Too bad neither measure or treasure was part of the English language c. 1100. You'd have to find a completely new rhyme, and that's beyond my meager Old English abilities.
If she was speaking Old English, she probably would have had to have come from a southern part of Scotland. As I understand it, Gaelic was the primary language, being the language used at court.
Which court? The Kingdom of Strathclyde, for instance, wasn't incorporated into Alba until the middle of the 11th century. The predominant language there was neither Gaelic nor Anglian but a relative of Old Welsh known as "Cumbric".
That's the problem with JKR's vague "thousand years ago," since by 991AD, a thousand years before Harry started school, Cumbric was all but gone, wasn't it? Same with the Pict language, I think. Lol. Would it have been asking too much for Rowling to state specific years and regions? *grin*
It's impossible to say for sure in either case, but the general consensus is that Pictish was already extinct by then but that Cumbric survived at least as long as the Kingdom of Strathclyde.
One thing that goes in your favour is that the "English version" is so obviously clumsy that it may well be interpreted as an attempt to rhyme in English something originally better rendered in another language. Now, to complicate matters further, I have two points. First, the learned language for anyone in North Britain in the eleventh century would be Latin, and any writing in praise of wisdom would be apt to be in this language of the wise. Second, Charles Thomas has shown that as late as the sixth century AD at least, the learned classes of Celtic Britain could write and read Old Celtic, the polysillabic language known to Caesar. That is another candidate for the crown of the wisest sorceress of the time - if it could last to the sixth century, it could, with magic. last to the tenth. In fact, I have argued that at least one of Geoffrey of Monmouth's sources had a vague understanding of it; certainly Gildas understood it fully. But when all is said and done, Latin is still your best bet. Latin in those days did not rhyme, I
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I couldn't have known anything about the history, but here's my attempt at the Latin. You could also try posting at the LJ community "Latin" if you decide you want to go with that language.
sal immensum hominibus carissimum
immeasurable wit (is) most precious to men (humans)
I think it sounds more poetic without the word "is" (est), but if you want to add it, I'd put it at the end. Also, sal is literally "salt" but was often used figuratively to mean wit.
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They sure loved their treasure.
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sal immensum hominibus carissimum
immeasurable wit (is) most precious to men (humans)
I think it sounds more poetic without the word "is" (est), but if you want to add it, I'd put it at the end. Also, sal is literally "salt" but was often used figuratively to mean wit.
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Cíall gan chiomhsa
Maoin mór duini.
(Wit without limit:
great treasure of Men.)
OE, (Would be Northumbrian, if anything, but I don't know enough to get the dialect right)
Andgit ungeendod
maðm manna weorþfulmæst
Endless wit:
worthiest treasure of men.
I fully expect people who know better than I to explain where I've screwed up laughably...
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