Editing Enigma Variations (section)

===Non-musical themes===
*[[Ian Parrott]] wrote in his book on Elgar{{sfn|Parrott|1971|pp=46–49}} that the "dark saying", and possibly the whole of the Enigma, had a biblical source, [[1 Corinthians]] 13:12, which in the [[Authorised Version]] reads, "For now we see through a glass, darkly (''enigmate'' in the Latin of the [[Vulgate]]); but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known." The verse is from St. Paul's essay on love. Elgar was a practising Roman Catholic and on 12 February 1899, eight days before the completion of the ''Variations'', he attended a Mass at which this verse was read.<ref>Alice Elgar's diary, 12 February 1899: "E. to St. Joseph's"</ref>
*Edmund Green suggested that the "larger theme" is Shakespeare's sixty-sixth sonnet and that the word "Enigma" stands for the real name of the [[The Dark Lady#The Dark Lady|Dark Lady of the Sonnets]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Green |first=Edmund |title=Elgar's "Enigma": a Shakespearian solution |journal=Elgar Society Journal |date=November 2004|volume=13|issue=6|ref=none | url=https://www.elgarsociety.org/project/vol-13-no-6-november-2004/ | pages=35–40 }}</ref>
*Andrew Moodie, casting doubt on the idea of a hidden melody, postulated that Elgar constructed the Enigma theme using a cipher based on the name of his daughter, Carice.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Moodie|first=Andrew |title=Elgar's 'Enigma': the solution?|journal=Elgar Society Journal |date=November 2004 |volume=13 |issue=6|ref=none | url=https://www.elgarsociety.org/project/vol-13-no-6-november-2004/ | pages=31–34 }}</ref>
*In 2010 Charles and Matthew Santa argued that the enigma was based on [[pi]], following the misguided attempt by the Indiana House of Representatives to legislate the value of pi in 1897. Elgar created an original melody containing three references to Pi based on this humorous incident. The first four notes are scale degree 3–1–4–2, decimal pi, and fractional pi is hidden in the "two drops of a seventh" following the first 11 notes leading to {{frac|2|7}} × 11 = {{frac|22|7}}, fractional pi. His "dark saying" is a pun set off by an unexplained double bar after the first 24 notes (all black notes)..."Four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie (pi)". Shortly before his death, Elgar wrote three sentences about the variations and each sentence contains a hint at pi.<ref name="pi">{{cite journal|last1=Santa|first1=Charles Richard|first2=Matthew | last2=Santa|title=Solving Elgar's Enigma|journal=Current Musicology|date=Spring 2010|issue=89}}</ref>
*Some writers have argued that the "larger theme" is friendship, or an aspect of Elgar's personality, or that the Enigma is a private joke with little or no substance.<ref name="Newman1939" /><ref>{{cite journal|last=Moore|first=Jerrold Northrop|author-link=Jerrold Northrop Moore|journal=Music Review|date=February 1959|pages=38–44}}{{incomplete short citation|date=October 2018}}</ref>{{sfn|Kennedy|1987|p=85}}<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ling|first=John|title= The Prehistory of Elgar's Enigma|journal=Elgar Society Journal|date=July 2008|volume=15|issue=5|ref=none | url=https://www.elgarsociety.org/project/vol-15-no-5-july-2008/ | pages=8–10 }}</ref> 
*Inspector Mark Pitt has recently suggested (as reported by the ''Sunday Telegraph'') that the larger theme is 'Prudentia' which in turn is related to the initials from the variation titles which then forms the Principal 'Enigma' Variations theme.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/01/12/police-inspector-claims-has-solved-mystery-behind-elgars-enigma/|title=Police inspector claims he has solved the mystery behind Elgar's Enigma Variations|last=Bird|first=Steve|date=2019-01-12|work=The Telegraph|access-date=2019-01-20|language=English |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>