For now I'll stick with the spell translation. Google translate is lol for Latin translation. I've been using the dictionary and having my friends who know Latin double check, however we cannot think of anything but Lingua for tongue. I'm trying to use it in the context of 'a tongue of flame'
Anyone have any ideas?

 

Well... Lingua seems to be more for speech,actual tongues, and languages (unless I'm misunderstanding my friends) As far as languages I'd prefer to stay with one language and Latin seemed to fit best. But as you said I may have to break off into ancient greek or something occasionally.

 

Try translating whip or something. Or wisp... or even scythe.

 

You don't need to stick with precise latin translations, JKR doesn't. Take the accurate translation and make it sound more...magical. So if 'a tongue of flame' were to translate to lingua flammae you could turn that into Lingua Flammis, Lingua Ignis, Flammis Lingua, Flammae Lingua.

Or look at a variety of alternate words which maybe aren't quite accurate but sound similar and have close meaning. Ligula, Loquella, Lingula, Lamba, Ligurrio. All are derivations of Lingua. For flame you have flamma, ardor, fax, ignis, flagro, inardesco, caleo. Mix and match until you find something that sounds like a good incantation. Personally I like the sound of Ligurrio Flagro.

That mess around with a bit more, move it away from precise latin into something that just sounds like a good magical incantation. I'll keep using Ligurrio Flagro as an example here.

Make Ligurrio into Liguirius perhaps. Or perhaps Ligario. Flagro can become Flagrus, Flagren, Flagrius, Flagrum, Enflagro, Inflagro.

So perhaps you would end up using the final incantation of Ligurius Inflagro.

 

Yeah I was trying to find some synonyms in my dictionary but thanks for the idea it gave me a thought. Hmm there was the Flagrante curse for objects iirc. Maybe... Amnis Flagrantus Animus sound believable?

 

Just Amnis Flagrantus is better... most of JKR's incantations are one or two words, not three.

Scratch that, Amnis Flagrante (ae?) is better..

 

As T3t says a 3 word incantation is too long. If this is a combat spell then you have to view it from the perspective of "Am I going to die whilst casting this spell because the incantation is too long". If the answer is yes, then shorten the incantation. 1 word is best, 2 words is doable. Any longer than that, unless its got some sort of "This will end the battle" result and you can reasonably work in to the flow of events the caster not getting killed.

Just use google translate, throw your word or phrase in, and it'll give a list of alternate possibilities.

 

It occurs to me that "a tongue of flame" is an metaphoric usage of "tongue" and that this metaphor may not have existed in Latin, so you may be facing a futile search.

Also, what Mordecai said regarding spell creation. The only thing I'd add is that two word incantations in Harry Potter are very rare. Most spells are one word incantations. So if you're going for a Harry Potter feel, try to make it one word.

I always roll my eyes at multiple word incantations. Any more than two words usually has my mouse drifting towards the X.

 

Oh well I was more thinking of a nonverbal incantation so speed wouldn't be much of an issue and yes the metaphorical tongue not existing or being referred to differently in Latin was what my friends and I were thinking.

The Prologue is at 4.5k words and counting (probably 6.5k maybe 7k before it's done) mainly because I don't want multiple pages of the important stuff from the prologue in it as the prologue is important I don't want to rush it and I can't think of how else to do it. I mean the normal chapters will probably be ~3.5-4k each which could change depending on how long I have to make the story to do it justice. Any recommendations? As in think I should just make it a multiple part prologue or something?

 

If you need more than a single chapter for a prologue then write it up a separate fic and put it out a prelude to your main fic.

 

I'd like to point out that in fact, the metaphor of "tongues of fire" was used in Latin, or at the very least, in the Latin Vulgate Bible:

Most passages translate that as "tongues of flame/fire" that sat upon their heads.

As for spell translation into Latin, I use the following sites:

Words by William Whitaker
Latin Conjugation (for your Verbs)
Verbix (for your Verbs - does the work for you)
Latin Declension (for your Nouns & Adjectives)

As far as conjugations go, Rowling stuck mostly to the first person singular present - which in many cases, makes no real sense. The imperative (and more often, the passive imperative) makes more sense in most cases - you're commanding something to be done (by magic); you yourself are not doing it.

In the case where you're conjuring something, it might be best just to say its name in Latin:

linguae ignis! as opposed to linguae ignis creare!. The first just means "Tongues of fire!" whereas the second means "Be conjured, o tongues of fire!"

 

Ah ok I had thought of that but it seemed silly to separate it from the rest.

Thanks for the info, I don't think any of my friends read the Vulgate Bible there are three versions on the net that I can see.

 

Bump, figured I shouldn't start a new thread since it's the same topic and all.
Just to check it's at about 20k words now as I got busy and decided to do a complete rewrite so far I'm liking the prologue much better. 8.5k Prologue, 5.5k CH1, 6k CH2. The prologue doesn't seem overly large in comparison does it?

Anyways I was wondering if anyone had an idea how I should tackle Occlumency lessons? Harry has a mentor of sorts guiding him a bit but I'm still not quite sure as my explanation seems way too rushed.

 

For occlumency lessons, it really depends on how you perceive occlumency to function. If its about filing your memories then lessons will take one form, if its about building a shield round your mind then thats another sort, if its about clearing your mind to hide all your thoughts then that is again another sort of lesson.

So, to you as the author, what is occlumency?

 

This. Though I personally dislike the whole 'personal mindscape' routine, whatever works for you, I suppose. Check out some other stories for Occlumency inspiration, such as The Santi's fic, I particularly like his idea of how it works.

 

Carmine, Santi's idea is very vague and undescribed. It only works well cause its well written.

Thats the key with all ideas. Write it well, and the idea itself can be sub-par but still work well.

 

Well I suppose I view good occlumency as a bit of all three. I suppose I'll just have to keep stretching it a bit until it doesn't seem so rushed. Anyone here read The Lie I've Lived? I've been looking for another alternative Goblet of Fire fiction.

I suppose I could leave space for the few training sessions I describe and just continue.

 

We'll All Fall After The Yule Ball by Averis is a Humor fic but can be found in the Romance Library here at DLP and also, at length, in WbA. Check it out, chyo.

 

If you view as a bit of all three occlumency then you might want to take some time aside from actually writing the fic and plan the occlumency. What I suggest is making a bullet point list of each step to becoming an expert occlumens. This will give you a basis to write the lessons from. Also don't worry about it seeming rushed if for example you think a large part of the process would be Harry sitting for hours meditating. If you simply say in the fic that Harry was spending hours meditating that would cover it. Unless you can write a paragraph or two about what goes on in his mind during the meditation sections etc.

But I would advise doing the bullet point list, it will help you write it up in a clear and coherent manner.