# urth: iam terminusne sum? *The Urth list — 1 messages, 1 voices, 30 Nov 1998* > Exported from an unofficial mirror of a public mailing list. Copyright > in each message remains with the person who wrote it. > Email addresses are obscured as `user at host`, the form the original > archive published. This file was rebuilt from parsed fields rather than > retained headers, so it is faithful in content but not byte-exact. --- ### Nigel Price *30 Nov 1998, 17:04* In reply to my verbose speculations on the possible scriptural connotations of the name of Severian's sword, Terminus Est, Wombat, a.k.a. Kevin >> Maroney, wrote: >> John 19:30 cum ergo accepisset Iesus acetum dixit consummatum est et >> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >> inclinato capite tradidit spiritum >> >> ("And when Jesus had received the vinegar, he said "It is finished" and >> bowed his head and gave up his spirit.") Yeah, bummer isn't it? Definitely "consummatum est" ("it is accomplished") rather than "terminus est" in the Vulgate. I still haven't found my copy of the Vulgate, though it must be around here somewhere, so, on Saturday night, I thought I'd have a look on the web to see if there was an on-line Vulgate anywhere - and, sure enough, there is, at... gopher://ftp.std.com:70/00/obi/book/Religion/Vulgate/ And, of course, I looked at John 19.30 and found "consummatum est", which just about put the tin lid on a bad day, much of the afternoon of which I had spent face down in the quagmire of Minety playing fields while Fairford RFC put 45pts past us (ie the Minety 2nd XV - my apologies, we're talking rugby here, fellow lupophiles). It would have been better to have owned up there and then, but I was feeling somewhat sore (bruised ribs? sprung cartilage?) and went to bed instead. It's a fair cop, though. Did I mention that I also found a translation of the Bible into Pig Latin whilst I was nosing around on the web? It's a perfectly absurd piece of misapplied industry and diligence, but you can find it at: http://www.dnai.com/~earl/old/Ible-bay/ Also came across a page dedicated to a parody by Bob Kanefsky of a song entitled "Terminus Est" by an SF author and filk singer called Julia Ecklar. Anyone know either the song or the parody? You can find the parody page (not much information on the lyrics, I'm afraid) at: http://www.songworm.com/db/source-song/TerminusEst.html >> It's always a danger to assume that words in other languages have the >> same >> connotations and nuances that they do in English, of course. Absolutely... Though my Latin dictionary gives "end, conclusion" as one of the possible meanings of "terminus", and that is the sense in which Cicero seems to have used it (eg "terminus contentionum" = "the end of the struggle"). No doubt about it, my theory about the significance of the name "Terminus Est" is considerably weakened by the fact that the Vulgate does not use this particular wording. I still maintain that "It is finished" is a legitamate translation of the name, though. >> Otherwise, excellent rumination on grace, Christian imagery, etc. Thank you. Anyone have any comments on my suggested interpretation of "Free Live Free"? Nigel Price Minety, Wiltshire England ---