Children's Lit Titles in Latin (Pt 14) Christmas Quiz

Answer: Carmen Natalicium

"Carmen" is the classical Latin word for "song, poem, or chant" capturing the musical/poetic nature of "Carol." For "A Christmas", "Natalicium "is the standard adjective for "pertaining to Christmas" or "Christmastide" modifying "carmen."

In the 19th century, a "carol" was understood as a joyful song of celebration and/or redemption, and in 1843, Charles Dickens described the iconic all-time classic tale of Ebeneezer Scrooge with the full title, "A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas." The phrase "In Prose" indicates he is using the carol's traditional form of moral and social celebration, and applying it to his prose form. A prose story telling us about the redemption of a man through ghostly visitations that allow him to see the hope and fulfilment of realizing the spirituality of true Christmas belief.

Answer: Nix Sonmialis

"Nix" is the nominative subject, "snow." An elegant, post-classical adjective meaning "of a dream." It creates the sense of "dream-snow." Sonmialis is the nominative adjective, agreeing with "nix", and "of a dream."

Eric Carle created this interactive, lift-the-flap story about a farmer dreaming of a white Christmas. He dreams of a snowy landscape covering his animals. The "dream snow" is a soft, peaceful blanket of white that transforms the familiar farm.

Answer: Donum Magorum

"Donum" is Latin for a gift, offering, or present. Magi is actually the plural of Magus, the Latin word for a Zoroastrian priest or wise man from the East, and there were of course three Wise men who made the journey. Using the genitive plural case (Magorum) creates the possessive, "of the Magi."

O. Henry's 1905 short, bittersweet story is about love and selflessness. What makes the "bitter" part of this bittersweet story? Its ironic twist ending. You see, Della and Jim are a couple in love but they're poor. Della has only $1.87 dollars to buy Jim a Christmas present, so she sells her beautiful long hair to a wig-maker and uses the funds to buy a platinum chain for Jim's gold watch. At the same time, Jim sells his watch to buy Della an expensive set of tortoiseshell combs she had wanted for her hair. When they exchange gifts, they discover that each of them has sacrificed a treasure for the other person.

Answer: Stramentum Ultimum

One could write "Funis Qui Ruere Camelum Facit" which literally translates as "the rope/straw that makes the camel fall down" if one wanted to express the full meaning of the idiom "the last straw", but it's probably more consistent to simply translate "the last straw" literally and let the reader infer that it means the same as the idiom, so we would write: "Stramentum (straw) Ultimum (last)". But there's another good reason, to use the simpler form because then it retains the double meaning the story offers: the exact piece of straw in the story is not a burdensome gift at all; it's a humble offering from a child meant to soften the baby's bed.

Fredrick H. Thury's Christmas story is about an old, grumpy camel named Hoshmakaka who is chosen to carry gifts to the baby Jesus in Bethlehem. As he travels, people add more and more presents to his load until his strength is nearly gone. Finally, a child approaches with one last gift-a single piece of straw to soften the baby's bed. Hoshmakaka accepts it, and falls to his knees, overwhelmed. Kneeling by the manger, the baby Jesus reaches out and touches him, inspiring Hoshmakaka to feel the greatness of his task.

Answer: Nux Crepans et Rex Murium

"The Nutcracker" would be "Nux Crepans" meaning "the nut-cracking thing/person." "Crepans" is a present participle from "crepo" (to crack or burst). "And" is "et", and "The Mouse King" translates as "Rex Murium" meaning "King of the Mice." "Rex" means "king", and "Murium" is the genitive plural of mus (mouse).

This story by E.T.A. Hoffmann was written in 1816 and formed the basis of the famous ballet by Tchaikovsky, a popular event seen by people every year at Christmas. On Christmas Eve, little Marie Stahlbaum's godfather, Drosselmeier, gives her a wooden nutcracker. When her brother accidentally breaks it, Marie takes extra loving care of the toy. That night, Marie witnesses the Nutcracker come to life and lead all her toys in a battle against an army of mice led by a seven-headed Mouse King.

Answer: Oliva Alia Tarandus

Here is an example in which a translation into Latin loses the fun of the title's pun. In English, "Olive the other reindeer" plays upon the lyric "all of the other reindeer" from the song "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." So okay, let's ruin that bit of fun by translating it into Latin. First the last part-"the Other Reindeer". "Alia" is the feminine singular form of "alius" meaning "other". And then "Reindeer" could be "Tarandrus", the classical Latin word for reindeer, that Roman authors like Julius Caesar used in his "Commentaries on the Gallic War."
Now for the first part-"Olive". We could if we chose invent a non-existent name like "Ceteriomnes" which would be a compound name made from the words "ceteri" and "omnes" which means "all of the other", and then we'd drop "Alia" from the second part but it all seems like a fruitless translation, since it doesn't even offer a pun for all that effort. Best to just use the name "Oliva" meaning "Olive."

The 1997 book by Vivian Walsh & J. Otto Seibold is about a dog named Olive who thinks she's reindeer, (she misunderstood the lyric upon hearing the Rudolph song), and heads up to the North Pole to help Santa Claus.

Answer: Elige Pinum

"Elige" meaning "Pick or choose" is a standard translation, and "Pinum" is the most specific choice for "Pine tree" (genus Pinus, like a Scots pine).

Patricia Toht's Christmas story relates how a family of four joyously heads to a Christmas tree lot, to pick out an ideal tree to bring home. When they decide upon one, they tie it to the top of their car, and transport it home where they set it up indoors, trimming the trunk and watering it. They have a tree-decorating party, inviting friends over.

Answer: Cursus Polarīs

"Cursus" is the masculine noun, for a journey, or swift movement, capturing the motion of a train's journey, or you could choose the more literal "Tramen" meaning "rail." "Polarīs" is the adjective meaning belonging to the pole (north or south), modifying "Cursus" to specify the destination.

This classic 1985 Caldecott Medal winner by Chris Van Allsburg describes a magical train ride to the North Pole for a doubting boy, who is surprised to discover a train waiting for him to transport him to the North Pole where he meets Santa Claus. Over 7 million copies were sold and it was adapted into a popular movie.

Answer: Locus Parvulo

"Locus" means "a place, spot, or room" and "Parvulo" is the dative case of parvulus ("a very small child, little one"). The dative case answers the question "to whom?" or "for whom?" in relation to the verb's action, and so here it expresses the "for" "a little one".

Martin Waddell's 2004 nativity story is told through the eyes of the animals at the stable on the eve of the baby Jesus' birth. Kind Ox welcomes the other animals into his stable on a cold winter's night: a tired old dog, a shivering cat and mouse, and a lost donkey led by a man named Joseph arrives, carrying Mary, all take shelter.

Answer: Lupusgloriae, Tarandus Naso Rubro

The etymology of the name "Rudolph" is from the Old High German "Hrodulf", meaning "fame-wolf," "glory-wolf". "Lupus" (masculine) is the universal, classical Latin for "wolf" and "Gloriae" means "fame, renown, glorious reputation." So, the name Rudolph, meaning glory-wolf becomes "Lupusgloriae" in Latin. "Tarandus" is "reindeer" in classical Latin, and "Naso Rubro" is the most naturally expressed Latin translation of "red-nosed" using the ablative of description: "with a red nose".

Robert L. May's 1939 iconic story originated as a Montgomery Ward department store giveaway, and since has become one of the most famous Christmas stories. A misfit reindeer winds up saving Christmas with his glowing nose, allowing Santa's reindeer team to see through the foggy night. See the 1964 Rankin-Bass animated adaptation-it'll change your life.