Fiolxhilde Speaks
[Fiolxhilde reveals the occult art of conversing & traveling with certain ‘wise spirits’ encountered in Iceland]
Eo natura cupidissimus perdiscendi nova quaesivi vicissim ex ipsa de suis artibus et quos earum habuisset magistros in gente tantum a ceteris diremta. Tunc illa quodam die, spatio ad loquendum sumto, rem omnem a primis initiis repetiit in hunc fere modum:
By nature I am passionate to learn new things, and so I asked in turn about her arts and of those who are considered masters of those arts among the people, far apart from the others. Then one day she chose the time to talk about everything she recalled, from the very beginning. She spoke as follows:
Prospectum est, Duracote fili, non ceteris solum provinciis, in quas venisti, sed nostrae etiam patriae. Etsi enim nos urgent frigora et tenebrae aliaque incommoda, quae nunc demum sentio, postquam ex te felicitatem intellexi regionum ceterarum, at nos in geniis abundamus ^33, nobis praesto sunt sapientissimi spiritus ^34, qui tantam lucem regionum ceterarum strepitumque hominum perosi nostras appetunt umbras et nobiscum familiariter conversantur.
“Sight is granted, Duracotus my son, not only in the other provinces, where you have come from, but also here in our homeland. Even though we are beset by winter’s cold and darkness, and other discomforts that I only now understand after hearing from you about the good fortune of other countries, our ingenuity abounds. At our service are wise spirits, who detest the light of other lands and the uproar of their peoples. They seek out our shadows, and converse with us on friendly terms.
Sunt ex iis praecipui novem ^35; ex quibus unus ^36, mihi peculiariter notus et vel maxime omnium mitis atque innoxius ^37, viginti et uno characteribus evocatur ^38, cujus ope non raro momento temporia in alias oras ^39, quas ipsi dixero, transportor, aut si ab aliquibus longinquitate absterreor ^40, quaerendo de iis tantum proficio, quantum si praesens ibi essem ^41, qui pleraque eorum, quae tu vel oculis notasti, vel fando accepisti, vel ex libris hausisti, eodem quo tu modo mihi recensuit.
“Among them, nine are foremost; of these, one is best known to me – the most gentle and kindest of all. He is summoned by 21 symbols. Through his power I am often transported, in an instant of time, to other shores – anywhere I ask, but if I be frightened by the distance, I learn as much by asking questions as if I were present there. Many of the things that you have seen with your own eyes, or heard reported, or taken from books, he recounted to me just as you have.
Imprimis ejus, de qua toties mihi dixit, regionis te velim spectatorem fieri, me comite, valde enim mira sunt, quae de ea narrat. Levaniam: indigitavit ^42.
“He has spoken to me often of one place more than any other: a region of great wonder, which I want you to observe as my companion.”
And then she spoke the name: “Levania”
The Somnium Project 