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There is also a very wide-ranging literature (in anthropology, linguistics and philology) on what are sometimes called "sacral" languages, that is, languages or dialects of languages that are reserved for the numinous sphere (religion, magic, etc.). Some of these are purely written, and I even know of one such that was never anyone's vernacular language at any point in its history. This intersects greatly with the use of writing. I know of one Medieval manuscript that contains a French translation of the Latin Canon of the Mass. A later hand has carefully erased (by scraping them off) the few lines that offer the words of institution. If memory serves me correctly, the later hand added a note that only priests are allowed to read these words. Presumably the French translation was made for laity. TCh. hurot in his huge 19th-century collection on Medieval manuscripts about grammar and language prints an interesting passage from a grammarian that remarks (again, IIRC) that the world consists of many nations, each with its own proper spoken language, and that priests constitute such a nation with its own language, namely, Latin. If any of this is useful to your work, let me know and I'll try to find time to send precise references your way. Robert On Thu, Mar 6, 2014 at 10:03 PM, Michael Moynihan <[log in to unmask] > wrote: > Claude Lecouteux, _The High Magic of Talismans and Amulets: Tradition and > Craft_ (the English edition of Le livre des talismans et des amulettes, > 2005), which is forthcoming in May, could certainly be of use. This surveys > a vast amount of material from Antiquity through the Middle Ages. > > Regards, > Michael >