE).
  • Genealogy. States the lineages of several tribal rulers leading up to the Spanish conquest.

[edit] Excerpts

Title page
Title page
Preamble
Preamble
Creation
Creation

All editions of Popol Vuh come from the records of the Dominican priest Francisco Ximénez who lived around the turn of the 18th century. His oldest surviving account of Popol Vuh is found within a holograph presently housed at The Newberry library.[5] Since it is not a free-standing text, determining Popol Vuh's textual boundaries requires certain editorial judgment.[6] Most editions start at the "preamble" where the text first appears in parallel Quiché and Spanish. Here, the preamble is being presented, with minor modifications, in Father Ximénez's prose. Tedlock, Colop, and Christenson, however, versify the Quiché, which is presented in the extract from chapter 1.

[edit] Preamble

Quiché

ARE V XE OHER Tzih varal Quiche vbi. Varal xchicatzibah vi xchicatiquiba vi oher tzih, vticaribal, vxenabal puch ronohel xban, pa tinamit quiche, ramac quiche vinac; arecut xchicacam vi vcutunizaxic, vcalahobizaxic, vtzihoxic puch euaxibal zaquiribal rumal tzacol bitol alom, qaholom quibi hunahpu vuch, hunahpu vtiu, zaqui nim ac tzÿz, tepeu, qucumatz, v qux cho, vqux palo, ah raxa lac, ah raxat zel chuqhaxic, rach bixic, rach tzihoxic rÿ iyom, mamom xpiyacoc, xmucane vbi, matzanel chuquenel camul yiom, camul mamom chuqhaxic pa quiche tzih. ta xquitzihoh ronohel ruq xquiban chic chiz aquil qolem, zaquil tzih vae xchicatzibah chupan chic v qhabal Dios pa christianoil chic xchiquelezah rumal maha bi chic ilbal re popo vvh. ilbal zac petenac chaca palo. v tzihoxic ca muhibal ilbal zac qazlem chuqhaxic. qo nabe vuhil, oher tzibam puch xa eval v vach ilol re, bizol re, nim v peoxic, v tzihoxic puch, ta chiquiz tzuk ronohel cah vleu, v cah tzucuxic, v cah xucutaxic retaxic, v cah cheexic, v meh camaxic, v yuc camaxic v pa cah, v pa vleu cah tzuc, cah xucut chuqhaxic rumal ri tzacol bitol v chuch, v cahau qazlem vinaquirem, abanel, quxanel, alay rech, quxlaay rech zaquil amaquil, zaquil al, zaquil qahol, ah biz, ah naoh chirech ronohel atoqol vi cah vleu cho palo.[7]
Spanish

ESTE ES EL PRINCIPIO DE LAS antiguas historias aqui en el quiche. Aquí escrib-iremos y empezaremos las antiguas historias, su principio, y comienzo de todo lo que fue hecho en el pueblo de el quiche, su pueblo de los indios quiches; y de aqui tomaremos su ser declarado y manifestado, y su ser relatado, la escondedura y aclaradura, por el formador, criador madre, y Padre q’ así se llaman, hunahpu vuch. hun ahpu vtiu. Zaquinima tzÿz tepeu. gucumatz. vguxcho. vguxpalo. (nombres , o atributos. q’ significan; vn tirador tacuazín. vn tirador coyote. blanco pizote. Sor. fuerte culebra. corazon de la laguna. corazon de el mar.) el de el verde cagete, el de la verde hícara son llamados. y juntamente es dicho, y hablado. de aquella abuela, y abuelo q’ se llamaban: xpiyacoc, y Xmucane. nombres propios. amparadores, y cubridores dos vezes abuela, y dos vezes abuelo son dichos en las historias quichées. q’ comunicaron. todo con los q’ hizieron después en el estado de la claridad y en la palabra de clarídad. Esto escriuiremos ya en la ley de Díos, en la cristiandad, lo sacaremos porq’ ya no ay líbro comun, original donde verlo. de la otra parte de el mar es venido donde se a visto; q’es dicho su ser enseñada nuestra obscuridad con la míradura de la clara vida. antiguamente avía libro original q’ se escrivío antiguamente; síno q’ esta escondido al q’ lo míra, y al q’ lo piensa. grande es su venida, y su ser enseñado. q’ seacabo de formar todo el cielo, y la tierra, su ser cuadrado, su ser repartido en cuatro partes, su ser señalado, su ser amojonado con estacas, su ser medido a mecates, o cuerdas, y su ser estirada la cuerda en el zielo, y en la tierra; q’es dicho de cuatro esquinas, y cuatro lados por el formador, y criador. su Me. y su Pe. de la vida. y de la creazíon. q’ da respirazion, y resuello, paridos, y cuídados, de la paz claridad de los híjos, pensador, y entendedor de toda hermosur a q’ ay en el zielo, tirra, lagunas y mar.[8]
English

THIS IS THE BEGINNING of the old traditions of this place called Quiché. Here we shall write and we shall begin the old stories, the beginning and the origin of all that was done in the town of the Quiché, by the tribes of the Quiché nation. And here we shall set forth the revelation, the declaration, and the narration of all that was hidden, the revelation by Tzacol, Bitol, Alom, Qaholom, who are called Hunahpú-Vuch, Hunahpú-Utiú, Zaqui-Nimá-Tziís, Tepeu, Gucumatz, u Qux cho, u Qux Paló, Ali Raxá Lac, Ah Raxá Tzel, as they were called. And [at the same time] the declaration, the combined narration of the Grandmother and the Grandfather, whose names are Xpiyacoc, and Xmucané, helpers and protectors, twice grandmother, twice grandfather, so called in the Quiché chronicles. Then we shall tell all that they did in the light of existence, in the light of history. This we shall write now under the Law of God and Christianity; we shall bring it to light because now the Popol Vuh, as it is called, cannot be seen any more, in which was dearly seen the coming from the other side of the sea and the narration of our obscurity, and our life was clearly seen. The original book, written long ago, existed, but its sight is hidden to the searcher and to the thinker. Great were the descriptions and the account of how all the sky and earth were formed, how it was formed and divided into four parts; how it was partitioned, and how the sky was divided; and the measuring-cord was brought, and it was stretched in the sky and over the earth, on the four angles, on the four corners, as was told by the Creator and the Maker, the Mother and the Father of Life, of all created things, he who gives breath and thought, she who gives birth to the children, he who watches over the happiness of the people, the happiness of the human race, the wise man, he who meditates on the goodness of all that exists in the sky, on the earth, in the lakes and in the sea.[9]

[edit] Part I, chapter 1

Are utzijoxik wa‘e
k‘a katz‘ininoq,
k‘a kachamamoq,
  katz‘inonik,
k‘a kasilanik,
k‘a kalolinik,
  katolona puch upa kaj.[10]
This is the account of how
all was in suspense,
all calm,
   in silence;
all motionless,
all pulsating,
  and empty was the expanse of the sky.[11]

[edit] Creation Myth

This and the following two chapters contain Popol Vuh's creation myth. There are four dieties, three in a celestial realm collectively called Heart of Heaven and another on the terrestrial plane called Gucamatz. Chapter 1 continues:

This is the first account, the first narrative. There was neither man, nor animal, birds, fishes, crabs, trees, stones, caves, ravines, grasses, nor forests; there was only the sky. The surface of the earth had not appeared. There was only the calm sea and the great expanse of the sky. There was nothing brought together, nothing which could make a noise, nor anything which might move, or tremble, or could make noise in the sky. There was nothing standing; only the calm water, the placid sea, alone and tranquil. Nothing existed. There was only immobility and silence in the darkness, in the night. Only the creator, the Maker, Tepeu, Gucumatz, the Forefathers, were in the water surrounded with light. They were hidden under green and blue feathers, and were therefore called Gucumatz. By nature they were great sages and great thinkers. In this manner the sky existed and also the Heart of Heaven, which is the name of God and thus He is called. Then came the word. Tepeu and Gucumatz came together in the darkness, in the night, and Tepeu and Gucumatz talked together. They talked then, discussing and deliberating; they agreed, they united their words and their thoughts. Then while they meditated, it became clear to them that when dawn would break, man must appear. Then they planned the creation, and the growth of the trees and the thickets and the birth of life and the creation of man. Thus it was arranged in the darkness and in the night by the Heart of Heaven who is called Huracán. The first is called Caculhá Huracán. The second is Chipi-Caculhá. The third is Raxa-Caculhá. And these three are the Heart of Heaven. Then Tepeu and Gucumatz came together; then they conferred about life and light, what they would do so that there would be light and dawn, who it would be who would provide food and sustenance. Thus let it be done! Let the emptiness be filled! Let the water recede and make a void, let the earth appear and become solid; let it be done. Thus they spoke. Let there be light, let there be dawn in the sky and on the earth! There shall be neither glory nor grandeur in our creation and formation until the human being is made, man is formed. So they spoke. Then the earth was created by them. So it was, in truth, that they created the earth. Earth! they said, and instantly it was made. Like the mist, like a cloud, and like a cloud of dust was the creation, when the mountains appeared from the water; and instantly the mountains grew. Only by a miracle, only by magic art were the mountains and valleys formed; and instantly the groves of cypresses and pines put forth shoots together on the surface of the earth. And thus Gucumatz was filled with joy, and exclaimed: "Your coming has been fruitful, Heart of Heaven; and you, Huracán, and you, Chipi-Caculhá, Raxa-Caculhá!" "Our work, our creation shall be finished," they answered. First the earth was formed, the mountains and the valleys; the currents of water were divided, the rivulets were running freely between the hills, and the water was separated when the high mountains appeared. Thus was the earth created, when it was formed by the Heart of Heaven, the Heart of Earth, as they are called who first made it fruitful, when the sky was in suspense, and the earth was submerged in the water. So it was that they made perfect the work, when they did it after thinking and meditating upon it.[12]

Together, gods attempted to create humans so that the they may be praised and venerated by their creation. Their first attempts (animals, mud man, and wooden man) proved unsuccessful because they were lacks speech, souls, and/or intellect. Part III recounts the gods' final and successful attempt by creating the intellectual man (and later, women) out of corn:

"After that they began to talk about the creation and the making of our first mother and father; of yellow corn and of white corn they made their flesh; of cornmeal dough they made the arms and the legs of man. Only dough of corn meal went into the flesh of our first fathers, the four men, who were created."[13]

[edit] History of Popol Vuh

[edit] Father Ximénez's Manuscript

In 1701, Father Ximénez came to Santo Tomás Chichicastenango (also known as Santo Tomás Chuilá). This town was in the Quiché territory and therefore is probably where Fr. Ximénez first redacted the mythistory.[14][15] Ximénez transcribed and translated the manuscript in parallel Quiché and Spanish collumns (the Quiché having been represented phonetically with Latin and Parra characters). In or around 1714, Ximénez incorporated the Spanish content in book one, chapters 2-21 of his Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala de la orden de predicadores. Ximénez's manuscripts remaind posthumously in the possession of the Dominican Order until General Francisco Morazán expelled the clerics from Guatemala in 1829/1830 whereupon the Order's documents passed largely to the Universidad de San Carlos.

Americanism was prevalent in European humanist scholarship in the mid 19th century. This spirit brought Moritz Wagner and Carl Scherzer to Central America from 1852 to 1855. The two men arrived in Guatemala City in early May 1854.[16] Scherzer found Ximénez's writings in the university library, noting that there was one particular item "del mayor interes" ('of greater interest'). With assistance from Juan Gavarete, Scherzer made, or had a copy made of the Spanish content from the last half of the manuscript, which he published upon his return to Europe.[17] In 1855, French Abbot Charles Étienne Brasseur de Bourbourg also found Ximénez writings in the university library. However, whereas Scherzer copied the manuscript, Brasseur apparently "absconded" with the university's volume and took it back to France.[18] After Brasseur's death in 1874, the Mexico-Guatémalienne collection containing Popol Vuh passed to Alphonse Pinart through whom it was sold to Edward E. Ayer. In 1897, Ayer decided to donate his 17,000 pieces to The Newberry Library, a project that tarried until 1911. Father Ximénez's transcription-translation of "Popol Vuh" was among Ayer's donated items.

Father Ximénez's manuscript sank into obscurity until Adrián Recinos (re)discovered it at The Newberry in 1941. Generally speaking, Recinos receives credit for finding the manuscript and publishing the first direct edition since Scherzer. But Munro Edmonson and Carlos López attribute the first (re)discovery to Walter Lehmann in 1928.[19] Allen Christenson, Néstor Quiroa, Rosa Helena Chinchilla Mazariegos, John Woodruff, and Carlos López all consider the Newberry's volume to be Ximénez's one and only "original."

[edit] Father Ximénez's source

It is generally held that Ximénez borrowed a phonetic manuscript from a parishioner for his source, although Néstor Quiroa points out that "such a manuscript has never been found, and thus Ximenez's work represents the only source for scholarly studies."[20] This document, which Munro Edmonson and Jack Himelblau term "The manuscript of Quiché," would have been a phonetic rendering of an oral recitation performed in or around Santa Cruz Quiché shortly following Pedro de Alvarado's 1524 conquest. By comparing the genealogy at the end of Popol Vuh with dated colonial records, Adrián Recinos and Dennis Tedlock suggest a date between 1554 and 1558.[21] One theory (first proposed by Rudolf Schuller) ascribes the phonetic authorship to Diego Reynoso, one of the signatories of the Titulo de Totonicapán.[22] Another possible author could have been Don Cristóbal Velasco, who, also in Titulo de Totonicapán, is listed as "Nim Chokoh Cavec" ('Great Steward of the Kaweq').[23][24] In either case, the colonial presence is clear in Popol Vuh's preamble:

"This we shall write now under the Law of God and Christianity; we shall bring it to light because now the Popol Vuh, as it is called, cannot be seen any more, in which was clearly seen the coming from the other side of the sea and the narration of our obscurity, and our life was clearly seen. The original book, written long ago, existed, but its sight is hidden to the searcher and to the thinker."[25]

Accordingly, the need to "preserve" the content presupposes an imminent disappearance of the content, and therefore, Edmonson theorized a pre-conquest glyphic codex that he refers to as "The Manuscript of Utatlán." No evidence of such a codex has yet been found.

A minority, however, disputes the existence of pre-Ximénez texts on the same basis that is used to argue their existence. Both positions are based on two statements by Ximénez. The first of these comes from Historia de la provincia where Ximénez writes that he found various texts during his curacy of Santo Tomás Chichicastenango that were guarded with such secrecy "that not even a trace of it was revealed among the elder ministers" although "almost all of them have it memorized."[26] The second passage used to argue pre-Ximénez texts comes from Ximénez's addendum to "Popol Vuh." There he states that many of the natives' practices can be "seen in a book that they have, something like a prophecy, from the beginning of their [pre-Christian days], where they have all the months and signs corresponding to each day, one of which I have in my possession."[27] Scherzer explains in a footnote that what Ximénez is referencing "is only a secret calendar" and that he himself had "found this rustic calendar previously in various indigenous towns in the Guatemalan highlands" during his travels with Wagner.[28] This presents a contradiction because the item which Ximénez has in his possession is not Popol Vuh, and a carefully guarded item is not likely to have been easily available to Ximénez.

[edit] Popol Vuh today

[edit] Modern editions

Since Brasseur's and Scherzer's first editions, the Popol Vuh has been translated into many other languages.[29] The Spanish edition by Adrián Recinos is still a major reference, as is Recino's English translation by Delia Goetz. Other English translations[30] include those of Munro Edmonson (1985) and Dennis Tedlock (1985, 1996). Tedlock's version is notable because it builds on commentary and interpretation by a modern K'iche' daykeeper, Andrés Xiloj. Augustín Estrada Monroy published a fascimile edition in the 1970s and Ohio State University has a digital version and transcription online. Modern transcriptions of the K'iche' text have been published by, among others, Sam Colop (1999) and Allen J. Christenson (2004). The tale of Hunahpu and Xbalanque has also been rendered as an hour-long animated film by Patricia Amlin.

[edit] Anthropological corroboration

Contemporary archaeologists have found depictions of stories apparently from the Popol Vuh in Mayan art concerning the Maya Hero Twins (in particular the shooting of Vucub-Caquix and the restoration of the Twins' dead father) and the Howler Monkey Gods.[31] Michael D. Coe has identified polychrome depictions of portions of the Popol Vuh's storyline in some polychrome Maya pottery. More recently, Richard D. Hansen has found at the site of El Mirador a frieze that may represent Hunahpú and Xbalanqué.[32] These observations open up the possibility that the accompanying sections of hieroglyphical text are ancestral to passages from the Popol Vuh and that the mythological framework presented in the Popol Vuh has its roots in shared pan-Maya mythology of the classic period.[33]

Of the three attempts at creating humans recorded in Popol Vuh, only the third was successful. Made from white and yellow corn, these viable humans underscore the importance of corn in Maya culture and its anthropomorphic symbolism between humans and gods. To the Maya of the Classic period, Hun Hunahpu may have represented the maize god; he was decapitated and from his head grew a stalk of corn. In this line, decapitation and sacrifice correspond to harvesting corn and the sacrifices accompanying planting and harvesting.[34] Planting and harvesting also relate to Maya astronomy and calendar; the cycles of the moon and sun determined crop seasons.[35] This association between corn—that is, the Maya maize god—and the cosmic world reinforced its importance in Maya culture.

After defeating the Maya Death Gods gods of Xibalba, the Hero Twins made a distinction in sacrifices: human blood is reserved for celestial gods, while animals are sacrificed to the gods of Xibalba.[36] Most records indicate that, as the Maya civilization engaged in more power struggles, sacrifices increased as well.[37] Defeat of captives, like the defeat of Xibalba gods, symbolized Mayan superiority. Though it is debated if games between captives and warriors were rigged, the Hero Twins employed deception to win, which set a precedent in ritual play.[38]

[edit] Contemporary culture

The Popol Vuh continues to be an important part in the belief system of many K'iche'.[citation needed] Although Catholicism is generally seen as the dominant religion, some believe that many natives practice a syncretic blend of Christian and indigenous beliefs. Some stories from the Popol Vuh continued to be told by modern Maya as folk legends; some stories recorded by anthropologists in the 20th century may preserve portions of the ancient tales in greater detail than the Ximénez manuscript. 

[edit] Reflections in Western culture

Since its rediscovery by Europeans in the 19th century, the Popol Vuh has attracted the attention of many authors. For example, the myths and legends included in Louis L'Amour's novel The Haunted Mesa are largely based on the Popol Vuh. The text was also used by German film director Werner Herzog as extensive narration for the first chapter of his movie Fata Morgana (1971). In 1934, the Franco-American early avant-garde composer Edgard Varèse wrote his Ecuatorial - a setting of words from the Popol Vuh for bass soloist and various instruments.

In Munich, Germany in 1969, keyboardist Florian Fricke -- at the time ensconsced in Mayan myth-- formed a band with synth player Frank Fiedler and percussionist Holger Trulzsch. Their 1970 debut album, Affenstunde,reflected this spiritual connection. The band is notable especially for its extremely early experimentation with forms that became popularized through the modern electronic, new age/ambient music that was to follow years later. Another band by the same name, this one of Norwegian descent, formed around the same time, its name also inspired by the Quiche writings.

[edit] References and notes

  1. ^ According to Allen Christenson, the mat was a common Maya metaphor for kingship (like "throne" in English) and national unity.
  2. ^ Junajpu and Xb’alanke in Modern K'iche' spelling
  3. ^ Recinos explains: "The original manuscript is not divided into parts or chapters; the text runs without interruption from the beginning until the end. In this translation I have followed the Brasseur de Bourbourg division into four parts, and each part into chapters, because the arrangement seems logical and conforms to the meaning and subject matter of the work. Since the version of the French Abbe is the best known, this will facilitate the work of those readers who may wish to make a comparative study of the various translations of the Popol Vuh" (Goetz xiv; Recinos 11-12; Brasseur, Popol Vuh, xv)
  4. ^ Goetz 89
  5. ^ Tedlock 1986:30; Quiroa 2001; López 2007:126; Woodruff 2009; Chinchilla Mazariegos (Rosa Helena) 1993; Newberry Library [1]. Specifically, Tedlock states that Father Ximénez "made the only surviving copy of the Quiche text of the Popol Vuh and added a Spanish translation" (qtd. in López 2007:126).
  6. ^ Estrada Monroy, for example, includes Ximénez's front matter.
  7. ^ Ohio State University [2] modified to reflect Christenson's word divisions [3]
  8. ^ Ohio State University [4] word divisions modernized for readability.
  9. ^ Delia Goetz edition [5]
  10. ^ from Colop's 1999 edition
  11. ^ from Colop's 1999 edition
  12. ^ Goetz 81-84
  13. ^ Goetz 167
  14. ^ See Tedlock's  definition and usage of this term.
  15. ^ Ximénez's title page reads in part, "cvra doctrinero por el real patronato del pveblo de Sto. Tomas Chvila" ('doctrinal priest of the district of Santo Tomás Chuilá').
  16. ^ Woodruff 2009
  17. ^ Scherzer also published a detailed inventory of the contents in 1857 edition that coincides with the Ayer ms. Scherzer's copyscript and edition began at the third internal title: 1) Arte de las tres lengvas Kakchiqvel, Qvíche y Zvtvhil, 2) Tratado segvndo de todo lo qve deve saber vn mínístro para la buena admínístraçíon de estos natvrales, 3) Empiezan las historias del origen de los indíos de esta provinçia de Gvatemala, 4) Escolíos a las hístorías de el orígen de los indios [note: spelling is that of Ximénez, but capitalization is modified here for stylistic reasons].
  18. ^ Woodruff 2009 p.46-47. Brasseur mentions Ximénez's Popol Vuh manuscript in three different works from 1857-1871, but never explicitly states the library document as the source of 1861 French edition. See Histoire des nations civilisées du Mexique et de l'Amérique-Centrale (1857), Popol vuh. Le livre sacré (1861), and Bibliothèque Mexico-Guatémalienne (1871). It was not until fifteen years after his return to Europe that Brasseur suggested a specific provenance of his source material and then asserted that it had come from Ignacio Coloche in Rabinal. The inconsistency among his statements led Munro Edmonson (1971) to postulate that there had been multiple manuscripts in Guatemala.
  19. ^ Edmonson 1971 p.viii; Lopez 2007
  20. ^ Quiroa, "Ideology" 282)
  21. ^ Recinos 30-31 (1947); Goetz 22-23(1950); Tedlock 56 (1996)
  22. ^ Recinos 34; Goetz 27; see also Akkeren 2003 and Tedlock 1996.
  23. ^ Christenson 2004
  24. ^ After the list of rulers, the narrative recounts that the three Great Stewards of the principal ruling Quiché lineages were "the mothers of the word, and the fathers of the word"; and the "word" has been interpreted by some to mean the Popol Vuh itself.[citation needed] Since a prominent place is given to the Kaweq lineage at the end of Popol Vuh, the author / scribe / narrator / storyteller may have belonged to this lineage as opposed to another Quiché lineage.
  25. ^ Goetz 79-80
  26. ^ "y así determiné el trasuntar de verbo ad verbum todas sus historias como las traduje en nuestra lengua castellana de la lengua quiché, en que las hallé escritas desde el tiempo de la conquista, que entonces (como allí dicen), las redujeron de su modo de escribir al nuestro; pero fue con todo sigilo que conservó entre ellos con tanto secreto, que ni memoria se hacía entre los ministros antiguos de tal cosa, e indagando yo aqueste punto, estando en el curato de Santo Tomás Chichicastenango, hallé que era la doctrina que primero mamaban con la leche y que todos ellos casi lo tienen de memoria y descubrí que de aquestos libros tenían muchos entre sí [...]"(Ximenez 1999 p.73; English translation by WP contributor)
  27. ^ "Y esto lo ven en un libro que tienen como pronostico desde el tiempo de su gentilidad, donde tienen todos los meses y signos correspondientes á cada dia, que uno de ellos tengo en mi poder" (Scherzer 1857; English translation by WP contributor). This passage is found in Escolios a las historias as appearing on p. 160 of Scherzer's edition.
  28. ^ "El libro que el padre Ximenez menciona, no es mas que una formula cabalistica, segun la cual los adivinos engañadores pretendían pronosticar y explicar ciertos eventos. Yo encontré este calendario gentilico ya en diversos pueblos de indios en los altos de Guatemala."
  29. ^ Schultze Jena 1944
  30. ^ Low 1992
  31. ^ Chinchilla Mazariegos 2003
  32. ^ AuthenticMaya.com, [6]. CNN report, October 14, 2009, [7]. CNN report, November 1, 2009, [8]. Full series of CNN reports on recent Mirador discoveries, [9]
  33. ^ Kerr 1992
  34. ^ Heather Irene McKillop, The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives (London: W.W. Norton & Co., 2006), 214.
  35. ^ McKillop, 214.
  36. ^ McKillop, 214.
  37. ^ McKillop, 215.
  38. ^ McKillop, 215.

[edit] Bibliography

[edit] Editions

1857. Scherzer, Carl, ed. Las historias del origen de los indios de esta provincia de Guatemala. Vienna: Carlos Gerold e hijo. 
1861. Brasseur de Bourbourg, Charles Étienne, ed. Popol vuh. Le livre sacré et les mythes de l'antiquité américaine, avec les livres héroïques et historiques des Quichés. Paris: Bertrand. 
1944. Schultze Jena, Leonhard (trans.), ed. Popol Vuh: das heilige Buch der Quiché-Indianer von Guatemala, nach einer wiedergefundenen alten Handschrift neu übers. und erlautert von Leonhard Schultze. Stuttgart, Germany: W. Kohlhammer. OCLC 2549190. ltze
1947. Recinos, Adrián, ed. Popol Vuh: las antiguas historias del Quiché. Mexico: Fondo de Cultura Económica. 
1950. Goetz, Delia, and Morley, Sylvanus Griswold, ed. Popol Vuh: The Sacred Book of the Ancient Quiché Maya By Adrián Recinos (1st ed.). Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. 
1971. Edmonson, Munro S., ed. The Book of Counsel: The Popol-Vuh of the Quiche Maya of Guatemala. Publ. no. 35. New Orleans: Middle American Research Institute, Tulane University. OCLC 658606. 
1973. Estrada Monroy, Agustín, ed. Popol Vuh: empiezan las historias del origen de los índios de esta provincia de Guatemala (Edición facsimilar ed.). Guatemala City: Editorial "José de Piñeda Ibarra". OCLC 1926769. 
1985. Tedlock, Dennis, ed. Popol Vuh: the Definitive Edition of the Mayan Book of the Dawn of Life and the Glories of Gods and Kings. with commentary based on the ancient knowledge of the modern Quiché Maya. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45241-X. OCLC 11467786. 
1999. Colop, Sam, ed. Popol Wuj: versión poética K‘iche‘.. Quetzaltenango; Guatemala City: Proyecto de Educación Maya Bilingüe Intercultural; Editorial Cholsamaj. ISBN 99922-53-00-2. OCLC 43379466.  (K'iche')
2004. Christenson, Allen J. (trans.), ed. Popol Vuh: Literal Poetic Version: Translation and Transcription.. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3841-1. 

[edit] References

Akkeren, Ruud van (2003). "Authors of the Popol Vuh". Ancient Mesoamerica 14: 237–256. ISSN 0956-5361. 
Chávez, Adrián Inés (ed.) (1981). Popol Wuj: Poema mito-histórico kí-chè (edición guatemalteca ed.). Quetzaltenango, Guatemala: Centro Editorial Vile. OCLC 69226261. 
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Oswaldo (2003). Los dioses del Popol Vuh en el arte maya clásico = Gods of the Popol Vuh in Classic Maya Art. Guatemala City: Museo Popol Vuh, Universidad Francisco Marroquín. ISBN 99922-775-1-3. OCLC 54755323.  (Spanish) (English)
Chinchilla Mazariegos, Rosa Helena ed. (1993). Arte de las tres lenguas: Kaqchikel, K'iche' y Tz'utujil. By Francisco Ximénez. Biblioteca Goathemala. 31. Acad de Geografía e Historia de Guatemala. (Spanish)
Himelblau, Jack J. (1989). Quiché Worlds in Creation: The Popol Vuh as a Narrative Work of Art. California: Labyrinthos. 
Kerr, Justin (1992). "the Myth of the Popol Vuh as an Instrument of Power". in Elin C. Danien, Robert J. Sharer, University of Pennsylvania. University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. New theories on the ancient Maya. Volume 77 of University Museum monograph. University Museum Symposium Series. University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology. ISBN 0924171138. 
López, Carlos M. (2007). "The Popol Wuj in Ayer MS 1515 Is a Holograph by Father Ximénez". Latin American Indian Literatures 23 (2): 112-41. 
Low, Denise (Summer/Fall 1992). "A comparison of the English translations of a Mayan text, the Popol Vuh" (reproduced online). Studies in American Indian Literatures, Series 2 (New York: Association for Study of American Indian Literatures (ASAIL)) 4 (2–3): 15–34. ISSN 0730-3238. OCLC 54533161. http://oncampus.richmond.edu/faculty/ASAIL/SAIL2/42.html. Retrieved 2008-05-26. 
McKillop, Heather Irene (2006). The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives. London: W.W. Norton & Co.. 
Quiroa, Néstor Ivan (2002). "Francisco Ximénez and the Popol Vuh: Text, Structure, and Ideology in the Prologue to the Second Treatise". Colonial Latin American Historical Review 11 (3): 279-300. 
Quiroa, Néstor Ivan (2001). The “Popol Vuh” and the Dominican Friar Francisco Ximénez: The Maya-Quiché Narrative As a Product of Religious Extirpation in Colonial Highland Guatemala. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. 
Stross, Brian (1991). "Review of Patricia Amlin (1989), Popol Vuh: The Creation Myth of the Maya. Animated movie (60 min.). University of California at Berkeley, Extension Media Center.". American Anthropologist, New Series 93 (1): 258-259.. http://www.jstor.org/stable/681573. Retrieved 2009-08-03.. 
Tedlock, Dennis (1992). "The Popol Vuh as a Hieroglyphic Book". in Elin C. Danien, Robert J. Sharer, University of Pennsylvania. University Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. New theories on the ancient Maya. Volume 77 of University Museum monograph. University Museum Symposium Series. UPenn Museum of Archaeology. ISBN 0924171138. 
Woodruff, John M. (2009). The “most futile and vain” Work of Father Francisco Ximénez: Rethinking the Context of Popol Vuh. The University of Alabama. 
Ximénez, Francisco (1999). Carmelo Sáenz de Santa María. ed. Historia de la provincia de San Vicente de Chiapa y Guatemala de la orden de predicadores. Vol. 1/2. Mexico. 
Ximénez, Francisco (ca. 1701) (ms). Arte de las tres lengvas achiqvel, Qvíche y ,vtvhil ~ Tratado segvndo de todo lo qve deve saber vn ministro para la bvena administraçion de estos natvrales ~ Empiezan las historias del origen de los indios de esta provinçia de Gvatemala ~ Escolios a las historias de el origen de los indios. Chicago: VAULT Ayer MS 1515. The Newberry Library. 

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