cyropi House Elf Editor for the Daily Prophet member is offline
Joined: Oct 2003 Gender: Female Posts: 405
Latin Spell Translations « Thread Started on Nov 1, 2003, 1:39pm »
Writing Harry Potter fanfics often requires you to make up new spells, as I'm sure many of you will have discovered. The problem being; what incantation to use? Making ones up that sound realistic is difficult, and most of the time they're meaningless.
This is where that problem's solved Most of the spells in canon are Latin, and since I'm into my 5th year of learning Latin at school I'm offering my services as a translator.
If you want a very long spell, then please try to make the phrasing as simple as possible to make it easier for me to translate.
Don't forget that you can also use Latin for character names, places, Common Room passwords... use your imagination!
Oh, and make all requests in this thread. Thank you!
So that I can translate your spell, please post either what the spell needs to do or the exact phrase/word you need. Preferably both. The more I know about it, the better a translation I can provide.
cyropi House Elf Editor for the Daily Prophet member is offline
Joined: Oct 2003 Gender: Female Posts: 405
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #2 on Jan 12, 2004, 1:57pm »
Quote:
Could you translate the word: nevermore? It would be used to banish something.
'Nevermore' is a little tricky since I don't think it's an actual word. It would be nunquam plus (i.e. 'never' 'more'.) If you'd rather have me translate the meaning rather than the words, it's be non iam (no longer. the words seperately mean 'no(t)' and 'now', but together they mean no longer. Idiosyncrasies of the language...)
Joined: Feb 2004 Gender: Female Posts: 584 Location: Rainbow Land
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #4 on Mar 7, 2004, 12:09am »
Quote:
I need a translation for, like, I don't know, "Right Answers" or something similar. It's a spell that will fill in forms for you, so "Fill in" or "Self-answering" or something like that would work to. Thanks!
Never mind, I had my one of my friends who's taking Latin do it for me. Thanks anyway tho!
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #5 on Jul 4, 2004, 6:42pm »
Er...could you translate a spell so that a person would become invisible. Something like 'vanish' or 'dissappear' and the counter curse like 'reappear'
NEMO ME IMPUNE LASCESSIT!!!!! <br> I need a snappier war cry...
Joined: Mar 2004 Gender: Female Posts: 256 Location: EDINBURGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #6 on Oct 3, 2004, 7:52am »
There are a few characters with Latin names in a original fic I'm writing. These are the ones that spring immediately to mind:
Veredus the Hippogriff (hunter, swift horse) Torris the dragon (firebrand) Aerius the eagle (air) Glacius the frost dragon (ice, sort of) Alto the skywolf (high) Pandion the osprey (osprey) Umbra the werewolf (shadow) Bellator and Bellatrix the wolves (warrior and warrioress) Arctos the snow-roc (north, Arctic) Corax, Graculus and Pica, a raven, a jackdaw and a magpie respectively (their names mean what they are) Coronus the hooded crow (crown) Ferox the 'tame' arkou (fierce)
Well, that's all the ones I can think of. I also came up with two spells: 'Aquila' (eagle, makes an eagle appear) and 'Ferox Armatus', made of two latin words (Fierce and Armed).
Oops, didn't quite read the purpose of this. What does 'Alea jacta est' mean?
Joined: Oct 2004 Gender: Female Posts: 13 Location: UK
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #7 on Oct 8, 2004, 2:29pm »
Hello!
I'd just like to offer myself as well as Cyropi as a Latin translator. I can also do Ancient Greek (put some real class into your stories!) and Italian and French, if needed.
And if you need any info on France or Italy (say for a Beaubatons scene) I'd be happy to help.
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #9 on Jan 6, 2005, 7:19am »
Could any of you please come up with a word in either Latin or Greek (I'd like to see both, if possible) for Seeing visions, of either the past, present, or future, in fire? For instance, the root words for "fire" and "sight," if combined, would be more than enough.
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #10 on Jan 6, 2005, 11:24am »
In latin, "fire" is ignis, ignis, m for the general thing (stem ign-) or incendio (we have that already) for a large one. To see is videre, I see is video. See! is vide! Sight is visus, visus, m (root vis-) for the general thing, like the sense, aspectus, aspectus is the act of seeing, (root: aspect-). A seer is vates, vatis, m, (root: vat-) So, for Latin, my advice, but you certainly don't have to take it, is ignevates, meaning literally, one who sees with (or using) fire, if you want to describe the person doing it, and ignevidere to decribe the act.
For greek, I believe the root for "fire" is pyr- As in, "You're such a pyro, John!" in today's usage. I shall have to ask my biology teacher (who is greek, and very nice) for possible translations of "sight" "seer" or "to see". If you're haeart's set on the pyr- root, you could use the word oracle, which was a greek concept, even if it isn't a greek word. (Ex. pyroracle. Or something. Just jam the two roots together in a way that seems pleasing, unless you know greek grammar. A fact that will be lost on much of the readership, I assure you.) The Greek translation of oracle is chrismos or manteio.
Joined: Nov 2003 Gender: Female Posts: 629 Location: Canada
Re: Latin Spell Translations « Reply #11 on Jan 6, 2005, 10:09pm »
I can help out for French as well! XD
And I'd need help with something, not for a fic, but for an original story I'm writing, actually... Someone casts a transport spell on someone, and it needs to pretty much say something like "To prevent harm unto this person/these people, take them to a hidden place where they will be safe.", or something or other like that.
The basic idea is that someone's best friend is being sentenced to death, and he's casting the spell to send him somewhere safe. Now, the problem is that the guy casting the spell can usually only use healing magic, so he had to alter the spell to specify that it's to prevent harm, which would allow him to use the spell despite having only healing magic.
Hope that gave you enough to work with.
I may come here later for more spells for my story...
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Writing Harry Potter fanfics often requires you to make up new spells, as I'm sure many of you will have discovered. The problem being; what incantation to use? Making ones up that sound realistic is difficult, and most of the time they're meaningless.
Most of the spells in canon are Latin, and since I'm into my 5th year of learning Latin at school I'm offering my services as a translator. 
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