# SDMB Dead Languages Society **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 3, 2001, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252 "2001-01-03T16:58:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/41 "2001-01-05T15:54:19Z")
> [@](#): > > (Magelin, it’s perfectly OK to talk about Scandinavian sagas, as sagas were written in and about Norway, the Shetland and the Orkney Islands as > well as Iceland) That’s not what they told me when I interviewed for the program in Icelandic Literature and Philology at the University of Iceland, but I will take your word for it. 😉 They preferred calling them Nordic Sagas, specifically _not_ Scandinavian. > [@](#): > > She can read the sagas in the original Old Norse quite well, and read Njall’s Saga (impress your friends and pronounce it the Old Norse way–“NJOW-t’lls > SA-ga”) Now _that_ is definitely Icelandic. 😃 The Laxdaela is an excellent call. I haven’t read it in years. **iampunha** > [@](#): > > Hey, Maeglin. I meant to come in here earlier but didn’t have the time . . . other threads to tend to and all that Well now that you will be reading some Vergil, it’s time to put the other threads on hold. 😉 Glad to see you here, too. **oldscratch** > [@](#): > > I’d love to throw in some sanskrit. That’d be peachy. If you can help me figure out what the _hell_ the Upanishads are about, then I’ll be your best friend for life. 😉 And don’t just tell me they’re about immortality, 'coz I know _that_ already. **fierra** > [@](#): > > I love Catullus! Great double meanings…passer anyone? Yeah, some Catullus selections next would be great. We can do a mix: some nice poems, some _passer_ poems, and some poems in which he tells people he doesn’t like to brush their teeth in piss. **Medea’s Child** > [@](#): > > Maeglin, oh wonder on high, is your site supposed to be up yet? I still can’t get in. \ I know…like I dreaded, the work piled on my desk yesterday afternoon. But come hell or high water, I will do it today. It’s won’t be pretty yet, but it will have the goods. MR ---
**Author:** ![LazarusLong42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/87869e/32.png) [@LazarusLong42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LazarusLong42)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/42 "2001-01-05T16:26:17Z")
Well, I have no training in Classics, and my knowledge of actual Latin and Greek is generally limited to English roots co-opted from them… but what the hell. I could use some intellectual stimulation. 🙂 LL ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/43 "2001-01-05T20:59:14Z")
Ok, folks, the moment you’ve all been waiting for. [http://www.columbia.edu/~mir13/classics](http://www.columbia.edu/~mir13/classics) It’s up. It’s running. It’s ready for your loving perusal. There’s a little biographical information, a summary, and some suggested texts in English and in Latin. Everything you need to know right know. So let’s see how far we get this weekend. I have a few discussion ideas that might we worth starting on Monday. Sound ok? MR ---
**Author:** ![Athena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/35a633/32.png) [@Athena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Athena)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/44 "2001-01-05T21:14:22Z")
Link doesn’t work for me. Does it work for anyone else? ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/45 "2001-01-05T21:57:05Z")
Not I , either. The error I get is: The server could not deliver the file you requested: /~mir13/classics cannot read directory for multi: /c/u/1/m/mir13/public\_html/ Just so’s you know. Tisiphone ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/46 "2001-01-05T22:00:15Z")
**Martinus asinus est.** In my zeal, I forgot the file extension. All of you smart folks should have guessed. 😉 [http://www.columbia.edu/~mir13/classics.html](http://www.columbia.edu/~mir13/classics.html) MR ---
**Author:** ![pluto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f08c70/32.png) [@pluto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pluto)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2001, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/47 "2001-01-05T22:32:13Z")
I only have a smattering of Latin and even less Greek (pretty dismal for a Roman god, eh?) but I did get a copy of _How the Grinch Stole Christmas_ in Latin for Christmas. From Borders. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/48 "2001-01-08T15:58:27Z")
All right, folks, I’m back for the weekend and I survived the Dopefest. The discussion shall start on a new thread. MR ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/49 "2001-01-08T19:17:22Z")
As I would not presume to start the new thread, which honor rightfully belongs to our esteemed collegue, I will toss in a slight comment based on my beginning the reading assignment. “Headlong rush to war?” So, all cliches cannot be traced back to Shakespeare, Pope, and the King James Version? Some go back to Dryden? ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/50 "2001-01-08T20:25:39Z")
I suppose so. Are you sure that Dryden is the first to use the phrase? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/51 "2001-01-08T21:00:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Maeglin \* > \*\*Are you sure that Dryden is the first to use the phrase? \*\* As far as I’ve found in a whole two minutes of searching, limiting the search to what Google can dig up, yes. Of course, he quite possibly was NOT the first, but he was a good enough poet to produce the occasional nice turn of phrase or evocative image. ---
**Author:** ![Cogitoergosum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Cogitoergosum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cogitoergosum)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/52 "2001-01-08T21:45:33Z")
Oooh Oooh, I wanna join. I just know Latin and a li’l Greek though. ---
**Author:** ![Maeglin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8baadc/32.png) [@Maeglin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maeglin)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2001, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/53 "2001-01-08T22:11:30Z")
Welcome then! You’ve read the thread, you know the drill. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![tshirts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@tshirts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tshirts)\ **Post date:** [January 13, 2001, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252/54 "2001-01-13T06:16:21Z")
**[General Questions \> Are books still being written in the “dead language” Gothic ?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=52480)** > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jomo Mojo \* > \*\*Bagme Bloma \*\* > (a poem in the ancient Gothic language by J. R. R. Tolkien). > > Brunaim bairiþ bairka bogum > laubans liubans liudandei, > gilwagroni, glitmunjandei, > bagme bloma, blauandei, > fagrafahsa, liþulinþi, > fraujinondei fairguni. > > Wopjand windos, wagjand lindos, > lutiþ limam laikandei; > slaihta, raihta, hweitarinda, > razda rodeiþ reirandei, > bandwa bairhta, runa goda, > þiuda meina þiuþjandei. > > Andanahti milhmam neipiþ, > liuhteiþ liuhmam lauhmuni; > laubos liubai fliugand lausai, > tulgus, triggwa, standandei. > Bairka baza beidiþ blaika > fraujinondei fairguni. > Flower of the Trees > > The birch bears fine leaves on shining boughs, it grows pale green and glittering, the flower of the trees in bloom, fair-haired and supple-limbed, the ruler of the mountain. > > The winds call, they shake gently, she bends her boughs low in sport; smooth, straight and white-barked, trembling she speaks a language, a bright token, a good mystery, blessing my people. > > Evening grows dark with clouds, the lightning flashes, the fine leaves fly free, but firm and faithful the white birch stands bare and waits, ruling the mountain. > > Note: the old Germanic runic letter _thorn_ (þ) is pronounced like the th in thin. > The letter _h_ in Gothic is pronounced as a velar spirant kh. > _J_ is pronounced like English y. > The Gothic digraph _ei_ is pronounced like the ee in green. The other vowels are as in Italian. > > Originally published in 1936 in _Songs for the Philologists_. Reprinted, with this English translation, in _The Road to Middle-Earth_ by T. A. Shippey (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1982). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sdmb-dead-languages-society/48252.md?page=2)