swan_tower: (academia)
swan_tower ([personal profile] swan_tower) wrote2010-05-18 06:16 pm

Okay, new question

My brain is blurring out from staring at lists of Latin nouns, so I'm going to throw this a bit wider open and see what the commentariat can suggest.

In this totally hypothetical story that I'm totally not working on, there is a group of female knights under holy orders, in a secondary-world setting modeled on medieval Europe, serving the Queen of a place that will probably look like France. I want their names to form a list of the virtues they are supposed to uphold. (There is room for irony here, as they will not always live up to those names.)

What virtues would you expect to see on that list?

I need a total of twelve; suggest as many as you like. Bonus points if you can provide me with Latin nouns matching your suggestions, ending in either -tas or -ia -- I'm trying to see if I can get a satisfactory set without having to rejigger any of the Latin. (I can put together twelve on either pattern, but not without leaving out some concepts I think I'd like to include.)

[identity profile] iriththedreamer.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 01:45 am (UTC)(link)
Truth-Veritas is the easy one. I've never actually studied latin so I'm not really sure of latin for the rest of these, but Justice(Aequitas?), Mercy, Honor, Fidelity, Charity, and Piety strike me as good ones. Hope that helps?

[identity profile] lady-jade-01.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 01:57 am (UTC)(link)
Gimmie a couple of days....I'm sure my latin friends can come up with some...hehehehe

[identity profile] stormsdotter.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 01:58 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know if you've seen Quest for Camelot, but the Virtues extolled in the opening song would be perfect. (Sadly, I am about to go to bed and in no state of mind to dig out my Latin books!)

YouTube has the song, the part you want starts at 2:25: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfjW8Lz1_g8
beccastareyes: Image of Sam from LotR. Text: loyal (Default)

[personal profile] beccastareyes 2010-05-19 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
Hmm... Wisdom, Compassion, Courage, Camaraderie/Fellowship, Fealty*, Hope, Faith.

* I suppose you could combine these last two into Loyalty.

No Latin skills so I'd at most be looking stuff up in a dictionary.

[identity profile] shadowkindrd.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 02:14 am (UTC)(link)
I'm doing something similar with virtues, so here's my list (it's not that similar, trust me. Feel free to borrow. :)

Tenacity
Defiance
Confidence
Zeal
Diligance
Glory
Allegiance
Belief
Loyalty
Integrity
Patience
Preserverence

Defiance may not work for you, but it does for me. :D

[identity profile] ckastens.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 02:18 am (UTC)(link)
As a point of reference, Ramon Llull's Book on the Order of Knighthood (ca. 1275) lists three theological virtues (Faith, Hope, and Charity) and four cardinal virtues (Justice, Prudence, Fortitude, and Temperance). He also mentions in passing Chastity, Loyalty, Courage, and Humility. So there are eleven for you.
He also goes into the vices that undermine them, such as: Greed, Gluttony, Luxury, Pride, Weakness, Infidelity, etc. I can look up more of the vices if you'd like those as well, there are at least eleven of them in the book as well.

[identity profile] novalis.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
Curiosity, Love, Honesty, Sacrifice, Humility

[identity profile] anotheranon.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 03:01 am (UTC)(link)
Humility, patience.

[identity profile] kizmet-42.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 04:38 am (UTC)(link)
Well, Latin-less here - I took Greek, not Latin.

However:

Temperance
Charity
Faithfulness
Purity
Self-Restraint (I'm thinking the opposite of anger. Humility might work.)
Constancy
Gentleness (irony with the concept of lady knights)

Oh, and now I'm thinking "dames" instead of lady knights, which brings a whole new dynamic in, doesn't it?

Strength
Boldness
Forthrightness
Power (in Greek, that may be Dunamia or Dynamia)


[identity profile] jsbangs.wordpress.com (from livejournal.com) 2010-05-19 04:40 am (UTC)(link)
Caritas
Virtus - bonus points for irony if it's a woman! Though of course most readers won't be in on the joke.
Castitas - maybe Virginitas to make it more obvious
Fidelitas
Honos - too obscure? But the alternate form Honor is homographous with English
Spes - I love the way this sounds, but you might need to go with Sperantia for clarity
Justitia
Venia - or Misericordia or maybe Clementia
(deleted comment) (Show 3 comments)

[identity profile] unforth.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 10:17 am (UTC)(link)
I don't know latin, and don't have time to read others suggestions, so sorry if these are repetitious - here are some that come to mind:
chastity, nobility, bravery, restraint, sensibility, intelligence (or maybe scholarliness - or similar. Sorry. I'm tired. ;) )...that's all that's coming to mind. Hope any of it's helpful. I do think chastity is an important one given that it's medieval Europe, it's the first thing that came to mind. Oh, honesty is another one.

[identity profile] hawkwing-lb.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 11:14 am (UTC)(link)
Hope, faith, charity, justice, prudence, temperence, fidelity, courage, self-restraint, chastity, honesty, piety, humility, patience, obedience, love of country, love of wisdom.

[identity profile] shui-long.livejournal.com 2010-05-19 11:27 pm (UTC)(link)
I am not convinced that all of these are actually virtues, or appropriate, and it's a bit of a strain to get twelve, but...

iustitia
fiducia
sapientia
amicitia
constantia
intellegentia
temperantia
patientia
continentia
misericordia
oboedientia
diligentia

veritas
integritas
castitas
comitas
benignitas/liberalitas
fidelitas
honestas
hospitalitas (?)
pietas
sanitas
perspicuitas

pugnacitas (may be appropriate, but is it a virtue?)

(tenacitas is probably not a virtue - it comes close to meanness... and ditto for humilitas, which means shallowness or insignificance)