Peace Talks snippet on Entertainment Weekly

[Mira]

Yes, but if the information is worth writing down and preserving, one has to balance risks of dissemination with risks of the info being lost.

 
  I think we must also take into account how the journals were handed down.  Whether with in a family, which would mean Merlin is Harry's great,great,great, grand something... Yikes, just what would that mean?   Or more likely handed down from master to the most worthy and trusted apprentice, it would not be done willy nilly.  You can bet that Merlin did build in safe guards so
the information would not go anywhere except to the person it was intended to go to.   It might be as simple as the language it is written in.  We are all debating what language it is written in, what if it is all in a code?  Simply put, the abilty to read them is inherited along with the journal.  That way no one else could ever read them..

[Bad Alias]

Simply put, the abilty to read them is inherited along with the journal.

If it's anything other than some sort of magic decoder ring that gets passed down with the books, then Eb is falling down on the job. I also think the Eb quote Morris posted cuts against that interpretation.

[morriswalters]

I'm assuming for my internal reasoning that Merlin is Harry, because of something Vadderung said in Cold Days.  But it isn't out of the realm of possibility that we may never know who he was and how he did what he did or where he came from.  He may merely be a plot device.  The Eb quote could be an indicator that it won't be revealed or that it will be in some kind of knowledge passed on to Harry by Eb as he dies, since it appears that Eb may have read it, or something to that effect.

[Mira]

If it's anything other than some sort of magic decoder ring that gets passed down with the books, then Eb is falling down on the job. I also think the Eb quote Morris posted cuts against that interpretation.

 Nothing so obvious as a decoder ring, something passed mentally not unlike the death curse.  When you inherit the journals the ability to read them suddenly enters your head.   Hey if Merlin built the prison on Demonreach I wouldn't put that kind of generational spell beyond what he was capable of doing.

[g33k]

Nothing so obvious as a decoder ring, something passed mentally not unlike the death curse.  When you inherit the journals the ability to read them suddenly enters your head.   Hey if Merlin built the prison on Demonreach I wouldn't put that kind of generational spell beyond what he was capable of doing.

I don't think an actual "ring" or other item was meant, just  a magical mechanism or method, something that could be passed on.

And if you want sudden magical access to language ... Gonna point (again) to Lash, who gave Harry access to 2 utterly dead languages (maybe could have been more, if there was a need ... ).

So we KNOW it's a do-able thing.  If a mortal wizard can do it at all, Merlin's our guy!  Ermmm...  If Merlin is a "mortal wizard" at all (he's a half-immortal Scion in some (most?) accounts).

[Arjan]

And if you want sudden magical access to language ... Gonna point (again) to Lash, who gave Harry access to 2 utterly dead languages (maybe could have been more, if there was a need ... ).

Those languages are utterly dead now. Lasciel was around for a long time.

Though Toot's explanation for his knowledge of Russian might apply. It might be a form of intellectus. Not something humans can get as far as we know.

[Regenbogen]

It might be possible for an experienced (old) wizard to create something like a babelfish, but maybe the creation involves a part that is against the laws of magic. Because why should the White Council use Latin as common language, if they could simply craft a translator?

[g33k]

Those languages are utterly dead now. Lasciel was around for a long time ...

But Harry wasn't.  In the brief time Harry had the coin before burying it, Lasciel embedded TWO dead languages (and a bunch of other stuff!) into Harry's brain.

If other beings can duplicate that, the language problem looks pretty easy to solve.

But I presume Jim will torture Harry with the solution, not render an easy one!

[Arjan]

But Harry wasn't.  In the brief time Harry had the coin before burying it, Lasciel embedded TWO dead languages (and a bunch of other stuff!) into Harry's brain.

If other beings can duplicate that, the language problem looks pretty easy to solve.

But I presume Jim will torture Harry with the solution, not render an easy one!

If you go that route. It means that you have to accept the power that comes with it much like Harry accepted the winter mantle. In ghost story we saw the connection between spiritual power and memories. You might say that by accepting that knowledge Harry accepted a tiny part of Lasciel.

[Mira]

Those languages are utterly dead now. Lasciel was around for a long time.

  Language doesn't die, it evolves to something else. 

[morriswalters]

But Harry wasn't.  In the brief time Harry had the coin before burying it, Lasciel embedded TWO dead languages (and a bunch of other stuff!) into Harry's brain.

Lasciel sent a copy, with full fidelity. Which theoretically had every language spoken.  It's a good thing it was done with magic since it breaks the Universe in multiple ways.

@Mira
Languages die.  Effort has to be made to preserve those languages which have too few speakers.  And in many cases that effort isn't made.  They only evolve while still being spoken or written.

[Arjan]

  Language doesn't die, it evolves to something else.

A lot of languages are in danger of dying out now. There are people who try to help: http://www.endangeredlanguages.com/

[g33k]

Lasciel sent a copy, with full fidelity...

No.

The entirety of what a Fallen Angel knows cannot possibly be encompassed within a mortal mind, and certainly included none of the powers &c.  Lash was only a tiny  fraction of Lasciel, even just a tiny fraction of her knowlege.
 

[Mira]

Languages die.  Effort has to be made to preserve those languages which have too few speakers.  And in many cases that effort isn't made.  They only evolve while still being spoken or written.

No, go to the dictionary, almost all the words and their meanings have origins in older words and older meanings, which come from older words yet..  The words didn't die, they evolved.. 

[morriswalters]

I'm not saying your wrong, but that's a poor argument in this case.  The mortal mind can't do a lot of things Jim has it do.

No, go to the dictionary, almost all the words and their meanings have origins in older words and older meanings, which come from older words yet..  The words didn't die, they evolved.. 

Prior to the discovery of the Rosetta Stone you wouldn't have found any ancient Egyptian at all. Nobody spoke it and nobody could read it.  What your saying is only true for languages with a shared alphabet. Sometimes.