When pilgrims and meet and depart from one another today, it isn’t at all uncommon for them to say “¡Buen camino!” that is, literally, “Good road!” or “Good way!” The full implication of the greeting is, “Have a good pilgrimage!”
Throughout the centuries, other greetings passed in and out of favor. There is a phrase that lingers from of old, although is no longer commonly used, but was included in the 12th Century Codex Calixtinus. One pilgrim would greet another with “¡Ultreïa!” The other would then respond “¡Et suseïa!” An additional line might then be added, “Deus adjuva nos.”
Ultreïa = “Onward” or “to the end”
Et suseïa = “And upward!” or “and beyond the end”
Deus adjuva nos = “God help us”
While “Deus adjuva nos” is straight from Latin, the first two greetings are not, originating in some lost proto-Romance language that existed for a time along the ancient Camino routes but has since faded except for small phrases like this.
The phrase is sometime printed as ultreya et suseya, or even according to Spanish usage, “ultrella y susella.”