Malinaltepec (Mdz39r)

The skull points to death, and this may be explained because, as shown in our Online Nahuatl Dictionary, nopalli malinalli is a diphrase or diphrasism that stands for blood (owing to the tuna fruit's red juices) and death, the latter being especially associated with the herbs. Perhaps the malinalli grasses had the potential to heal, preventing death, or to kill. The dried malinalli grasses have been said to serve as curative herbs, and they have an association with "the moon, drunkenness, [and] the theluric goddess Cihuacóatl Quilaztli, who is undoubtedly one aspect of witchcraft." (See: Michel Graulich, "Las brujas de las peregrinaciones aztecas," Estudios de Cultural Náhuatl 22 (1992), 87–98, and for this example, see 91.] While not twisted here, the grass in this glyph has yellow flowers at the tips, much the same as the small yellow flowers in the other rendition of a compound glyph for Malinaltepec on folio 13 recto. Malinalli is also a day sign in the calendar. Karttunen and Berdan both take malinalli here as referring to the grass on the hill, rather than the calendrical name (which does seem to play a role in the place name Malinalco).