How far can the various modern editions of the Propheties be trusted?
A. Not very far. Most of them rely on late and very corrupt editions. Their attempted word-for-word translations (not a recommended way of approaching translation at the best of times, and certainly not one espoused by Nostradamus himself in his translations of others – though, curiously, some Group members insist that this is the only valid way of approaching him!) are often full of elementary schoolboy/schoolgirl howlers, suggesting that their authors were not best qualified to undertake the job in the first place. Their would-be interpretations are generally highly skewed and arbitrary, and characterised by extreme credulity, paranoia and obviously preconceived agendas. Moreover, you wouldn’t guess from most of them that Nostradamus was writing poetry, not legal documents.
A. Not very far. Most of them rely on late and very corrupt editions. Their attempted word-for-word translations (not a recommended way of approaching translation at the best of times, and certainly not one espoused by Nostradamus himself in his own translations of classical texts) are often full of elementary schoolboy/schoolgirl howlers, suggesting that their authors were not best qualified to undertake the job in the first place. Their would-be interpretations are generally highly skewed and arbitrary, and characterised by extreme credulity, paranoia and obviously preconceived agendas. Moreover, you wouldn’t guess from most of them that Nostradamus was writing poetry, not legal documents!
