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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6260573" data-attributes="member: 177">Um, dude - when you read it right, that is poetry.&nbsp; There's a solid rhythm to it, a certain fluidity of sound - so, poetry.&nbsp; What's wrong with poetry?&nbsp; It is like singing the alphabet to yourself when you're alphabetizing files - poetry is an excellent mnemonic.And, look at the translation (from google): &quot;All in sight, all you heard, and in the night all the way, you alter to a rock, while the skies burn!&quot;&nbsp; That's oh-so-sensible!&nbsp; While the Latin may be &quot;classic&quot;, that really means &quot;old&quot;, rather than &quot;meaningful&quot;.&nbsp; As if we are sure that the first to utter that Latin chant was being so much different than Harry with his &quot;Flickum bikus!&quot;?&nbsp; (Which, by the way, is a fast and loose invocation for the absolute smallest of magics, not a full ritual in Harry's world.&nbsp; Before you worry about the language, make sure you're comparing apples to apples.&nbsp; No stuff, if your wizard is doing something on a six-second timescale, he can't say all that much, 'cause if he needs to talk too long, the dragon eats him.)While I can understand the desire to have a bit of consistency and meaning, you can only go so far - if you go too far with logic, you're talking science, not magic.&nbsp; Magic must, at some point, be impervious to logic, or it becomes technology, which is not mysterious at all!So, why do you have those classic word forms?&nbsp; Because the ancients figured it out, and they found the words that do it, and they get passed from teacher to student through the ages.&nbsp; Tradition.&nbsp; Done! Will some other set of words do it?&nbsp; Maybe.&nbsp; But, since magic is impervious to logic, trying to find other words that do it is time consuming and hazardous - most other sets of words will, of course, produce absolutely nothing.&nbsp; But when they produce something, it may not be what you expect, and you go up in flames.&nbsp; Or maybe another set of words wont' do it.&nbsp; Magical energies shaped the formation of Latin (or the makers of Latin shaped it so that it is easier to invoke magic with it), so it is the language of magic, and no other language will do, now.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6260573, member: 177"] Um, dude - when you read it right, that is poetry. There's a solid rhythm to it, a certain fluidity of sound - so, poetry. What's wrong with poetry? It is like singing the alphabet to yourself when you're alphabetizing files - poetry is an excellent mnemonic. And, look at the translation (from google): "All in sight, all you heard, and in the night all the way, you alter to a rock, while the skies burn!" That's oh-so-sensible! While the Latin may be "classic", that really means "old", rather than "meaningful". As if we are sure that the first to utter that Latin chant was being so much different than Harry with his "Flickum bikus!"? (Which, by the way, is a fast and loose invocation for the absolute smallest of magics, not a full ritual in Harry's world. Before you worry about the language, make sure you're comparing apples to apples. No stuff, if your wizard is doing something on a six-second timescale, he can't say all that much, 'cause if he needs to talk too long, the dragon eats him.) While I can understand the desire to have a bit of consistency and meaning, you can only go so far - if you go too far with logic, you're talking science, not magic. Magic must, at some point, be impervious to logic, or it becomes technology, which is not mysterious at all! So, why do you have those classic word forms? Because the ancients figured it out, and they found the words that do it, and they get passed from teacher to student through the ages. Tradition. Done! Will some other set of words do it? Maybe. But, since magic is impervious to logic, trying to find other words that do it is time consuming and hazardous - most other sets of words will, of course, produce absolutely nothing. But when they produce something, it may not be what you expect, and you go up in flames. Or maybe another set of words wont' do it. Magical energies shaped the formation of Latin (or the makers of Latin shaped it so that it is easier to invoke magic with it), so it is the language of magic, and no other language will do, now. [/QUOTE]

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