The Worlds of Katherine Kurtz

The Deryni Series => Codex Derynianus => Topic started by: Open2uandu on July 07, 2008, 04:54:55 PM

Title: Latin translations?
Post by: Open2uandu on July 07, 2008, 04:54:55 PM
Has anyone translated all that Latin in the Codex?  If so, is it on a website?

I sometimes see passages in English-language books (especially the classics) written in a non-English language (usually French) without a translation.  I suppose people were expected to be fluent in French and/or Latin at the time those books were published, but I don't know if many are nowadays, so a translated footnote would be convenient if not educational.

It's the same with the Codex.  How much am I missing because I can't translate the Latin?
Title: Re: Latin translations?
Post by: Shiral on July 07, 2008, 05:17:22 PM
Hi, and welcome,

Alas, no, there is no one place I know of where the latin in the Codex is translated.  But I don't think you're missing ALL that much through not being able to understand it.

Melissa
Title: Re: Latin translations?
Post by: Elkhound on July 08, 2008, 01:29:44 PM
Call your local college or university's Classics department; you'll probably find a student who is also Dernyi fan.

Alternatively, you could take a correspondance course in Latin.
Title: Re: Latin translations?
Post by: wombat1138 on June 03, 2010, 11:43:35 AM
Quote from: Shiral on July 07, 2008, 05:17:22 PM
I don't think you're missing ALL that much through not being able to understand it.

Mais non! There are least two dreadfully funny pieces of "dog Latin" in the Orin entry alone as titles of his other works-- "Canis Mortuus Est", appropriately enough, means "the dog is dead" and is the phrase sung at the funerals of the little doggies in "A Fish Called Wanda". I don't have the Codex at hand so can't quote exactly, but the title with "Agnorum" in it means "The Silence of the Lambs". I recognized those two immediately, but haven't yet looked up the third.

Actually, a similar project I've considered is trying to track down the origins of the other foreign-language passages, which Google now makes semi-trivial; so far the only one I've tried is an Italian passage which turns out to be from Dante's "Inferno". Since Amazon now has the Codex on deep discount, maybe I'll get another copy that I can cover with pencilled notes and post-its in good conscience.
Title: Re: Latin translations?
Post by: tenworld on June 03, 2010, 05:47:21 PM
http://www.translation-guide.com/free_online_translators.php?from=Latin&to=English

but caveat translator

Altavista babelfish does many modern languages but try translating back and forth and see how funny it is.