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Roger Hooper




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PostPosted: Tue 08 Jun, 2010 5:56 pm    Post subject: Translation for sword blade inscription?         Reply with quote

Awhile back, I ran across this 17th century German rapier at the Bolk Antiques website - in my opinion, a fine looking sword.. There are two fullers on each side. Inside them is a mixed language inscription - German and Latin, and maybe something else.

On one side - God vermacht - Ich wags und

On the other side - Veritatem - Dilligate

I think a rough translation is - God bequeathes - I venture and seek truth

I have no idea what Dilligate could mean or what language it is from.

Can someone please give a more precise and complete translation?



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Timo Nieminen




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PostPosted: Tue 08 Jun, 2010 7:20 pm    Post subject: Re: Translation for sword blade inscription?         Reply with quote

Roger Hooper wrote:
I have no idea what Dilligate could mean or what language it is from.


Middle English for "delicious" (also "diligate"), but this doesn't seem appropriate here.

Perhaps, if mis-spelled(?) Latin, "Lover of truth", or "Love truth" or similar, as per "Diligite Justitiam qui judicatis terram", "Love justice, rulers of the Earth", and similar.

"In addition to being efficient, all pole arms were quite nice to look at." - Cherney Berg, A hideous history of weapons, Collier 1963.
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Ozsváth Árpád-István




Location: Romania
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PostPosted: Tue 08 Jun, 2010 10:57 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

It's latin
veritatem - truth, realistic
diligate: diligo, dilexi, dilectum - to respect, to appreciate, to love
In this case "to respect" sound reasonable.
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Sander Marechal




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PostPosted: Wed 09 Jun, 2010 7:36 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

The "Ich wags und" sounds strange. Are you sure it says "und"? "und" is German for "and". That doesn't seem right at the end of a sentence.
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Roger Hooper




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PostPosted: Wed 09 Jun, 2010 11:46 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Sander Marechal wrote:
The "Ich wags und" sounds strange. Are you sure it says "und"? "und" is German for "and". That doesn't seem right at the end of a sentence.


I don't see it as the end of a sentence but as a stimulus to turn the sword over and read the read the rest of the message. It also indicates which side you read first.

German on one side of the blade, Latin on the other

--

Ozsvath said:
diligate: diligo, dilexi, dilectum - to respect, to appreciate, to love
In this case "to respect" sound reasonable


Diligate doesn't really seem to be a word in itself, though I guess the "ate" could indicate something like a tense or verb form ( I sure wish I had taken Latin back in school)

Diligo = esteem highly, love.
Diligens = diligent, careful
another form means to bind fast, to bandage

--
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Jean Le-Palud




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PostPosted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 3:30 am    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Diligate is the imperative mood for "diligo". Veritatem diligate means Do love (or respect) truth
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Roger Hooper




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PostPosted: Sat 12 Jun, 2010 4:00 pm    Post subject:         Reply with quote

Thanks, Jean ( and everyone else who responded)

so, on one side, In German -
one fuller says God Vermacht - God bequethes, leaves us something to find
The other fuller says Ich wags und - I venture, I dare, I risk, and (?)

The other side, in Latin -
One fuller says Veritatem - truthfulness, the way things actually are
The other fuller says - Dil(l)igate - love it, respect it.
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