This Thursday, paying readers will see parts of the next ritual poem in chapter 19 of Wealthgiver. Like the Andrean Prophesy, the Ritual of Un-Descent is sung in the (fictional) Ancient Thracian language. Unlike the prophesy, which was invented by Kori Chthamali in the 19th century, the Ritual of Un-Descent is old, if not ancient. Written forms of the rite date back to the 6th century AD. Its similarities to the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, dated to the 7th century BC, are hotly contested by Bessian scholars.
The Ritual of Un-Descent is traditionally sung by three people, representing The Rushing One (a minor deity almost unknown outside this ritual), The Lady Reaper (also known as The Maiden and The Mistress), and The Unseen (also known as The Master and The Wealthgiver). First, in the original Ancient Thracian: SÉRMĒS SÓS: Ánite! Pleistoré! Palodegmṓn, sa e Kḗphēt dṓe Tḗn opdésedyde. ÁNITĒS SÓS: Ergeí, Porhēgéntiâ! 5 PORHĒGÉNTIÂ: Dēmḗthera póra Áskeira pephlóu e ion. ÁNITĒS SÓS: Mē dé bladymeiê iâ. PORHĒGÉNTIÂ: Sédzōn me tón dymón. ÁNITĒS SÓS: Óiyk tóus dessóis 10 Áeikhēs te eis. PORHĒGÉNTIÂ: Sēnséithēs tū Éiseis is tó koú. ÁNITĒS SÓS: Diós Brḗthar eimî! PORHĒGÉNTIÂ: Xēthópats eisî! 15 ÁNITĒS SÓS: Xēthópaniâ sezṓn PORHĒGÉNTIÂ: Eis sa serpanthṓn. The meter changes from seven in lines 1-4 (sung by The Rushing One), to eight syllables per line for the conversation between The Unseen and the Lady Reaper, with the exception of lines 16 and 17 (the final line). Both of these are of seven syllables, and both are sung by the Lady Reaper. For example, the first line (the invocation of The Unseen) is sung “A-ni-te ple-i-sto-RE!” Long vowels (for example ē) are always sung as two syllables. Diphthongs (for example ai) are usually two syllables as well, but sometimes they are a single syllable. See the difference between eis (e-I-s) and Xēthópaniâ (“kse-THO-pan-ya”). A circumflex over a vowel indicates an on-glide, such as â (“ya”) or î (“yi”), but there is no spelling to differentiate an off-glide from a diphthong. Accented vowels are stressed. X is pronounced “ks.” TH, KH, and PH might once have been pronounced as aspirates (tʰ, kʰ, pʰ) or as fricatives (θ, x, ɸ), but are today pronounced as normal unvoiced stops: t, k, p. Now, the rhyming translation: THE RUSHING ONE: Oh, Wealth-giver! Oh, Unseen! Host-of-many, take your queen Welcome her below, He deems. THE UNSEEN: Go you now, Oh Lady Reaper! LADY REAPER: To my Mother 5 Un-bright robed. THE UNSEEN Not with smoking heart to meet her. THE LADY REAPER With smoke my heart is all enclosed. UNSEEN: Never, by the Ones who Do Shameful will I be to you. 10 LADY REAPER My man you are No matter where. THE UNSEEN Of Sky I’m Brother! LADY REAPER You’re Guest-Master! THE UNSEEN You will be, Mistress of all 15 LADY REAPER Mistress of all of those who crawl. Readers have asked me to include a linguistic gloss in my literal translation: Ánite! Pleistoré! (neg-SEE-past.part-masc-voc WEALTH.GIVE-masc-voc) “Oh, Unseen! Oh, Wealthgiver!” Palodegmṓn, sa e (MANY.HOST-agent-neu THIS EMPH) That Host of Many Kḗphēt dṓe (HAVE-2nd-plur-subj ORDER-3rd) have. This he orders. Tḗn opdésedyde. (THE-fem-acc UNDER.WELCOME-2nd-plur-imp) Welcome her! Ergeí, Porhēgéntiâ! (GO-2nd-imp GRAIN.REAP-abst-fem) Go, Lady Reaper! Dēmḗthera póra (EARTH.MOTHER-fem-acc TO) To (the) Earth Mother. Áskeira pephlóu e ion. (neg-SHINE-adj-masc-gen PEPHLON-masc-gen EMPH REL-masc-acc) The one of the un-shining pephlon. Mē dé bladymeiê iâ. (NOT IMP BAD.SMOKE-verb-2nd-imp IMP) Do not “bad-smoke” at all. (i.e. “do not hold a grudge”) Sédzōn me tón dymón. (HOLD-1st 1st-clit THE-masc-neu SMOKE-masc-neu) I hold my smoke. Óiyk tóus dessóis (NEVER THE-masc-dat-plur GOD-masc-dat-plur) Never to the gods (the word for “god” is related to the word for “do”) Áeikhēs te eis. (neg-FAIR-adj-masc-nom 2nd-clit BE-1st-fut) I will be shameful to you. Sēnséithēs tū (SAME.LIE.DOWN-part-adj-masc-nom 2nd-nom) Husband you Éiseis is tó koú. (BE-2nd-fut REL INF WHERE) You will be, wherever (you are). Diós Brḗthar eimî! (SKY-masc-gen BROTHER-masc-nom BE-1st) I am (the) Sky’s brother! Xēthópats eisî! (GUEST.LORD-masc-nom BE-2nd) You are the Guest-Master. Xēthópaniâ sezṓn (GUEST.LORD-fem-nom ALL-masc-plur-gen) You, Guest-Mistress of everyone Eis sa serpanthṓn. (BE-1st-fut THIS CRAWL-pres-part-masc-plur-gen) I will be of these crawling (ones) ITo read this poem in the context of the story of Wealthgiver, you can subscribe to the story on Substack or Patreon and wait until the end of March for the free version. Or else upgrade and read it this Thursday ;)
1 Comment
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Just a silly little idea. If English's non-phonetic spelling is due to (mostly) not keeping up with sound changes in the past 600 years, what would happen if we pushed its origins back further? What if an Ulfilas-like missionary wrote a Bible in his dialect of Proto-West-Germanic in the fourth century and his work *really* caught on? To the point where modern Germanic languages are still written using his Latin spellings?
Aside from that, the history of this world parallels ours. Here is English as we speak it, but not as we write it. Unsar Fader, hwarh irht in hebune, hailagodaz biwje thin namo Thin kuningadom kweme Thin willjan biwje dan An erthu alls' hit ist in hebune. Imagine school children having to learn that a <b> between vowels is pronounced as /v/, and all the fiddly non-pronounced word endings. Then, they'll have to remember that in "hailagodaz," the i, middle a, g, and ending -az are all silent! Why is /art/ spelled with an <i> and a <rh>? You just have to memorize it. Then of course some good-hearted person will suggest a spelling reform. What if we at least omitted all the silent letters? U'r Fader, hwa' irht in hebun' Hail'od' bi' thi' nam' Thi' ku'ng'dom kwem' Thi' will' bi' dan An erth' a's' 'it is' in hebun' Much better. |
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