Quick Fire Questions (A Place to Ask and Answer)

[crystal haven]

Glad it helped - steal away.

[David Evil Overlord]

Originally Posted by springs1971

Thanks, DEO, I like it, but it wouldn't work in this context.
Crystal, that's what I was trying to get to, I'll shamelessly steal that. The realise gives too much awareness to the pov character, yours is closer to what I wanted, I think.

Alas, I can't put it into context if I don't know the context.

[hopewrites]

maybe if you conned the text into accepting your context?

[Vertigo]

Ursa, Ursa all is fogiven!

[Ursa major]

Originally Posted by Vertigo

Ursa, Ursa all is fogiven!

I almost missed that apology....

[hopewrites]

when adding a Motto to personal insignia, does it have to be in latin? I've been going rounds with google translate to get the meaning to what I want and feel some of the poetry is lost once i get the meaning right way round.


2) which do you like better?

Solum amor domare fera

or

love alone can tame the wild

[David Evil Overlord]

I don't think it has to be in Latin. That's just the way it's historically been done.

I expect Gumboot will be able to tell you more than I can.

P.S. Nice motto.

[pyan]

French is used as well - the best known examples are probably the mottos on the Royal Arms: Dieu et mon droit - God and my right, and the Order of the Garter: Honi soit qui mal y pense - shame on you if you think evil (of it)

The Royal badge of Wales has the Welsh motto Pleidiol Wyf I'm Gwlad - I am true to my country, which you'll find on the edges of some pound coins as well.

Some of the Scots clans have mottos in the Gaelic: the motto of Clan MacNeil is Buaidh no Bàs - Victory or Death

So it doesn't have to be in Latin - it's just that (as DEO says), historically, most have been. Use whatever you think sounds best in the context.

[Hex]

One of my favourites is the Macpherson motto -- 'Touch not the cat bot a glove' (bot = 'without').

I liked your Latin version best, hope, but I didn't understand it.

Does anyone know how precious, ancient books were stored before plastic? Were they wrapped in material? I can't believe I don't know this, but I have absolutely no idea.

[springs]

How far back are you going, hex? 20th century, further, medieval?

[Hex]

1900s/ 1920s

[springs]

Checking with Mr Springs, who has a small bit of knowledge - stressing small - out of the sunlight, we think they would have used dark paper, or material like linen (don't think they would have used leather), and pretty sure they'd have had gloves when reading them. If you think of some of the university libraries from that era, that might give you an indication; specific storage rooms for collectables etc etc. Not sure how helpful that is...

[David Evil Overlord]

Most of the answers given here will help. Substitute "big old stone building with thick walls" for the required air conditioning, though.

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/in...9083439AAxKUFV

[Gumboot]

Originally Posted by David Evil Overlord

I don't think it has to be in Latin. That's just the way it's historically been done.

I expect Gumboot will be able to tell you more than I can.

P.S. Nice motto.

Mottos can be in any language you want. Although, if you want it to feel really authentic you shouldn't have a motto at all.

The more extra "stuff" a coat of arms has (crest, supporters, motto) the more likely it's fake/a modern invention. With the exception of a few very elite examples (such as the British Royal Family and the Order of the Garter), most really old coat-of-arms don't feature any of that stuff; they're just a shield (under UK laws of Heraldry the motto does not form part of the blazon (which is the actual legal armorial bearings) and can be changed at whim).

Another thing to contemplate is that once mottos started to become more popular (which is basically once heraldry stopped serving it's original functional purpose and became primarily decorative) the early genuine mottos tended to be word plays (called canting mottos), based on the name of the family. For example the Earl of Onslow's motto is Festina lente which is a Classical adage meaning "Make Haste Slowly", and a play on "On-Slow".

Of course, all of this only applies to European heraldry. If you're talking a fantasy setting all rules can be ignored or replaced with your own, so do what you like.

[fishii]

If you are self publishing does it really matter how much or how little you put on the internet for critiquing?