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Tag Archives: Latin
Thrush to Judgement
I’ve been rereading Petronius’ Satyricon, to take my mind off the imminent death of democracy in America. It’s not working that well, because Trimalchio (the wealthy boor who is the anti-protagonist of his own episode in the novel) keeps reminding … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, art, books, language, politics, television, words
Tagged EverythingIsBetterWithLatin!™, Latin
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Actis Temporibus
For a few years I’ve had a Latin version of “Auld Lang Syne” on my Latin-for-the-holidays handout, but I’ve never been crazy about it. For one thing, it erases the repetitions in the original. For another, references to drinking have … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Adventures in the Public Domain, Christmas, language, music, writing
Tagged EverythingIsBetterWithLatin!™, Latin
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Eldritch Lore of Lightning, Stars, and Magic
On Facebook, Michael Swanwick mentioned a historical (or maybe apocryphal) episode when the Pope invited Etruscan seers to use lightning magic to defend Rome against Alaric and his Ostrogoths. It’s a pretty good story, whether or not it’s actually history. … Continue reading
Posted in academia, Adventures in the Public Domain, astronomy, books, fantasy, history, language, magic, Myth & Legend, Roman history, Rome, science, sff, social media, sword-and-sorcery
Tagged folklore, Greek, Latin
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Words on the Wing
I was reading the Eddas today, which is what Tolkien would probably be doing on Re(re)ading Tolkien Day, and I was struck by a pair of birdy lines: Ǫrn mun hlakka, slítr nái niðfǫlr. —Vǫluspá (quoted in Snorri, Gylfaginning 50) … Continue reading
Posted in Myth & Legend, words
Tagged Elder Edda, Latin, Old Norse, Snorri, Vǫluspá
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Swords in the Mistletoe
I was reading Snorri’s Edda today, trying to sort out the story-differences between Snorri’s version and the poems in the Elder Edda. For instance, the famous story where Thor goes fishing and catches Jormungandir, Midgard’s Serpent, plays out differently in … Continue reading
Posted in books, language, Myth & Legend, words
Tagged Edda, Fritz Leiber, Latin, Old Norse, Snorri
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Goa, Going, Gone
I was scrolling through an electronic edition of a venerable Latin dictionary, which is a totally normal thing to do, and I was brought up short by the entry for superstitio: “excessive fear of the goas; unreasonable religious belief.” I … Continue reading
Posted in fantasy, language, Morlock, Myth & Legend, Rome, sword-and-sorcery, Typo of the Day, words
Tagged Latin
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Get the Hnakkr!
I’m rereading Snorri’s Edda and Tacitus’ Historiae in tandem, and it’s an interesting experience. With Snorri, this involves a lot of adventures in the dictionary, as the vocabulary of Old Icelandic is definitely less familiar to me than the vocabulary … Continue reading
Posted in fantasy, Myth & Legend, sff, words
Tagged C.S. Lewis, Latin, Old Norse, Snorri, The Daulaires
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Let’s Give Vespasian a Great Big Hand
Prandente eo quondam canis extrarius e trivio manum humanam intulit mensaeque subiecit. —Suetonius, Divus Vespasianus 5.4 “Once, while he was having lunch, a stray dog carried in a human hand from the crossroads and threw it under his table.” This is one of the … Continue reading
Posted in ancient art, dogs, Rome
Tagged Latin
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IO, SATURNALIA!
It’s a Saturnalia on Saturday! It must be extra potent.
It Can Only Get Better from Here: “Alias Smith and Jones” (pilot)
Everything Is Better With Latin!™, and alias is Latin for “elsewhere”. At least the pilot of Alias Smith and Jones has that going for it. That and the telegenic qualities of the leads are about the only thing in this … Continue reading
Posted in Alias Smith and Jones, television
Tagged EverythingIsStarTrek, Latin, review
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