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Oniron's avatar

Is the latin translation of this text correct grammatically and and is its meaning also correct?

Asked by Oniron (10points) April 22nd, 2018

Hello! I am studying Latin with a private teacher and was given the task of translating any text I choose. I decided to choose a piece of text from a 18th century grimoire. I have an interest in this topic, not because I believe in it, but because I think that it is weird and I also love horror stories. I am including the latin translation that I did myself and that I want corrected and the original english text. Thank you!

Obsecro te, O spiritus N, per Deum vivum oro,
per Deum verum oro, per Deum sancti et omnipotentem oro qui creati
ex nihilo caelum et terram et mare et omnia
quæ sunt ea in, virtute sanctissimi Sacramenti
Eucharistiae in nomine Iesu Christi et per
haec eadem omnipotentis est Filius Dei, Qui pro nobis
et nostra redemptionem crucifixus, mortuus
et sepultus tertia die resurrexit,
sedet ad dexteram Creator totuis orbis terrarum
inde venturus est iudicare vivos et mortuos;
sicut etiam per caritatem pretiosum Spirito sancti, perfectae Trinitatis.

Obsecro te cohorti,Maledictum,
iudicio tuo qui ausus es temptare Deum. Exorcizo
tu serpens statim venire tibi impero
in pulchra forma et humana anima et decorus aspectu
et corporis et explere mandatis meis absque ullo dolo quæcumque:
et sine mentis reservatio e grand Nomina
Deus deorum et Dominus dominantium,

Obsecro te, Serpens malus et improbus, apparere
ad voluntatis et voluptatis hoc est antequam hoc circulo
sine mora et sociis et querula, sine strepitu aut deformitate aut murmure.
Exorcizo te per Dei nomina ineffabilia, Gog videlicet et Magog, quod indignus pronuntiandi sum: Veni, veni, veni
Quæcumque volui, et desiderio, sine dolo et fallacia.
Alioquin sanctus Michael, archangelus invisibilis, in ima inferni te iam iamque detrudet.
Veni nunc, N., ut meum voluntatem exsequeres.

I, N., do conjure thee, O Spirit N., by the living God, by the true God, by the holy and all-ruling God, who created from nothingness the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all things that are therein, in virtue of the Most Holy Sacrament of the Eucharist, in the name of Jesus Christ, and by the power of this same Almighty Son of God, who for us and for our redemption was crucified, suffered death, and was buried; who rose again on the third day, and is now seated on the right hand of the Creator of the whole world, from whence he will come to judge the living and the dead; as also by the precious love of the Holy Spirit, perfect Trinity. I conjure thee within the circle, accursed one, by thy judgment, who didst dare to tempt God: I exorcise thee, Serpent, and I command thee to appear forthwith under a beautiful and well-favoured human form of soul and body, and to fulfil my behests without any deceit whatsoever, as also without mental reservation of any kind, by the great times of the God of gods and Lord of lords.

I conjure thee, Evil and Accursed Serpent, N.. to appear at my will and pleasure, in this place, before this circle, without tarrying, without companions, without grievance, without noise, deformity, or murmuring. I exorcise thee by the ineffable names of God, to wit, Gog and Magog, which I am unworthy to pronounce; Come hither, Conic hither, Come hither. Accomplish my will and desire, without wile or falsehood. Otherwise St. Michael, the invisible Archangel, shall presently blast thee in the utmost depths of hell. Come, then, N., to do my will.

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Zaku's avatar

I studied Linguam Latinam in grade school, but didn’t retain very much. At my best, this would have taken me hours to try to translate.

It’s a little harder than necessary to check because you haven’t kept the same line breaks.

It looks like you’ve taken a good stab at it though I think you should proof your own work, as I immediately see some mistakes such as mentioning N as both the speaker and the god addressed, when it’s only once in the original.

I wonder how long you have been studying and whether you aren’t referring to some texts or using some program? It doesn’t look very much like a new student taking a stab at a translation.

Oh, in fact, it looks like your “student translation” matches word for word an English ceremonial magic text.

Zaku's avatar

Ah, you’re translating into Latin!

Ok. I’m likely incorrect but I wonder what the idiomatic expression for “by the living God” is… “per” I know literally means “through” (and not “for” as it does in Italian, as one Latin teacher would unforgettably demonstrate by impaling a piece of paper with a pencil while yelling “PER!”), but I guess it works metaphorically too.

It looks like a good effort to me. I skimmed it but my knowledge is very very rusty and it’d take me hours with books to try to critique, and then I’d probably be wrong about much of my ideas as I’ve forgotten so many details.

By the way, a hearty welcome to the site! This is a great place to ask questions and usually receive some considerate answers, but I think you may know more Latin than any of the current regulars.

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