The Name of the Rose

“Lauds, in which a new cellarer is chosen, but not a new librarian”

The chapter opens with Adso in confusion–he is starting to lose “all temporal sense” as the misfortunes and murders multiply (503). The abbot orders a quick funeral. He appoints Nicholas (the glazier) as the new cellarer and redistributes other jobs accordingly. Benno points out that he does not yet know the routine of the library, and Abo makes it clear that he will not be let Benno in on those secrets. From now on, the monks will only be allowed to read the books already given to them. Benno departs, studiously avoiding William, who then joins Alinardo, Pacificus of Tivoli, Peter of Sant’Albano, and Aymaro, who, as always, is gossiping. They wonder who will be named head librarian, and William, after questioning them, tells Adso that the librarian must be someone who knows Greek, and that person will be the next victim. Both Adso and William now presume there will be two more victims, seven in all, corresponding to the seven books of the Apocalypse. They worry that the abbot himself may be a target, and hypothesize about how the next murder will take place. 

“Prime, in which Nicholas tells many things as the crypt of the treasure is visited”

William asks to speak with Nicholas, who is busy with his new duties as cellarer. He asks them to accompany him to the treasure crypt, where all the abbey’s riches are stored. While he supervises the polishing of the glass cases, Nicholas proudly shows William and Adso the abbey’s treasures. William questions him about Malachi, and about Alinardo’s angry insinuations that he should have been chosen librarian instead of Malachi. Nicholas claims that many believe Jorge holds too much sway over Malachi, and that countless rumors swirl around the library, as well as around those who aspire to rule over it. The reader learns that, traditionally, the head librarian is next in line to become abbot, thus engendering even further possibilities for power struggles. The abbot himself is not above suspicion, though Nicholas seems ashamed of the sordid details he relates. To calm himself, he shows William and Adso relics of immense value and meaning. Adso wanders around, amazed at the richness and history around him. William tells him not to stay too long, and then cracks a joke about the authenticity of some of the relics. He heads back to the scriptorium to pursue another lead. 

“Terce, in which Adso, listening to the “Dies irae,” has a dream, or vision, howsoever you may choose to define it”

Adso goes to church to pray for Malachi, whom he had never liked, and joins the other monks who were chanting. Sitting in the back of the church, Adso nods off, hearing the dies irae (day of wrath) chant as he drifts in and out of what he believes is sleep. He has a vision, or a dream, that he descends into a lower crypt, a cross between a smithy and a kitchen, not sure if he is in heaven or hell. Finding himself in the refectory, decorated as if for a feast, he sees the abbot attired in royal purple, and beside him, Jorge and Remigio. A parade of virgins, along with men and women from Scripture, prance through the dream, all in opulent dress. All are feasting, and eventually, drunk. Even Jesus makes an appearance, his fingers blackened as he distributes riddles to one and all. Then the vaults of the Aedificium open and Roger Bacon descends, and William enters, as well as the King of France. It is a complex, chaotic, terrifying spectacle, an amalgam of biblical, historical, and personal references both lovely and horrifying. 

Dazed from his terrifying dream, Adso stumbles out of church to find a small crowd bidding farewell to the Franciscans. He asks when the papal delegation—and their prisoners—will leave, and is aghast to find he has missed their departure. He realizes it would have been unbearable to see the peasant girl taken away as a prisoner. Dejected, he tells William about his dream, which he remembers “with amazing clarity” (530). William explains that the dream intersperses the events of the past few days with scenes from the Coena Cypriani, an anonymous prose work written in Latin, and a text that all young novices have read, sometimes in secret, though always with mirth. Adso realizes that “one can also dream books” (531), and William assures him that he dreamt of a world turned upside down because of the stresses of the past few days. Adso is uneasy, but his dream has given William an idea. He departs, telling Adso that his dream lends weight to one of his many hypotheses about the murders.

“Sext, in which the succession of librarians is reconstructed, and there is further information about the mysterious book”

William, pursuing his new theory, returns to the scriptorium to consult the catalogue. In the ledger, he finds a single entry for a text with four titles grouped together: it is the missing book. The entries for each volume are written in different handwriting, so, using the information he has gathered on the abbey’s past librarians—information provided by Alinardo (who wished to be librarian), as well as Nicholas—William shows Adso how to track the succession history of the librarians by studying the library’s acquisition ledger. Amidst the different entries, there is the handwriting of a nameless librarian, the monk who beat out Alinardo for the job. William questions Benno, but he does not know who that monk could be. Benno believes that person is very likely dead by now. Benno now realizes that he is caught between two rival factions, the Italians and the foreigners; he fears for his life and considers fleeing. William admonishes him for giving the secret book back to Malachi, thus precipitating the librarian’s death. The terrified Benno now cooperates fully with William’s investigation, telling him everything that he observed about the secret book before he returned it to Malachi. Benno claims that he only leafed through it, glancing at the different languages therein: Arabic, Syriac, Latin, and Greek. Benno tried to read it but his Greek is poor, and he was distracted by the paper, which was a different material than he had ever before seen. William realizes it is “charta lintea” (538), a kind of fabric made by Arabs, and more recently, in Italy. William realizes that this detail is important, and he departs triumphantly. He marches to the refectory and requests a personal meeting with the abbot.

“Nones, in which the abbot refuses to listen to William, discourses on the language of gems, and expresses a wish that there be no further investigation of the recent unhappy events”

Abo discourses on the shape of the buildings and the symbolism of the numbers three and seven. William turns the conversation to recent events. Abo is angry that William has been unable to solve the original mystery, and through his failure, more people have died and the Inquisition has gotten involved in the affairs of the abbey. But William turns the discussion to the past, and when the subject of homosexual trysts comes up, Abo sends Adso away, due to his youth. Adso crouches at the door in order to overhear the rest of the encounter. William reveals what he knows about the secret book, now safely ensconced in the most inaccessible spot of the library, the finis Africae. Abo is enraged that William knows all of this, and asks if he himself is a suspect. To the contrary, William says, if Benno does not tell him what he knows, he may be the next victim. They walk outside, and Abo distracts Adso by talking about the symbolism of his ring. Then he turns to William and tells him no one will believe his strange accusations. He thanks William for his services and tells him to leave the abbey in the morning. It is finally clear to William that the abbot cares only about the honor of the abbey. Furious, William resolves to solve the mystery before morning. He decides he will penetrate the finis Africae that very night. Determined to remain calm, he goes to his cell to rest. All around him, suspicion and paranoia reign. Now that all the main suspects are dead, everyone is a suspect, and mind games become the order of the day. 

“Between Vespers and Compline, in which long hours of bewilderment are briefly narrated”

William sends Adso to watch the stables because he surmises that the sixth murder may happen there, according to the symbolism in the sixth verse of the Apocalypse. In church, Jorge is notably absent, as are Benno, Alinardo, and Nicholas. Furious, the abbot sends someone to track down Jorge. Benno then enters, but Jorge is nowhere to be found. Adso finds William and tells him about these developments. They go to dinner, which is a “sad” and “silent” affair. Alinardo and Jorge are still absent, and an increasing sense of dread fills the room: “all understood that a new calamity was about to befall the community” (552). The abbot orders everyone to go immediately to the dormitory and to stay there all night. Adso falls in line behind the group of “Italians,” Pacificus, Aymaro, and Peter among them, who are murmuring about the missing monks. William and Adso pretend to retire to the pilgrim’s hospice, but after waiting for the grounds to empty, they enter the church in order to follow their plan of sneaking into the library during the night.

“After Compline, in which, almost by chance, William discovers the secret of entering the finis Africae”

“Like a pair of assassins” (554),William and Adso wait in the church for Abo to return from locking up the Aedificium. When he does not reappear, they rush to the stables, while Adso babbles about a play on Latin spelling he had earlier discussed with Salvatore. His innocent prattle leads William to a sudden revelation—he realizes he has been reading the secret message in Venantius’s parchment incorrectly. Now, he re-translates the secret code and realizes that the mirror in the labyrinth is actually a secret door to the finis Africae. They run to the library, hoping to prevent the next murder. As they descend into the ossarium, they hear the sound of blows coming through the wall. They realize there is another secret way into the library through the ossarium, which they had never noticed before. Someone has become trapped inside the stairway, and the trapped man is pounding on the wall, running out of air. William and Adso race through the library to the mirror room, shining the lamp on the carved scroll above the mirror. William reaches behind the word “quatuor” (“four”), and finally finds the secret mechanism that opens the mirrored door (558). They are now at the end of their sixth day at the abbey, andthey finally enter the most forbidden part of the library.