Don't know if this is the wrong forum, but I'm going to put it here for now. Basically, I'm currently writing my own urban fantasy novel, that is not, nor will ever be, Paranormal Romance. However, one of my main characters is a witch, and I'm having a bit of trouble coming up with any spell inspiration ideas. I don't want to just use random words that I got off the top of my head, as I want to give them meaning. Which means drawing from 'ancient' languages, such as Latin etc. Any suggestions would help me a lot. And I mean it.
The words you use would probably depend on what the spell does. Try translating somewords to latin e.g. if you have a fireball spell or similar use the latin for fire (ignis) and anoter word like sphero (bad example word) so the spell would be shpero ignis or sphere fire. or use other languages.
Merlin just relax and they will come to you Write a bit, save, then quit. Later resume, write a little more, save, then quit
Until you come up with something you think really fits, you could use "the fire spell" or something so it doesn't hold you back from writing. I agree with Mr Mr's suggestion, though.
Doesn't google have a translate program attached to it? If so write a word and put it through the translater and see what you get. Ultimately as most people don't read Latin, what you want is a word that sort of sounds like the English one, but at the same time is different enough to make it sound significant. Cheers, Greg.
I often think about spell incantations. I've seen spells that are just words in a different language and it amuses me that if someone who spoke that language walked past, they'd know exactly the correct incantation. As such, is there any reason you couldn't have the spell in english? But at the same time, it might come down to where the magic comes from, perhaps your character was trained by an Arabian Sorcerer, as such, the spells would probably be in Arabic. Did your character make up the spells? If so, they could be in the character's native tongue, or whatever language (real or fake) your character decided they should be in. Maybe they're ancient spells from some lost Gaelic Tome.
In the anime Bleach, they would recite a poem that was related to the spell. They were often poetic, deep, and obscure. Here is an example: Ruler, he who is adorned with a mask of flesh and blood. Truth and Temperance, Sight claw at thy enemy, Rip out his throat. Also, each spell had two ways of casting it. You could recite the spell's name for a quick casting, but it would be weaker. If you were able to recite the entire incantation, then your spell was much more powerful.
Or you could avoid the problem by making her spells non-vocal. Perhaps her magic is woven using a series of gestures or stances, or maybe she uses a musical instrument (like Link uses the ocarina in the Zelda games!!). She could even paint her spells onto objects using symbols. Good luck with your story!
I enjoy the poem-like spells they use in Bleach but, in my opinion, it'd be a bit of a pain to write that in a book. Imagine how many spells Merlin will have to come up with, that equals the number of poems. I don't mind see characters go about it quickly in an anime but I'd certainly be tired-out reading it in a book. I say use a translator and find some words that stand out in some language. Also, something I used to do before for fun and I find it good, letter's replacement. For example: Fire Ball: Arbafiel, RabiFerl, Erfillab (bad example, but you get my drift). I often enjoy finding names by doing this.
Hum hum....well, you could possibly have spells that are based on mythical names. Like "Aphrodite" is a love spell, "Maeve" is an intoxication spell, "Mars" is a war spell, stuff like that. Or maybe you could take the periodic table, and have the spell subject react as it would to that element. For example, "Helium" makes them float, "Chromium" makes them shiny, "hydrogen" makes them fly but vulnerable to fire, "Hafnium" makes them smaller, "Silicon" makes them able to interface with technology, and so on. Seriously, you can make up different powers like that. Just use your imagination.
See Shadowrun for inspiration. If a languague you are concened about you could do it plain English. If you want to use a different uncommon language, I suggest not using an Indo-European one, try Japanese or Hebrew for exmaple. I personally think, plain English is the best way to go. E.g., a simple "Avenging Hellfire" or "Hellfire" or something would be cool.
I love Ars Magica method. For them, In using magic to cast a spell, there's one called Technique and Form. Combine together based on what kind of effect you wish to accomplish.
You might want to have a look at European dialects, especially older ones. Witchery/druidism/wicca tends to originate from that area and, IMO, something like that would add a little extra touch of realism (assuming people could figure it out, I guess). Another thought, which is kind of lame, but maybe just say the words backwards. Fire becomes Erif, Water becomes Retaw, etc.
