Bloggus Sum

So I promised I wasn't going to start Page 1, Chapter 1, Creation of the Universe - and I'm not. I'm starting on the Valaquenta, which is the second description of it. Wholly different.

I'm using the book of Genesis in Latin Vulgate, translated by Jerome, and used by the Catholic Church since 382 CE as a touchpoint.


Silmarillion:


In the beginning Eru, the One, who in the Elvish tongue is named Illuvitar, made the Ainur of his thought, and they made a great Music before him. In this Music the World was begun, for Illuvitar made visible the song of the Ainur and they beheld it as a light in the darkness. And many among them became enamoured of its beauty, and of its history which they saw beginning and unfolding as in a vision. Therefore Illuvittar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World - and it was called Ea


Pauses for breath. Tricky passage because the subject keeps changing.


English:


In the beginning Eru, the One, (who in the language of the elves is named Illuvitar), [AHA] having made the Ainur out of his thought, made visible the Great Music which they sang before him, in which the world was begun - because, [AHA]beholding it as light in darkness, Many among them of it's beauty and histpru (which they saw beginning and unfolding as in a vision) became so enamoured,[result] that Illuvitar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and sent the Secret Fire, named Ea, was sent to[purpose] burn at the heart of the World.

Latin:


In principio Eru, qui in linguam Quendorum Illuvitar nominantur, Sanctos suae animae fecit; et ei ingens Carmen apud eum fecerunt. In hoc Carmenis Orbis inceptus est, quia Illuvitar Carmen Sanctorum patefecitque ei velut lux in tenebris intuitus sunt. Multi eorum formam eiusque historiam deamaverunt quam ortamque ??????? velut imagem viderunt.

Pass 2:

Since my first attempt, my Latin teacher has provided me with a host of stuff on translation, and I've attempted to be a little more strict in my translation, particularly in terms of making the clauses fit together. I've managed to cut it down to two sentences, tho I'm sure an expert could go further.

In the beginning Eru, the One, (who in the language of the elves is named Illuvitar), [AHA] having made the Ainur out of his thought, made visible the Great Music which they sang before him. Many among them, seeing it as light amidst the darkness) of it's beauty and histpru (which they saw beginning and unfolding as in a vision) became so enamoured,[result] that Illuvitar (having given to their vision Being) set it amid the Void, and sent the Secret Fire, named Ea, to[purpose] burn at the heart of the World.

Pass 2:

Eru in principio qui Quendis nomine Illuvitar, Sanctis factis suae animae, ingens Carmen(nt object) quod fecerunt apud eum patefecit. Multi eorum intuiti velut lux in tenebris formam eiusque historiam quam ortamque ??????? velut imagem viderunt, tot deamaverunt ut Illuvitar,

??? = "and unfolding", need to find something.

Names:


"Quendus, Quendorum" - an elf

I'm pretending "Quendi", the regular plural word for elves, is a second declension noun, as in anni, pueri, servi et al, and invented the word "quendus" as the natural singular nominative for an elf. The Romans don't really have an equivalent concept - my dictionary gives elf as "deus" - god, and as far as my myth lore goes, all Roman nymphs, sylphs and mystical beings are regarded as related to the divine. That doesn't quite gel with Tolkien's mythology. This could cause havoc later on, as I may ultimately have to work out whether he means the Noldor, Teleri, Sindar, Avari, Calaquendi e.t.c. every time he uses the word "elves". But for now, it looks like good Latin. Elf is a significantly important word that I will have to use a lot.

Eru - not a word used terribly often in the Silmarillion, so probably won't need to worry. If I do, pretending it's 4th Declension like genu seems best.

Illuvitar - in absence of a better plan, I will be treating this like the Greek noun "aer", because it is effectively a word translated into Latin.

Ainu, Ainur - I could treat Ainu like genu, but in this case it seems best to render it as the literal meaning "Sanctus, Sancti", or Holy Ones. An alternative might be to refer to them as Angeli, but I'm not sure that angel isn't a too specific word. Without doing proper research into whether Tolkien envisaged the Ainur as minor gods, angels or something else entirely, it's not something I want to be specific about.

Notes:

"In principio" was pinched directly from St Jerome. Previously, I'd used "primo" (too workmanlike?) and "In initium". I'm still fond of the latter.

"the one" is a translation of Eru, so I omitted it, basically because Eru Unus just seemed off. This is a decision I might change on though.

I am seriously unhappy with "multi eorum", because even though it seems fine - many + partative genitive - it looks like pidgin latin. This may be because multi is an adjective, and I'm using it as a noun.

Things I've learnt:
deamare - be enamoured of
intueor, eri, itus - look at, contemplate, admire
patefacio, facere, feci, factum - open up, disclose
incipio, ere, epi, eptum - to begin