Re: Thinking in German


alanwatkinsuk@xxxxxxx wrote:
> >
> Never get into:
>
> Czech
> J.R.R.Tolkien: Hobit aneb cesta tam a zase spatky, Odeon, Praha 1991.
> Translated by Frantisek Vrba.
>
> Slovak
> J.R.R.Tolkien: Hobbiti. Mlade leta, Bratislava 1973. Translated by
> Viktor Krupa.
>
> Rivendell is Roklinka in the Czech version, Laznikobvci in the Slovak
> version.
>
> Nuff said?
>

Ahoj, Alan. Jak se mate? I can understand the gist of Czech if it's
written down but I can only speak enough to ask for directions, order
food and ask for a VAT receipt! I'm in Praha 2 or 3 times a year to
negotiate business contracts and I simply adore the place.

Totally digressing onto bad Tolkien translations, I don't agree with
the translation of proper names (even though JRR himself approved). In
the German translation we get Bruchtal for Rivendell, das Auenland for
The Shire, Hobbingen for Hobbiton etc- it irritates me.

The French version isn't much better - their lead character is Frodon
Sacquet who lives in Hobbitebourg in La Comté and Rivendell is
translated as Fondcombe.

And in Italian - Rivendell is Gran Burrone (where they hold the
Consiglio di Elrond) and poor Pippin becomes Pipino. Bloody
translators.......

The French word for troll is also "troll" but in Italian, the Tolkien
trolls are translated as "i Vagabondi" - don't ask me why.

Thank God they don't try to translate proper German names into English
in opera - or Siegmund would become "Victory Mouth".....

OK - enough silliness for tonight, I'm off to bed

Namaarie, mellon nin

Mrs T xx (who also confesses to a basic knowledge of Sindarin)

.

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