ARM Backup/Settei book translations/Hymmnos section
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Hymmnos
The Hymmnos
[Hymmnos], the language that is deeply related to the storyline and history of Ar tonelico. Come and take a look at the feelings contained in the Songs of the Reyvateils.
The origins of the Hymmnos script are ancient, having existed before the Father of Sound Science discovered [Sound Magic] during the First Era. While it wasn't known by the name of [Hymmnos] yet, the spells used by the shamans that were called [Moon Chanters] back then served as the starting point for the languag's development. Afterwards, Hymmnos was formatted to become the most optimized language for controlling the Tower and communicating with it, but its grammar and phonology were all based off the spells used by the shamans. It then spread throughout the world as a general-purpose language, its format suffering minute changes due to its usage in different regions and communities, and its words themselves also changing throughout the course of history. Due to this, archaisms and dialects are present in Hymmnos in a similar way to how they are present in Japanese. Additionally, the Hymmnos formats that are used as spells are the three ones explained below.
A look at the Hymmnos script
Upper lines: Uppercase script
Lower lines: Lowercase script
Hymmnos Extract
This refers to the [Songs that control the Tower], and thus hold the power to directly control Ar tonelico. Generally when someone talks about [Hymmnos], they are referring to the [Hymmnos Extracts]. A Reyvateil identifier called the [Hymn Code] is required to use it, so the Reyvateils that have them become capable of using Hymmnos Extracts after their Codes have been compared to the ones registered in the Tower's database. Using this kind of Song allows to carry out through Song Magic all sorts of actions that involve complete control and environmental manipulation, from controlling the weather, to controlling gravity and calling forth great magic that can shake the land.
Hymmnos Word
Regularly known as [Song Magic] in the Third Era, [Hymmnos Words] are the imaginary magic that is used for battles and the like. This format does nothing to the Tower itself, as the Reyvateils merely draw power from it to use magic. Anyone who is a Reyvateil is capable of using it, and by just accessing their own hearts, they can also gradually increase the variations on it. If they undergo a Dive into their Cosmospheres and craft Hymmnos Words (Songs) in the higher levels, they will be able to use much more advanced and powerful Song Magic. So in short, there are no usage restrictions and the richer the Reyvateil's heart is, the more varied her Hymmnos Words will become.
Hymmnos Spell
These are spell lines that get invoked by chanting, so they are not used as Songs, and they aren't sung by the Reyvateils either. Hymmnos Spells are instead preset lines that the humans use when they need to access and control either the Reyvateils or the Tower. While grammar-wise they are identical to the [Hymmnos Words], they differ in the fact that a Spell is formed by a character string registered inside the Tower, and by chanting that same Spell it will carry out a specific effect, reason why they are merely preset commands. It is due to this that unlike Hymmnos Words, there is no way to gradually create new Hymmnos Spells. The main use for the Hymmnos Spells is for Downloading Hymmnos Extracts and for the authentication process carried out at the Dividing Walls.
Hymmnos Dialects
Central Standard Note (Standard Dialect)
Central refers to Ar tonelico, which was the core of Song Magic in the First Era. In summary, this refers to the spells optimized for controlling the Tower. Even so, it is possible to control the Tower using other Notes. After all, this Note is no more than a global standard that was decided by the Tower Administration Bureau from Sol Ciel's capital, [El Elemia].
[Central] refers to the First Tower [Ar Tonelico], called the core of Song Magic in the First Era. In other words, the incantations optimized to control the Tower are called Central Standard Note. However, this is not to say that only this Central Standard Note can control it, and in practice it is possible to control it using any Note. That is to say, Central Standard Note is nothing more than the format that the tower administration in Sol Ciel's capital city [El Elemia] decided upon as a global standard.
Kurt Ciel Note (Ancient Language From Before the First Era)
The Kurt Ciel Note itself is the shamanic spell lines that the ancient [Moon Chanters] used to intone, which means it is the origin of Hymmnos. It has been mostly forgotten nowadays, and thus it is said to be a language of which traces barely remain. The main Notes supported by Ar tonelico are both the Central Standard Note and the Kurt Ciel Note.
Cluster Note (Cluster Region Language)
A dialect established and passed down in the region of Sol Cluster. While it is commonly called a [dialect], its actual effectiveness is almost identical to that of the [Central Standard Note]. While no people living around Ar tonelico uses this Note nowadays, it is possible that a colony centered around the Cluster Note could still exist somewhere in the world.
Alpha Note (Origin Spell)
[Alpha Note] is the term for the optimized Hymmnos words that the [Reyvateils Origins] have crafted within their own minds. Due to not being general use words, the Alpha Note words are somewhat troublesome, as if they are used anywhere but in the area of the Tower administrated by the Origin that made them, they cannot demonstrate their full power.
Ancient Metafalss Note (Sacred Language from the First Era)
A Note crafted by certain sacred teachings that enshrouded the whole world during the First Era, even though the historical details about it are still shrouded in darkness. Even so, it is quite a rarity nowadays to see the creation of a Song that has made use of this Note. That has been grounds enough for it to be said that this Note possessed a great power in the First Era, but it is still a mystery which kind of organization created it or what their goals ere.
New Testament of Pastalie (Pastalia Dialect)
Leaving aside the [Alpha Notes] that are created by the Origins, this is said to be the only Note that was created during the Third Era. Currently there are no details about it.
More details in the [Hymmno Server]:
http://game.salburg.com/hymmnoserver/
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Fundamentals of the Hymmnos Grammar
As indicated by its secondary name of [Language of Emotions], the Hymmnos language has as its most characteristic feature the fact that its sentences have words that will always express one's own emotions. These will always be the singer's (speaker's emotions), not the emotions of a second or third person. In short, it is a language whose sentences have words expressing [How do I feel about this?] melted into it as if they were water. If we compare it to languages such as modern Japanese, which [mainly communicates events] but is clumsy at [communicating emotions], we would end with an example such as the one presented below.
Was yea ra wael herr hyma ar wart
Was yea ra wael herr hyma ar wart
| | | | |
Emotion Sounds Verb Subject Secondary Verb Object
Was yea ra Was iea ra (Very gladly)
This sentence translates to: [I was very happy he listened to these words], and at the same time I say this I'm also expressing I felt as happy as if I had listened to them myself. This is done through the [Was yea ra] at the beginning, which is excluded from the translation written above and which expresses the emotions I felt toward everything that was contained between the "[]". This [Was yea ra] is called the Emotion Sounds, and its formed by three words that go from First to Third Clause. Incidentally, while in this sentence we included a subject [He], the subject of a sentence is always oneself when they are used as spells, making them first-person by default. Hymmnos doesn't handle second-person and third-person sentences very well, so the usual is to not have an explicit subject in the sentences. So basically its grammar consists of a [SVOC]-like structure that had the [S] removed from it, leaving it as [VOC] and meaning that all non-first-person sentences, which will have an explicit subject, will also have a Verb I added them. The first V will be the verb indicating what you yourself are doing, while the second V will be the verb expressing what someone else did.
■Structure of the Emotion Sounds - First to Third Clause
The First Clause of the Emotions Sounds is made up from words that express the intensity undulation in emotions: these are words such as "Was" (very strongly) or "Ma" (lightly). The Second Clause express the emotion itself, so it is composed of words such as "yea" (gladly) or "wol" (zealously). The Third Clause is made from words expressing [What do I want to do about this situation?], which is the place for words like "ga" (I want to escape this situation quickly) or "ra" (I want to remain like this). When used as spells for controlling the Tower, the Tower will read the emotional part from them and respond accordingly, such as an emotion of hurry making it open up doors faster. If no Emotion Sounds are found in the sentence, the Tower won't recognize it as a spell, but on the other hand, it is still possible to sing while purposely ommitting the Emotion Sounds from a sentence. If you want someone else who isn't the Tower to listen to your Songs, this would make it possible to transmit them not as [spells], but as [words].
■Fundamental Sentence Structure
Emotion Sounds - Verb - Object - Compound
■Fundamental Sentence Structure for Hymmnos Sentences in Second and Third Person
Emotion Sounds - Verb - [rre]*1 - Subject - Secondary Verb - Object - Compound
- 1 [rre] isthe word used to define the subject. It is always placed before the noun it affects (Central Standard Note word)
■Personal Pronouns
Person Common Form (Object) Used as Subject*2 Me mea mea (Doesn't exist) You yor yor yorr yorr You (pl.) yora yora yorra yorra Him hes hes herr herr They (masculine) hers hers herra herra She has has harr harr They (feminine) hars hars harra harra
- 2 These words are used without attaching [rre] to them when they become subjects.
The "Feelings" Contained in the 12 Songs
These are explanations and stories that Director Tsuchiya gave to the artists.※3 By reading these materials that became the core for the twelve Songs, you might be able to discover something new.
※3 Mr. Tsuchiya gave to the artists sentences and explanations (the sentences published here being extracts from them) that ended up becoming the essence of each Song. The sentences below each of the [Feelings Contained in this Song] headers are the same as the "feelings" recorded in a Hymn Crystal, and the artists took these feelings and each crafted the Songs themselves in the same way as a Reyvateil who experienced a Download. In other words, the Hymmnos are created following the same methods as the ones established in the in-game setting.
Feelings Contained in EXEC_PURGER/.#Misha extracting
The Priestess is dancing today as well, yet her magnificent
dance is not observed by human beings, but by countless souls, beasts and dragons
Built next to a rock gate is a village, said village having a duty to uphold
This was watching over the rock gate, the center of power connecting this world with the Netheworld,
And driving away from this world all the demons that came out from the rock gate.
Therefore, there was a Priestess in the village that upheld this duty
This Priestess was a Holy Dancer that was allowed to beautifully dance before the demons
Tonight the feast of the demons repeats itself again
The demons are entertained by the dance of the Priestess
Once enslaved by the dance of the Priestess, the demons fall aslep and are sent away from this world
However, if the demons ever become bored of the Priestess' dance, they will devour her right where she stands
A dance at the edge of death, a dance infused with the entirety of her own strength
When did she start having to bear this fate upon her shoulders?
So many years have passed that they cannot be counted anymore
The Priestess does not question its meaning,
Instead she just accepts her own fate and focuses solely on carrying out her duty
For her own fate is one with this world's fate
For her own death is one with this world's death
Explanation
The information Virus [ELMA-DS] is capable of easily changing back and forth from a Symphonic Power form to a material one, but this Song will render it unable to change from material to Symphonic Power form for as long as it is being sung. Misha's Purger has an Asian ethnic multi-choral music atmosphere.
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Feelings Contained in Aurica's Purger
The Sleeping Princess that Brings Disaster, such is the nickname I was bestowed with.
I call upon abnormal creatures that no one would think can exist upon this world,
At times they become demons, at times they become specters,
But when I wake up, I become a town girl like any you could find anywhere.
As such things only happened within my dreams.
If the nightmares that were born within these dreams just remained as nightmares, no problems would have come from it.
However, I was not allowed such a blessing,
As the alternate persona of mine that was born from the nightmares became real that instant and appeared upon this world.
While I still remain asleep, the nightmares continue existing in reality.
And when the nightmare becomes reality, the reality itself becomes a false world.
Even though I consulted renowned hypnotists and took powerful tranquilizers,
I could not persuade the Sleeping Princess that Brings Disaster to stop.
Because I was not a victim, but the very cause of this misfortune.
All of this was the reality I wished for deep within the completely blue ocean existing inside myself.
A long time ago I received very, very deep wounds; which left raw scars on me.
It was through these crevices that my ocean and the world entered in contact with each other.
The blue sea was swallowing up reality, yet it would never be satisfied and would continue devouring it until nothing remained.
If that is the case, at the least I will accept this.
And I will now shoulder the burden of purging and scattering away
all the beings I gave birth to that do not belong to this world.
I pledge now
That withstanding the pain as I close my wounds, I will cut off these violent demons from this world.
Explanation
If we analyze it from a Sound Science perspective, the Song Magic called the Purger is like a debugger Song Magic designed to terminate any Song Magic that ran wild due to crafting defects. As for its practical usage, when used against enemies that can easily change back and forth between a physical form and a Symphonic Power (energy) form, it allows to bind these enemies to one of these forms. The Purger sung by Aurica has a north Irish multi-choral atmosphere (which also includes Bulgarian-style singing).
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Feelings Contained in Linker
Oh young and pure-hearted girl,
Do you wish to know every single thing there is to know about me?
Forget even your own age and gain my memories, which transcend even the most ancient times,
The time is nigh for the seal to be broken,
And thus, your memories and my memories will become one.
I was created eons ago
from accepting the feelings of many people
to be the one that would rule over the entirety of this land.
However, I needed a puppet vessel
and the people to offer their feelings with all their power.
Therefore, the people had no choice but to
drag a single girl to the altar for the sacrifice.
The best singer in the village,
a girl that healed anyone with her voice was chosen in order to carry out
this sacred duty.
Oh young and pure-hearted girl, know every single thing there is to know about me.
Know every single thing that has been created upon this world.
In exchange, cast off forevermore the fate you have to die!
And cast off forevermore as well the fate you have to live!
Oh young girl, never forget about the cruel Netherworld.
This is a world in which it is a simple matter
to rob an individual of their happiness for the sake of granting everyone else happiness.
Will you bid farewell to your family, will you bid farewell to your lover,
will you cast off everyone and everything you love,
and become one with me?
The girl closed her eyes and just replied with a single phrase:
[My soul has always been one with you from the time it descended upon this world.
I desire not to live nor to die.]
Explanation
As a Song Magic used to let a Reyvateil who isn't set as Administrator to control the Tower, it will allow her to freely control all the Tower's services due to being a program that directly connects the Reyvateil with the Tower. Kyle abused this Song and intended to use it to allow the Virus Mir to take over Aurica. The image we set for its music wasn't that of a moving or righteous piece: rather, it was that of a Song sung for an [ominous ritual].
Feelings Contained in Song of the Breeze
A world that lost its land,
A world that lost its sky,
This world is finite,
And whatever might be beyond is blocked out by its limits.
Everyone says that this world is dead,
That its end is approaching,
That is a world heading solely to its own destruction.
But,
Try opening your ears in the middle of a field covered by grass,
Try opening your ears
As you look at the magnificent clouds running around the cliffs,
At the murmuring of the streams, at the rustling of the trees.
The world you live in
Isn't a world heading to its own destruction.
A single blade of grass,
and even a single bug are lives that breathe the same air we do.
Try feeling and looking at the breathing of the world,
That way, you should be able to harmonize with the pulse of this world.
Explanation
Claire sings as the antithesis that opposes a world that doesn't see Songs as anything but tools to be used to gain magical power.
While strictly speaking her songs have no magical effects, her songs tranquilize, heal and appeal to the hearts of those who listen to them. A song whose whole performance hinges on the [singer's] voice.
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Feelings Contained in Chronicle Key
I am your lullaby.
That is for your sake, that is because you are precious.
This girl was different from anyone else from the time she was born.
Ripping apart the skies and causing the land to shake, her singing voice was capable of being carried away by the wind beyond the faraway horizon.
The people trembled in fear before her, calling her the Child of God, and thus she always was alone.
However, she met a boy that dedicated himself to hunting one day, and from that point on, the Child of God changed.
She wasn't alone anymore.
The hunter said:
"Every single living creature lives equally, and dies equally.
So, what difference could there be between us?"
The girl then thought:
"I want to continue creating happiness forever with the boy.
I'll seal away this bothersome power and become a normal girl"
The girl became an itinerant singer who traveled from a city to another.
The boy became an instrumentalist and continued protecting the girl's songs.
However, the girl's power stole away even that meager happiness from her.
The Child of God was separated from the boy and forced to stand before the King.
However, before she could have even opened her mouth, she was found to be opposing the King's will.
The King robbed the girl of her freedom.
She was thrown into a dark iron cage, with everything she could do aside of singing being sealed away, and they just continued coercing her voice out of her.
Thus, many years went by.
The girl became a young maiden, while the young man that was the boy back then came to yearn for his beloved.
Despite so much time having passed, the young man's [feelings] did not change at all.
He just kept watching with eyes as sharp as those of falcons for a day in which he could take the chance to sneak into the castle and save the young maiden.
So when the day for the kingdom's festival came, he sneaked into the castle.
And they finally could meet again after so many years.
The young maiden cried, while the young man embraced her.
However, their happiness didn't even last a few hours.
They were found and captured right away, and the young man was beheaded on the spot.
The young maiden screamed, and then started singing.
The same maiden who had not uttered even a single word during ten long years.
She started singing.
The castle became a sea of flames, while the festival changed from a celebration to disaster.
The King slew the young maiden,
and as she lied beside the young man who frantically tried to protect her, she embraced him before breathing her last.
Why has the power to descend upon those who don't need it?
Why must the power release a curse upon those gentle ones who don't wish to hold authority over anyone?
Oh Child of God, Oh Child of Power.
If you detest authority and also wish for an eternal life,
Might your body be granted slumber alongside that power.
Otherwise, that power will become a calamity that will befall upon yourself.
I am your lullaby.
That is for your sake, that is because you are precious.
Explanation
The Song the Star Singer sings to seal Mir in exchange for her own freedom. The Crescent Chronicle activates its power through the singing of this Song, which seizes and binds Shadow, the virus that moves within the Tower at extremely high speeds. The song itself has the image of sealing Mir in a vigorous way, which is why it begins with a solemn nervousness as Misha decides to sing it to then give the choruses the center stage during the hook.
Feelings Contained in York of Love
If your precious one
Ever gets angry at you,
That is because they really love you.
Don't ever think that happens because they hate you,
As if she didn't care about you at all,
She wouldn't have gotten angry with such intensity.
You say you are truly thinking about your partner, but in which way are you doing that?
You say you are truly thinking about your partner's happiness, but in which way are you doing that?
Doing that isn't just filled with joyful moments,
Because you can't live just with smiles
If you want to grasp the true happiness.
If I ever get angry at you,
That is because I'm seriously thinking about you.
If I ever stop you from doing something,
That is because I'm seriously thinking about our happiness together.
That's what I'll tell you.
If people don't express what they have on their minds, they can't convey it to other people,
If people act like they don't want to know anything about anyone,
They won't ever get to know anyone else.
Why? Why do you have
to treat me so coldly?
But please, don't try to search for the reasons behind that
by looking solely at your own heart.
That's a question whose correct answer you won't be
Able to ever find no matter how much you try to think about it.
But I'll just tell you one thing,
If you have a little courage and try listening to me,
You'll find a simple answer to it right away.
That is because you are the most important person to me in the world,
That is because you are the person I love the most in the world.
Explanation
This is a message from Claire to Lyner, who was always focused on just pushing forward to carry out his missions and was forgetting how it was to have a gentle heart. As its title of [Bonds of Love] shows, its theme is [What do you mean when you say you really love me?] In the end the [voices] carry an unbelievable amount of power, especially when they sing in a solo, and Claire's songs are the kind of pieces that seem to command that power quite well.
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Feelings contained in Suspend
Oh courageous knight,
If you intend to take this book with you,
First heed my words,
The words of the
Cursed book that shan't ever be allowed to disappear,
which has seen countless battles,
which cannot be ever burnt away even within the raging flames of war.
The life that is given up in exchange for the world
Will not just experience death as compensation:
It will be forced to walk and roam within the darkness forevermore,
Without being allowed to even die,
And will instead continue suffering within a time-space gap.
They will just be struck endlessly by a lonesome darkness,
and no one will ever be able to help them.
Are your hands trembling?
If that is the case,
it would be better for you to forget about grabbing and holding me aloft.
It would be better for you to use your feet to rush back through the road to your home,
for the sake of the beloved woman that waits there, for the sake of the children that wait there.
With such meager courage you will never be able to exchange your life for the world.
The act of creating hope for the world
is serious to such an extent.
But will you still say that you will save the world despite that?
If that is the case, I will show you the way to continue living,
It is to place a curse upon myself and cast me unto the hellfire.
As my body is not even allowed to perish,
I ended becoming the cornerstone to seal away the Demon King
That drove the world to destruction.
As the seal will be broken if I die,
This land will be covered once again in demons.
When that happens, the world will desire a new sacrifice.
However, the new sacrifice does not need to be eternal,
As in the end, only one person is needed as
A sacrifice for this beautiful world.
Because when I was still an innocent girl,
I was already destined to shoulder this duty,
And even now I think it was the best choice because it meant no one else would have to suffer from these painful feelings.
But despite that, you are trying to offer yourself to me, to become my replacement,
So does that mean you will return me to the form I had as an innocent girl?
Oh courageous knight,
Don't even think about wasting the happiness you have now.
Explanation
The Song Magic that forces the Tower's functions into suspension, which also suspends Shurelia's functions due to her being synchronized with the Tower. The Song that acts as the opposite to this one is Aurica's [Re Nation], which is the one that restores the Tower's functions.
Feelings Contained in Re Nation
From the tall, tall mountains upon which the stars fall, a single bird descends.
Its wings are enshrouded in a shining white, a white clearer and brighter than the purest shade of white.
Its eyes are surely grasping a future filled with hope at the faraway distance.
A dazzling light the likes of which I had thought I would never see again.
A forbidden book hidden in a corner of a library that was decided to be sealed away for eternity.
For many millennia, this book was my shape.
For many millennia, I kept moaning within this library. I had a voice.
I have been given two feet with which I can now stand upon this land where light falls,
While the wind wins over the slender body that casts a long black shadow.
The rays of light filter through my hands' palms, and suddenly opening my mouth,
I start singing.
I had difficulty singing for the first time in many millennia, as my voice kept quivering.
But even so, there was someone there to accept my song.
That person was a young knight that had a pure white bird perched on his shoulder.
Did you break my seal?
And then you went and defeated the Demon King?
As I start remembering,
The young knight went back to his home after I stopped talking,
And it didn't even occur to me that we would ever see each other again.
And furthermore, that our reunion would be with me standing upon this
land with my own feet and with us both taken by each other's hands.
The memories from these hard, painful cursed days.
My rebirth upon this world made me so happy I started crying.
But, oh knight, did you not have anyone else who you had to protect?
Did you break the seal upon me, who had a body unable to decay or even perish,
Just because like that white bird, you just live according to your whims?
The knight replied:
"I was a person who just lived according to my whims.
But now it's different.
When I broke your seal, I placed a curse upon myself."
"You placed a curse upon yourself for my sake?"
"Yes, it was a curse of happiness: that I wish to live with you forever"
Explanation
As the Song that returns the Tower to active mode while it is in suspension, singing it will reestablish the entirety of the Tower's functions. As this Song awakened Shurelia, who had sacrificed herself to cut off (power down) the Tower's functions in order to stop Mir's rebirth, the themes it contains are [Hope] and [Rebirth]. It includes a gentle voice and melody, and a development in which the Song softly blooms like a beautiful flower around the point the hook begins. It afterwards goes back to being calm.
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Feelings Contained in Harmonious
A little bird was born in this world.
It was still a newborn little bird,
incapable of distinguishing right from left, but
She still knew how to sing.
So at the least, with this song,
I want to heal mommy,
I want to give strength to daddy.
It might not change anything,
It might not give birth to anything,
But because it can for sure give
Happy feelings to mommy and daddy,
It for sure can also
Enshroud this world with a warm light.
The little bird just chirps in her mother's bosom,
The little bird just sings while thinking of her father.
The children hummed alongside her without even thinking,
And as she watched over that sight,
The little bird cried a little.
So these children may grow to become gentle adults,
So peaceful times may last
For as long as possible in this world.
Because this irreplaceable world,
These irreplaceable lives,
The people, whose lives love each other,
The people, whose parents think of their children,
Are all unique. Because there is no other life like each of them in this world.
These gentle lives are all each
An irreplaceable treasure to this world.
The little bird just chirps while thinking of the world.
The little bird just sings while thinking of the people.
Mommy,
Are you listening to my song?
Daddy,
Are you feeling my song within you?
The song of the little bird won't give birth to anything,
But it can fill this world
To the brim with a warm light.
It can give happiness
To these irreplaceable lives
Thank you for giving me life.
The little bird cried a little.
Explanation
As the Song that Mir crafted while wishing for the happiness of the people, it calms down the hearts. Misha didn't just sing this Song to remind Mir of the feelings she used to have back then, but she also did this as an apology for having kept her sealed all this time, and she also put into it feelings of acceptance for Mir herself. As it is sung to Mir, the gentle parts at the beginning don't use Emotion Sounds.
Feelings Contained in Rig Veda
Thank you for these words you told me.
Thank you for the gazes and the love you have given me.
Breaking through the curses of the past
I have accepted everything now.
You know, I had already forgotten
That when a child brings about a disaster,
The responsibility lies
Not only on the child themselves,
But also on the parents the child had while growing up.
If the parents head west, the child will head west as well.
If the parents head east, the child will head east too.
There isn't malice of any sort in that.
They just have an innocent heart that believes in their parents,
Even if that makes them unhappy,
So if the child has been left with a negative legacy,
They will push aside both their parents and the world
And just end up living a lonely life.
Because the parents that bestow upon their children their own distorted feelings
Have as responsibility giving themselves an unworthy death for that.
But I have come to realize
That there are also children who struggle their hardest
Even within that cursed fate.
That there are children taking a single step forward
And having the courage to do so.
Releasing themselves from the curse of history,
Even if that means they have to rise in revolt against their great ancestors.
There are children that have come to realize that they must change,
Even if everyone else is suffering from the curses of the past
To the point they haven't realized it themselves, that much I can see for myself now.
That is why I have come to realize it.
Thank you for these words you told me.
Thank you for the gazes and the love you have given me.
Breaking through the curses of the past
I have accepted everything now,
I have accepted these warm hands,
filled with a love that doesn't discriminate anyone.
I will give you a present too,
So I may enshroud you with the entirety of my friendship.
Explanation
Lyner apologized to Mir for the terrible treatment she had endured at the humans' hands all that time, and by connecting his heart with hers, Mir opened her heart and crafted a Song of her own improvisation. Similarly to [Harmonious], it has the effect of giving pleasant sensations to the people. This Song serves as her way of telling Lyner and his friends [Thanks].
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Feelings Contained in Phantasmagoria
A new dawn will break upon this world.
A shining light is illuminating the trees and grass, and it is warmly embracing this whole world.
You who fought me yesterday, I who was filled with hatred toward you,
Starting today, let us become friends, let us become companions who embrace the same feelings.
The humans, the animals, the plants and even the Reyvateils,
every single living creature will coexist in a world where they will help each other.
Where no one will be more important than anyone else, where no one will oppress anyone else,
We will just live at each other's side,
We will just be at each other's side,
So that may be our greatest happiness.
We all will hold hands with each other,
So that may be our greatest happiness.
What present will you give to the children of the future?
A world without conflict, a world overflowing with greenness.
Hopeful cities, an affectionate breeze, an enshrouding rain,
Hearts that believe in each other, people who coexist with each other,
Breaths from the lives that support and help each other.
So the morning that will come after the dark and long, long night ends
will illuminate every single person in this world.
Explanation
The Song that was crafted by everyone in the world, which has unknown effects. It actually carries out a normalization of the Tower's functions and allows a hidden will who not even Shurelia knows about to carry out an orbital readjustment. As it excites feelings in a positive way through a so-called change in [atmosphere] and [climate], we could say it is a negative ion Song.
Examples of Hymmnos Sentences
(1) Was i ga exec bansh A7 ar noes!
Was i ga exec bansh A7 ar noes!
Translation: I'm very hurried. Execute the opening of the A7 Dividing Wall under my name.
(2) Ma num ra exec bansh A7 ar noes!
Ma num ra exec bansh A7 ar noes!
Translation: I'm very calm and stable emotionally. Execute the opening of the A7 Dividing Wall under my name.
Explanation: While both sentences carry out the order of opening the A7 Dividing Wall, due to the difference in Emotion Sounds, the Tower will open it faster if it's ordered like in the example in (1), while with the example (2) it will open at a normal speed.
(3) Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea, en fwal syec mea.
Ma num ra chs pic wasara mea, en fwal syec mea.
Translation: I recognize my own abundance, and thus I will proceed deeper unto myself.
Was yea ra chs mea yor en fwal en chs hymme.
Was yea ra chs mea yor en fwal en chs hymme.
Translation: By becoming a Song clad in wings, that me will become this me.
Explanation: The lines shown when a Cosmosphere is cleared together with their meaning.
(4) Was yea ra yassa yor phyue!
Was yea ra yassa yor phyue!
Translation: I feel very happy from the bottom of my heart for you having cleared this Phase.
En biron ar akata PHASE2.
En biron ar akata PHASE2.
Translation: And the story will continue in Phase 2.
Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha
Rrha ki ra tie yor ini en nha
Translation: I will restrain you,
Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel
Wee ki ra parge yor ar ciel
Translation: And detach you from the single world.
En rasse yor...
En rasse yor...
Translation: Please do your best!
Explanation: The lines shown when Phase 1 is cleared together with their meaning.
Reference: Words Used as Emotion Sounds
| First Word (Emotional Intensity) | Second Word (Concrete Emotion) | Third Word (What Do I Want to Do About this Situation?) |
|---|---|---|
| Rrha Rrha Trance-like State Was Was Very Intensely |
i i Impatience, hurry yea yea Happiness, joy |
ga ga I want to escape this situation as soon as possible ra ra I want to remain like this |
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Feelings Contained in Singing Hill ~ Harmonics EOLIA
Whenever you are overflowing with happiness,
Make these feelings into a Song and sing it out.
Put the current dazzle into a fiddle
So its light might shine upon everyone living in this world
If you ever tried to conceal your tears,
Make that pain into a Song and sing it out.
Hide the shifting times into a lute
And as you digest these swaying feelings one by one,
Someone in another place will resound with your heart,
And a single connection will become a large wheel,
Because your feelings will ride on the wind, run across the sea,
And go forth to connect together the farthest cities.
The fields of peace, the glass of tears,
The box of memories, the raw silk threads of feelings
Put power into every word you say.
The breath of the spirits which join with each other, flow across each other
and entangle with each other,
Allow their lips to quiver and whisper a melody close to your ears.
Calm yourself down and close your eyes to feel it with your whole self:
How we all melt into each other to become a single heart.
Explanation
The main theme of Ar tonelico. This Song contains the essence of what the [Power of Songs] is in Sol Ciel, and what the people of this world consider [Songs] to be.
History of Hymmnos
TL's Note: It's possible several events in this timeline aren't valid anymore, as they contradict facts established by material released later.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 348 | Year of creation for the oldest confirmed word: [chs]. Back then, they weren't considered Songs, but prayers. In other words, [chs] was the sort of word to be uttered while closing one's eyes during particularly important occasions, such as [Amen]. The people of the First Era discovered that when this word is said, high-frequency waves are emitted in a particularly high frequency range, which means it could indeed have caused miracles. The Hymmnos Language at this point in time was slightly different from how we know it today. |
| 421 | Confirmed year of the oldest string that could be called a sentence. The sentence was [Was yea ra chs hymmnos mea.] |
| 440 | Date for the oldest confirmed record and description of the [Moon Chanters]. According to documents from this time period, the [Moon Chanters] could bring both great blessings and great harm to the people using their supernatural powers. Their powers were great enough to be chronicled down in detail by the sovereigns at the time. |
| 1883 | The Moon Chanters fall into decay. As the people came to believe only in the material world they could perceive with their [eyes], they formed a [positivist society] and this caused the scientifically impossible-to-demonstrate powers used by the Moon Chanters to lose the interest of the people. As their powers were so unstable and the source they originated from was unknown, they were demoted to mere superstitions to the point even their supporters claimed that [the mysterious powers of the Moon Chanters have parted with the people's hearts]. |
| 1919 | The suzerain state Metafalss summons the Moon Chanters from around the world and uses the power of sounds as its main force. They patiently invent a unique language. |
| 2912 | The power of the Songstones is discovered by a mere Moon Chanter (the Father of Sound Science). This was a historical moment: it marks the beginning of the period called the [First Era]. By this point in time, Sound Science and Hymmnos were completely unrelated, given that the relationship between the paranormal effects brought about by the words of the [Moon Chanters] and the wave spectra hadn't been discovered yet. It is due to this that the people were desperately trying to directly generate [Dynamic D-Waves (DDW)] without the use of Hymmnos. There had been a few successful experiments that demonstrated it was possible, as they were capable of producing simple things like water. However, feats that the [Moon Chanters] of yore had carried out, such as conjuring forth illusions of a fire-breathing dragon or healing people were still impossible for them. |
| 2940 | Inauguration of the Reyvateil Project However, the Reyvateil Project at this point in time was just the creation of something that would allow the utilization of Dynamic D-Waves, but not the [creation of something that had sounds as its core]. And naturally, the idea of singing Songs wasn't part of the project either. |
| 2973 | Sound Science and Hymmnos start being researched together this year. Hymmnos was regarded as just superstitions and as an unreliable power, despite protests against it. However, it was gradually verified that the [Hymmnos] Language could cause effects upon the Songstones and that it had the potential to bring about miracles, so upon taking notice of this, research started on it. So while Hymmnos was regarded as [superstitions] to such a point that it wasn't considered as a proper research topic for so long, it finally grabbed the attention of the scientists for the first time in this year. |
| 2982 | Ultra-high frequency waves are discovered in the composition of the human voice (Static H-Waves in ranges exceeding the 20000 Hz point). Once the research started, it took a long time to mature before its first practical use: the Tower of Ar tonelico could be actually used, as the first use they gave to it was carrying out the daredevil task of recording all the Hymmnos words that had been used in the past together with their effects into an enormous database. In other words, the [Tower of Origin] was nothing more than a robot Moon Chanter that possessed a great power. |
| 3001 | Due to the discovery of the ω-Spectrum (FFT deployed in the Fourth Axis), it becomes possible to analyze Hymmnos through calculations. The ω-Spectrum is something that allows to quantify the entirety of a Song beyond the time axis. In simpler terms, it is the ability a person has to instantly remember the entirety of a Song whenever they sing it. While it only happens inside their own head, for as long as a Song is being sung, that very Song escapes from the notion of the time axis and continues existing in a state of "beginning to end" in the singer's brain until the singing has concluded. And the ω-Spectrum is what quantifies this state through the crossing of the wave frequencies and ultra-high wave frequencies (waves of feelings) in the instant the Song is being sung. Thanks to this it became possible for the Tower to craft [feelings]. |
| 3018 | El Elemia drafts the international standard for Hymmnos. The 52 character set a-z and A-Z is defined as the international standard script for Hymmnos. |
| 3022 | Change in the way of thought regarding the Reyvateils. The Reyvateil Project continued being researched from 2040 AD, but it had reached an impasse due to contradictions and technological limitations. |
| 3027 | The Reyvateil prime field starts being developed. It was around this time period that the idea of using Reyvateils as combat personnel and weapons surfaced. And while it was said as a sarcastic reply to the previous idea, they connected the Reyvateils to Ar tonelico. If they could develop a Reyvateil that was able to use the Tower's resources in a 100%, they theoretically would have a weapon that had a Tower's worth in power at her disposal. |
| 3031 | The first experimental Alpha-Reyvateil is completed. Birth of the first Reyvateil "Eolia". |
| 3040 | [Grathnode Inferia] Catastrophe |
-> Reference the Wave Science Lecture
For more details on terms such as [Dynamic H-Waves] and [Static H-Waves], please go to the [Wave Science Lecture] located in P. 114.