Lady Summerisle ([info]strange_complex) wrote in [info]latin,

Extract from the Life of Saint Radegund

Would anyone feel up to checking over my translation of chapter II.2 of the Vita Sanctae Radegundis Reginae? I'm a Classicist most at home in the high imperial period, so both the lives of saints and post-Classical Latin generally are a bit foreign to me, and I don't seem to be able to track down a translation of this part of the Life (though part I is here).

What's important to me about this text is the account of a Christian queen burning a pagan temple (fanum), so a perfect literary translation is not necessary, and nor is the bracketed section important - I just need to be sure I've got the right end of the stick about what happened to the fanum.

Latin text
Dum esset cum rege adhuc in mundiali habitu, mens intenta ad Christum (teste Domino loquor, cui ore tacente pectora confitentur: cui et si lingua taceat, conscientia nihil occultat, quia quod audivimus dicimus, et quod vidimus testamur), invitata ad prandium a Sifride matrona, dum iter ageret saeculari pompa se comitante, interjecta longinquitate terrae ac spatio, fanum quod a Francis colebatur, in itinere beatae reginae, quantum miliario uno proximum erat. Hoc illa audiens, jussit famulis fanum igni comburi, iniquum judicans Deum coeli contemni et diabolica machinamenta venerari. Hoc audientes Franci universaque multitudo cum gladiis et fustibus vel omni fremitu diabolico conabantur defendere, sancta vero regina immobilis perseverans, et Christum in pectore gestans, equum quem sedebat inantea non movit, antequam et fanum perureretur, et ipsa orante inter se populi pacem firmarent. Quo peracto virtutem et constantiam beatae reginae omnes admirantes Dominum benedixerunt.

My translation
While she was with the king still in worldly habit, her mind intent on Christ (with the Lord my witness I speak, to whom souls confess with silent mouth: to whom also if the tongue be silent, the conscience hides nothing, because what we heard we said, and what we saw we bore witness to), she was invited to dinner by the matron Sifride, until the journey drove her with a solemn procession accompanying, cast among the length and distance of the earth, to a shrine cultivated by the Franks, which was as near as a milestone to the journey of the blessed queen. Hearing this, she ordered her attendants to consume the shrine with fire, judging the God of heaven ill-matched to be condemned and to be worshipped by a diabolical instrument. Hearing this the Franks and the entire multitude with swords and cudgels or with all diabolical roaring tried to defend [it], the saintly queen truly persevering, immovable, and bearing Christ in her breast, she did not move her horse which was fixed in front [of the shrine] before the shrine was also burned up, and by herself praying among them, the people encouraged to peace. With this done all praised the virtue and constancy of the blessed queen, wondering at the Lord.

Thanks if you can help!

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  • 14 comments

[info]w_ockham

August 17 2007, 11:32:08 UTC 4 years ago

Thoughts

Health warning - I'm not a Latin scholar, my subject matter expertise and formal training is in philosophy, but I read an awful lot of medieval Latin because of this.

Anyway, some thoughts:

dum iter ageret – I think the subject is the queen, not the journey (which is therefore neuter accusative). It's a common phrase – in 'cum adhuc dominus iter ageret in Ierusalem' the subject would have to be dominus. Thus 'she made the journey' or something like that. This would make more sense of the 'se' that follows.

'quantum miliario uno proximum erat' – I think 'by one mile' would be more accurate.

sancta vero regina – 'vero' usually means 'but'. Thus 'but the saintly queen ... did not move her horse' – thus no need for 'she'.

inter se populi pacem firmarent – literally the people strengthened peace among themselves. I haven't a dictionary available here – where did you get 'encourage'?

[info]strange_complex

August 17 2007, 11:51:05 UTC 4 years ago

Re: Thoughts

Ah, thanks for all of this, and especially the 'iter', the 'vero' and the 'inter se populi'. I had completely forgotten that 'iter' was neuter, and was thus expecting something like 'iterem' for the accusative.

Looking at it again this morning, my translation is pretty rough and ready! But that's all I need really.

[info]w_ockham

August 17 2007, 11:55:58 UTC 4 years ago

Re: Thoughts

All is well, then. Pax et bonum.

[info]strange_complex

August 17 2007, 11:59:24 UTC 4 years ago

Gah!

/itinerem, I meant!

[info]w_ockham

August 17 2007, 11:41:50 UTC 4 years ago

ipsa orante inter se

I suppose it could be 'with her praying among them'. But then how to explain 'se'. Best to see what the others think.

[info]w_ockham

August 17 2007, 11:49:14 UTC 4 years ago

iter

But I'm pretty sure of 'iter'. All the plural examples below suggest that it cannot be the subject.

Dum iter agunt, utuntur brevioribus vestibus cum manicis sub genu per palmum

de iis qui ex officio iter agunt

Cum iter agunt, comportant secum aut humero, aut gremlo

Vacui amant incedere, qui arduum iter agunt

[info]w_ockham

August 17 2007, 11:53:39 UTC 4 years ago

firmarent

I found an online dictionary. Would 'established' be best? The people establised peace (possibly among themselves, possibly with the queen praying among them).

[info]strange_complex

August 17 2007, 11:58:28 UTC 4 years ago

Re: firmarent

I think 'established' is probably the best choice, although 'strengthened' is fine, too. The crucial bit was applying the 'inter se' to their action, which makes a lot more sense!

[info]filialucis

August 18 2007, 20:56:44 UTC 4 years ago

Probably not all that relevant considering what you need from the text, but I think that iniquum judicans Deum coeli contemni et diabolica machinamenta venerari is more accurately rendered as "...judging it wicked for the God of heaven to be despised and devilish deceits to be worshipped." (Diabolica machinamenta is acc. plu. from machinamentum, and since the building is a pagan shrine they wouldn't have been worshipping the Deus coeli in it.)

Is the Latin text available in full anywhere online? You've got me wanting to read it now. :)

[info]strange_complex

August 19 2007, 09:46:36 UTC 4 years ago

Ah, thanks - yes, that does make a lot more sense! I wondered if the implication was supposed to be that some heretical form of Christian worship was going on within it, but that would seem oddly obscure given that the main subject-matter of the story is clearly the triumph of Christianity over paganism.

And yes, the whole thing is online as part of the Patrologia Latina database - it's the link I've given from the title of the work in the first line of my post.

[info]filialucis

August 19 2007, 11:26:00 UTC 4 years ago

I followed that link, but it looks as though the site won't let you access the texts unless you purchase a subscription to the PLD. Pity -- I was hoping for a publicly available text somewhere, since I'm not affiliated to a university that subscribes to the database...

[info]strange_complex

August 19 2007, 11:36:44 UTC 4 years ago

Oh, sorry about that. I'm accessing it from my work computer, so didn't realise the university was granting me access. I don't know of any other sites which have it.

[info]filialucis

August 19 2007, 11:54:39 UTC 4 years ago

Ah well. I suppose I can always ferret it out in the printed copy of Migne the next time I'm within striking distance of my alma mater. It looks like a nice text -- pretty standard Latin, on the whole, unlike some of the mediaeval stuff I've seen!

[info]strange_complex

August 19 2007, 12:05:08 UTC 4 years ago

Yes, it was familiar enough for me coming from a Classical background. Most of the mistakes I made in my translation really came from not bothering to look things up properly, rather than the fact that the text didn't follow the rules I'm used to. In fact, it isn't that late in the scheme of things - the second part of the Life was written between 600 and 602 by a nun named Baudonivia. (The first part was a little earlier, and by Venantius Fortunatus).
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