Transfixus Sed Non Mortuus?
Hello all you Latin aficionados!
This is the motto of the crest of my last name (Walsh). I suspect it may come from an extremely old Latin version of 2 Cor. 4:9. Does anyone on the forums who is familiar with Latin know of an old Latin Bible version containing this rendering? I checked the vulgate, but it is a little different?
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I'd check to see if http://www.vetuslatina.org/ has any hints for a search site.
Orthodox Bishop Alfeyev: "To be a theologian means to have experience of a personal encounter with God through prayer and worship."; Orthodox proverb: "We know where the Church is, we do not know where it is not."
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Hi Liam:
A quick Google search brings up a more likely explanation of the origin of the motto wording:
See Google Books, Revue historique de l'Ouest, edited by Gaston Louis Michel Marie baron de Carné, Page 350,
although the wording is close enough to that of 2 Cor 4:9 that it may have been a "quote from memory" during the heat of battle !!
https://books.google.ca/books?id=eZssAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA350&lpg=PA3500 -
Google may again be able to help you with that now that you have the text:
https://translate.google.ca/?hl=en&tab=wT
(suggest you leave out the Latin to avoid getting it confused)
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Transfixus means "pierced" or "thrust through". So a literal translation would be "Pierced, but not dead".
The French translation above is less literal: "Hurt, but still alive."
An idiomatic English translation would be something like "Bruised, but not broken."
I hope that helps!
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And, for what it's worth, Google Translate also translates Latin > English. It gives: "Transfixed, but not dead".
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And the French explanation is rather interesting: in the 10th century, a Scottish laird named Walsh was once struck in battle by a javelin. He waded through a river with it stuck in his side. When he made it across, he pulled it out and threw it back, killing his enemy with the shout: Transfixus, sed non mortus, "Pierced, but not dead"!
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