Two winters have passed since I last saw the Fatherland, but the eternal knowledge still evades me.

[Pacifica]

Videtur ego domum lucis inveni, sed heu, in litus gradi nequeo

No.

Pharum invenisse videor, sed, heu, in litus egredi nequeo.

quasi damnatus erim ut in perpetuum iram maris acerbi veherem, in ignoratione aeterna viverem.

You need sim and not erim - which doesn't exist in fact. ... ut iram maris veherem: this means "to carry the wrath of the sea"!

I think I'd put it not quite literally as:

Quasi aeterna per iram maris atri navigatione damnatus sim, aeterna in omnem vitam damnatus ignorantia.
As if I were damned to an eternal sailing through the wrath of the dark sea, damned to eternal ignorance for all my life.

Tandem caligo surgit, et litus nunc videri potest!

For "is visible", I'd say apparet or cerni postest. I'm not sure about caligo surgit, it seems to me it would mean "the fog is rising", as if it were appearing rather than going away. What about "disperse"?

Caligo tandem diffugit, et ora nunc apparet/cerni potest!
The fog is finally dispersing, and the shore is now visible!

quem dum ad litora Gangis vadebam inveni, sitem meam intellegere videbatur, et ad ordinem monachorum in speluncis habitantium duxit.

Some problems of vocabulary (vadere = to go with rapid/purposeful movement, to advance) and tense.

Vir quidam, quem cum prope Gangis ripas vagarer inveni, sitim meam intellegere visus est, et me ad quendam ordinem monachorum speluncas inhabitantium/in speluncis habitantium duxit.

 

[Ignis Umbra]

No.

…?!?!

You need sim and not erim - which doesn't exist in fact. ... ut iram maris veherem: this means "to carry the wrath of the sea"!

Well, damn. My brain seems to have been on autopilot. I guess I was thinking perfect, but correctly wrote passive, but incorrectly transferred the mood.

Quasi aeterna per iram maris atri navigatione damnatus sim, aeterna in omnem vitam damnatus ignorantia.

Just curious, why did you decide to double the adjective/past participle?

What about "disperse"?

Better. You seem to have a much better grasp on this than I do…

 

[Pacifica]

…?!?!

"It seems I have found it" = "it seems that I have found it", and not "it seems, I have found it", with "it seems" being absolute and "I have found it" not grammatically depending on it, which is what videtur, inveni would mean.

Now in Latin to say "it seems that I..." you say literally "I seem to..." so videor invenisse.

Just curious, why did you decide to double the adjective/past participle?

Just because it's the case in the English: "As if I am damned to ride the wrath of the dark sea forever. Damned to live in eternal ignorance."

Better. You seem to have a much better grasp on this than I do…

Thank you.

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

'Lighthouſe' is normally render'd as 'pharos' after the classically famous Pharos iſland lighthouſe in the harbour of Alexandria.
'Conundrum' is a ridiculous piece of pſeudo Latin. Latin manages to expreſs the ſame concept by borrowing the Greek word 'αἴνιγμα' as 'ænigma'; but beware, as this word totally lives up to its meaning! It is a nasty, bite-me-in-the-arſe 't' ſtem neuter replete with irregularities, even taking a naughty, pseudothematic form for dative, inſtrumental, ablative, and locative plural purposes.
ænigma
ænigmatis
ænigmati
ænigma
ænigmate ???
ænigmata
ænigmatum
ænigmatis
ænigmata
ænigmatis

 

[Ignis Umbra]

Pacis puella, I can't thank you enough.

Abbatissæ Scriptor, thanks for those words, and that's a weird declining, to say the least...

 

[Laurentius]

Are you sure dative and ablative plural are aenigmatis? I think it is regular.

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

Are you sure dative and ablative plural are aenigmatis? I think it is regular.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:alphabetic+letter=A:entry+group=25:entry=aenigma

 

[Pacifica]

Carmina eorum, per leves alveos andrones saxis factos tinnientia, nulli carmini similia quod audivi sunt.

I'd use cantus for "chants". Saxis factos... there's the simpler saxeos. Alveus is a noun, not an adjective. Leves is too vague a word. Better teretes. Tinnire = to ring, yes, but I'm not sure in this context. Do you mean that the monks are "uttering a shrill or metallic sound", Rawlace? Tinnire doesn't seem to have a very nice connatation when about human voice. Perhaps the more general sonare, "to sound" or resonare "to resound".

Cantus eorum, per teretes, cavos andrones saxeos (re)sonantes, nulli recitationi similes sunt quam ante apud ecclesiam audivi.
Their chants, (re)sounding through the smooth, hollow corridores of stone, are like no recitation that I have heard at church before.

Monachi insolitissimis modis, allegoris, _______, loquntur.

No real need to add monachi.

Loquuntur insolitissimum/mirissimum in modum, allegoriis, aenigmatibus.
They talk in a most unusual/most remarkable manner, in allegories, in conundrums/riddles.

Me monuerunt ut viam sapientis sequerer, ad hortum quo cervi ludunt.

Fine, it would just be more usual to have in quo, and in the singular, hortus is generally a garden for vegetables or fruit, and I see Rawlace is worried about this word. The same word in the plural (it would be ad hortos in quibus cervi ludunt) would be "pleasure grounds or gardens", would it be ok? There isn't a word as clearly separate as the English "park".

Now about "the left": Perhaps Rawlace should explain the context in which it is to be used, but generally as a substantive it's sinistra and not sinistrum.

The queen's homage to the wise: Fidelitas is "loyalty", not "homage". I am not sure at all which word could be used here. Could you please explain the context?

Five vowels: This has no reason to be in the genitive, AS: quinque litterae vocales, and not litterarum vocalium.

Pacis puella: Take your time.
It's 1:30 AM here so I'll be back tomorrow morning.
And I feel like a fool now repeatedly expressing my gratefulness, but seriously, heartfelt thanks to you.

You are welcome.

Are you sure dative and ablative plural are aenigmatis? I think it is regular.

http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0059:alphabetic letter=A:entry group=25:entry=aenigma

Aenigmatis is an alternative dat./abl., but there's also a regular aenigmatibus (see in the examples).

 

[Laurentius]

Yet, in the examples it says "regina Saba venit temptare eum in aenigmatibus". Weird
Edit: Thanks, Pacis.

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

Hrumph!
Be that as it may, anyone fool enough to borrow an arſebiting neuter 't' ſtem from thoſe horrible Greeks is tempting fate, and I ſay that from ſad experience here:~p

 

[Ignis Umbra]

Alright. If no one has anything else to offer, I've compiled the revised sentences here. Multas gratias vobis ago, Pacis puella et Abbatissæ Scriptor!

Duae hiemes praeterierunt postea quam Patriam postremum vidi, sed scientia aeterna me adhuc fugit. Interdum paulisper apparet super finientem orbem, sed semper remotior quam ut possit capi. Ipso tempore quo in hoc iter profectus sum, numquam scivi id huc usque me ducturum, in terram ipsam miraculorum fabularumque, Indiam. Molitus/luctatus sum per Andalusiam, aestum fervidum/ustulantem Africae, longos tractus Persiae ut huc pervenirem, ad hunc longinquae lucis fontem quae mihi innuebat velut flammae phari in tempestate fessae navi.
Pharum invenisse videor, sed, heu, in litus egredi nequeo, quasi aeterna per iram maris atri navigatione damnatus sim, aeterna in omnem vitam damnatus ignorantia.

Caligo tandem diffugit, et ora nunc apparet/cerni potest! Vir quidam, quem cum prope Gangis ripas vagarer inveni, sitim meam intellegere visus est, et me ad quendam ordinem monachorum speluncas inhabitantium/in speluncis habitantium duxit. Cantus eorum, per teretes, cavos andrones saxeos (re)sonantes, nulli recitationi similes sunt quam ante apud ecclesiam audivi. Loquuntur insolitissimum/mirissimum in modum, allegoriis, aenigmatibus. Me monuerunt ut viam sapientis sequerer, ad hortos in quibus cervi ludunt.

 

[Rawlace]

Fine, it would just be more usual to have in quo, and in the singular, hortus is generally a garden for vegetables or fruit, and I see Rawlace is worried about this word. The same word in the plural (it would be ad hortos in quibus cervi ludunt) would be "pleasure grounds or gardens", would it be ok? There isn't a word as clearly separate as the English "park".

Pacis puella,
Yes, I'm definitely not alluding to a vegetable garden or an orchard there, Pleasure ground or Garden would be more suitable in the context. So I guess ad hortos it is.

Now about "the left": Perhaps Rawlace should explain the context in which it is to be used, but generally as a substantive it's sinistra and not sinistrum.

Pacis puella,
It is a concise, condensed hint that the LEFT hand should be used to decipher this particular code, since the coder can't afford to be very comprehensive. So he just writes "LEFT" as a brief hint. Will Sinistra work here?

The queen's homage to the wise: Fidelitas is "loyalty", not "homage". I am not sure at all which word could be used here. Could you please explain the context?

Pacis puella,
The context is this: The coder is hinting at a monument that was raised by a Queen to honour the remains of a 'saint' (keep it as Wise, since it is essential to the plot) So he calls it The Queen's homage to the wise. I hope the context is clearer to you now.

Pacis puella, Ignis Umbra, Abbatissæ Scriptor, Kindly proofread this version. Please bear in mind that it should be somewhat consistent with 10th century AD Latin. For this, I have replaced all the 's' with 'ſ'. Was it right to do so? Also, I've read that they used little to no punctuation back then, so should drop all of them? And I've also read that 'v' and 'u' were the same letter back then, and that the shape depended on certain criteria. Which of the following should be followed?:

1) One of them says that V was written whenever upper case letter was to be used. For lower case u was the standard form.

2) The other says that whenever it was the first letter in a word, v was used, and for any other position, u was used.

which one of them should I stick to? E.g. if I were to write the words Verb and Urge, they would have surely been written as Verb and Vrge, but when the same words were to be written in lower case would it be written as uerb and urge or verb and vrge?

Here is the text:



Duae hiemeſ praeterierunt poſtea quam Patriam poſtremum vidi, ſed ſcientia aeterna me adhuc fugit. Interdum pauliſper apparet ſuper finientem orbem, ſed ſemper remotior quam ut poſſit capi. Ipſo tempore quo in hoc iter profectuſ ſum, numquam ſcivi id huc uſque me ducturum, in terram ipſam miraculorum fabularumque, Indiam. Luctatuſ ſum per Andaluſiam, aeſtum fervidum Africae, longoſ tractuſ Perſiae ut huc pervenirem, ad hunc longinquae luciſ fontem quae mihi innuebat velut flammae phari in tempeſtate feſſae navi.
Pharum inveniſſe videor, ſed, heu, in lituſ egredi nequeo, quaſi aeterna per iram mariſ atri navigatione damnatuſ ſim, aeterna in omnem vitam damnatuſ ignorantia.

Caligo tandem diffugit, et ora nunc apparet poteſt! Vir quidam, quem cum prope Gangiſ ripaſ vagarer inveni, ſitim meam intellegere viſuſ eſt, et me ad quendam ordinem monachorum ſpeluncaſ inhabitantium duxit. Cantuſ eorum, per tereteſ, cavoſ androneſ ſaxeoſ reſonanteſ, nulli recitationi ſimileſ ſunt quam ante apud eccleſiam audivi. Loquuntur miriſſimum in modum, allegoriiſ, aenigmatibuſ. Me monuerunt ut viam ſapientiſ ſequerer, ad hortoſ in quibuſ cervi ludunt.

 

[Pacifica]

Pacis puella,
It is a concise, condensed hint that the LEFT hand should be used to decipher this particular code, since the coder can't afford to be very comprehensive. So he just writes "LEFT" as a brief hint. Will Sinistra work here?

Perfectly!

About medieval spelling: one possibility, which I think is consistent for tenth century, is just to write all lower caps v's as u's. Ae would often be written e at that period, for ex. aeterna ---> eterna. We could even have fun putting in some medieval abbreviations if you wish, but I'll be back later for all this!

 

[Rawlace]

Perfectly!

About medieval spelling: one possibility, which I think is consistent for tenth century, is just to write all lower caps v's as u's. Ae would often be written e at that period, for ex. aeterna ---> eterna. We could even have fun putting in some medieval abbreviations if you wish, but I'll be back later for all this!

That would be lovely! Just make sure it should be consistent with 10th century AD.

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

Inſular ſcripts (uſed in the British Isles before the Norman conqueſt) allow'd long 'ſ' to be uſed in all poſitions, but Gothic and and all later ſcripts required any word final 's' to be a ſmall version of the capital. I would obſerve this later Mediæval 'ſ'/'s' diſtinction if the printing were to be in any Gothic, Roman, or Italic font. I can pretty much do the kalligraphy for whatever period. This, for inſtance is Inſular.

 

[Rawlace]

Abbatissæ Scriptor: But I guess Gothic script came after 1000 AD, didn't it? Since the Norman Conquest itself dates back to 1000 AD.
I'd be looking for the Carolingian minuscule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_minuscule) script, since the journal belongs to 10th century AD France.
I assume you'd be charging for the calligraphy?

Btw, your calligraphy is wonderful

 

[Abbatiſſæ Scriptor]

Abbatissæ Scriptor: But I guess Gothic script came after 1000 AD, didn't it? Since the Norman Conquest itself dates back to 1000 AD.
I'd be looking for the Carolingian minuscule (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_minuscule) script, since the journal belongs to 10th century AD France.
I assume you'd be charging for the calligraphy?

For a document written in Carolingian minuſcule the long form of 'ſ' would indeed be appropriate in all poſitions, just as for Inſular.
As to any charge: I have not thought of that, and this is not the place to discuſs ſuch things; but were there to be any, it would be modest.

 

[Pacifica]

After having looked at a few pictures of Carolingian script, I conclude that we can write all v's as u's; on the other hand they don't much seem to reduce ae to e. There aren't many abbreviations; but they drop finalt m and indicate it with a macron on the last vowel now and then, + some other little abbreviations I don't really know about... & for et isn't rare. They use some minimal punctuation; I don't really know the system, I can only guess from what I've seen so I hope this is consistent (perhaps Abbatissæ Scriptor or Cinefactus can check?); I think the whole text could look like this:

Duae hiemeſ praeterierunt poſtea quam patriam poſtremū uidi; ſed ſcientia aeterna me adhuc fugit. Interdū pauliſper apparet ſuper finientē orbē; ſed ſemper remotior quam ut poſſit capi. Ipſo tempore quo in hoc iter profectuſ ſum numquā ſciui quod huc usque me ducturum esset*; in terram ipſam miraculorū fabularumque indiam. Luctatuſ ſum per andaluſiā; aeſtū fervidū africae; longoſ tractuſ perſiae ut huc peruenirem ad hunc longinquae luciſ fontem quae mihi innuebat uelut flammae phari in tempeſtate feſſae naui. Pharum inueniſſe uideor; ſed heu in lituſ egredi nequeo; quaſi aeterna per iram mariſ atri nauigatione damnatuſ ſim; aeterna in omnem uitam damnatuſ ignorantia.

Caligo tandem diffugit & ora nunc apparet*. Vir quidam quem cum prope Gangiſ ripaſ uagarer inueni ſitim meam intellegere uiſuſ eſt & me ad quendam ordinem monachorū ſpeluncaſ inhabitantiū duxit. Cantuſ eorū per tereteſ cauoſ androneſ ſaxeoſ reſonanteſ nulli recitationi ſimileſ ſunt quam ante apud eccleſiā audiui. Loquuntur miriſſimū in modū; allegoriiſ aenigmatibuſ. Me monuerunt ut viam ſapientiſ ſequerer ad hortoſ in quibuſ cerui ludunt.

*I changed this sentence because it looks more medieval like this.
*It's apparet or cerni postest, but not apparet potest.

 

[Rawlace]

Pacis puella, the amout of hard work you are putting into this is really commendable. I'll straight away add the text to my book.
Also, in case it has slipped your mind, kindly translate the Queen's homge bit as well.
And don't forget to pm me your actual name so that I may acknowledge your contributions.

 

[Pacifica]

I've just edited a few details I'd forgotten to change.

About the homage: I have to excogitate something.

And I'll pm you.