translation help please

[myzterii1]

I recently found this my great grandfather's prayer book and want to be sure if I have it translated correctly. Any help greatly appreciated. Merci.


Le n’ai rien ne soit a toi, en ton nom Seigneur cette tienne servante s’oingt, et dois ester quelque iour Diable et maling Esprit comme toi.

 

[skit]

Le n’ai rien ne soit a toi, en ton nom Seigneur cette tienne servante s’oingt, et dois ester quelque iour Diable et maling Esprit comme toi.

Je n'ai rien qui ne soit à toi, en ton nom Seigneur, cette servante qui est tienne s'oint et doit (i don't understand the next)

 

[hardyweinberg]

As Skit was pointing out, the spelling and grammar are both archaic and strange. I'll post my understanding of how it would go in slightly-modernized French, then my English translation:

Je n'ai rien [qui] ne soit a toi,

This is easy: "I have nothing which is not thine"

en ton nom Seigneur cette tienne servante s'oingt,

Clear enough:

"In your name, Lord, this servant of yours anoints herself"

et [je] dois ester quelque jour Diable et malin esprit comme toi.

This is tough: "ester" could be a mis-spelling of one of several verbs ("rester", "to remain"; "jester", an old spelling of "to throw", maybe even a very archaic version of "etre", "to be". None of these makes a whole lot of sense in light of the rest of the sentence.

Also, "dois" could be first-person or second-person ("I must" or "thou must"). Neither is really correct if the subject is "your servant" (third person) but the conjunction "and" convinces me the meaning is "I must".

"quelque jour" is also unusual. My first thought was that the author meant "quelque jours", "some days", i.e., "for a little while". But I think it means "some day", as in "possibly at some future date". Though the usual way to express that would be "un jour", "one day", so I'm not very sure of this.

"malign" is also interesting. Its most literal meaning is the same as in English - "having evil intentions." Nowadays "malin" simply means "clever", but if this prayer is old, that meaning wouldn't apply.

A little punctuation would really help with the last bit, but here it is as it stands:

and I must be some day [a?] Devil and malign spirit like thee.

 

[warshez]

I got nothing that doesnt belong to you, and in your name lord ............... and should stay for some days devil and cunning spirit like you


something like that

 

[elfin_odalisque]

I recently found this my great grandfather's prayer book and want to be sure if I have it translated correctly. Any help greatly appreciated. Merci.


Le n’ai rien ne soit a toi, en ton nom Seigneur cette tienne servante s’oingt, et dois ester quelque iour Diable et maling Esprit comme toi.

Le n’ai rien ne soit a toi, en ton nom Seigneur cette tienne servante s’oingt, et dois ester quelque iour Diable et maling Esprit comme toi.

I read this approximately as;

Je n’ai rien [que] ne soit à toi. En ton nom, Seigneur, cette tienne servante s’oint, et dois ester [a dreit] quelques [j]ours [le] Diable et Esprit malin comme toi.

I have nothing that is not Thine. In your name, Lord, this Thy servant anoints herself and must stand up some days against the Devil and the wicked Spirit like Thee.

‘qui’ would be ‘who’ not ‘that’ . The verb ‘oindre’ means to anoint and in present third person singular should be ‘elle s’oint’.

The verb ‘ester’ still exists – only in the infinitive, and really only in a legal context –meaning ‘soutenir’, ‘lutter pour’. Here it clearly means, 'struggle against'.

In modern French, ‘l’esprit Malin’ , or simply ‘le Malin’, means the Devil, just like ‘le Diable’ which makes me think she means two different things – Satan and the forces of evil.

Hope this is some help.

Elle

 

[myzterii1]

Thank you all for your help