psalm_onethirtyone: (Torrens - Westmark)
Soujin ([personal profile] psalm_onethirtyone) wrote2007-02-22 09:51 pm

"And that was how Good Culhwch Took Fair Olwen for his Bride..."

TWITCH. *flails* When are you coming back? Tell me so I can plan to spend ALL NIGHT LONG with you. You'll never escape me! >:D

I am trying to write more of modern!Arthurians, but they are being annoying and uncooperative. In other news, I am a dreadful bowler, but reminded again of why I so much like Lesley, even if she does call me on my silliness (which to-day resulted in me crying all over the place, but).

I am not coherent. ^^ Pardon me, I pray you.

[identity profile] sparklychibi.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 03:57 am (UTC)(link)
Darling! I must tell you! Okay, this is probably not exciting to anyone but me, but since you were the person who introduced my to Diana Wynne Jones...

So I was re-reading The Ogre Downstairs for, you know, the tenth time, and at the end there's a bunch of guys who spring out of the ground, right? With motorcycle helmets? And they speak Greek! So at first I was like "hey, maybe I can understand some of this now that I've taken Greek" so I started reading it. And I was very confused and didn't recognize any words, which made me feel sort of bad because I'd like to be better at Greek than I am. Then the word "φελλωσ" caught my eye. Transliterated, that's "phellos", and all of a sudden I realized it was supposed to be "fellows" - the "Greek" is just English written in Greek letters! I find this to be VERY COOL. And I guess the joke is that the people in the book can't understand, even though spoken out loud it would sound like English.

I am so excited.

So, like the first one is:

"'Ιτμιον θε λιδαγειν 'ανσε ου τιυγετ!"

Transliterated: Hitmion the lidagein anse uo tiuget!

[identity profile] rainbowjehan.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 04:06 am (UTC)(link)
...THAT. That is the most incredible thing evar. How does the rest of it go? Share?

That is just so awesome. And you are so unbelievably smart. Wow. *fangirls hugely*

[identity profile] sparklychibi.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
Man, it's not me, it's Diana Wynne. She is so cool.

I don't quite get the second one but the rest are pretty easy.

Θινκ 'ιν κυιτ φελλωσ 'ον θε 'εδ δουιου?

It's something like: "Think in kuit phellos on the hed douiou?"

Θησ κιζ τραιδ του θυμπ μι φελλωσ!

"Thes kids traid tou thump mi phellos!"

Ωκει, λετσ τεικ βωθοφεμ 'απαρτ αβιτ.

"Okei, lets teik bothophem apart abit."

Λετμι 'αττεμ.

Pretty sraightforward: "Letme attem."

Φυλλα σπιριτ, 'αρντθει?

"Phulla spirit, arntthei?"

Λετσγω, φελλωσ.

"Letsgo, phellos."

(If there's a difference between my Grek here and in the book it's because sigma changes form if it's at the end of a word, and I can't type the other form of it.)

[identity profile] rainbowjehan.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 05:18 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, but you're the one who was smart enough to have taken Greek and be able to notice. Wow.

That is just tremendous. You rock. I really cannot type out my squee effectively, nor have I any icons to show how gleeful I am. You win at my life. Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

[identity profile] sparklychibi.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 05:38 am (UTC)(link)
*curtsies*

It makes me very excited too! It's like finding the key to the secret code. :D!

[identity profile] rainbowjehan.livejournal.com 2007-02-23 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
Yes! When I first read the book, I tried typing the letters into the computer using the Greek-looking letters in the font stuff, but of course that never worked, and I've always wondered what it said. ^^;;;