Translations of The Lord of the Rings

Last updated

Translations of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings have been made, with varying degrees of success, into dozens of languages from the original English. Tolkien, an expert in Germanic philology, scrutinized those that were under preparation during his lifetime, and made comments on early translations that reflect both the translation process and his work. To aid translators, and because he was unhappy with the work of early translators such as Åke Ohlmarks with his Swedish version, [1] Tolkien wrote his Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings in 1967 (released publicly in 1975 in A Tolkien Compass , and in full in 2005, in The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion ).

Contents

Challenges to translation

According to Tom Shippey, Tolkien invented parts of Middle-earth to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using different European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium. Linguistic Map of Middle-Earth.svg
According to Tom Shippey, Tolkien invented parts of Middle-earth to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using different European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium.

Because The Lord of the Rings purports to be a translation of the Red Book of Westmarch , with the English language in the translation purporting to represent the Westron of the original, translators need to imitate the complex interplay between English and non-English (Elvish) nomenclature in the book. An additional difficulty is the presence of proper names in Old English and Old Norse. Tolkien chose to use Old English for names and some words of the Rohirrim, for example, "Théoden", King of Rohan: his name is simply a transliteration of Old English þēoden, "king". Similarly, he used Old Norse for "external" names of his Dwarves, such as "Thorin Oakenshield": both Þorinn and Eikinskjaldi are Dwarf-names from the Völuspá . [2]

The relation of such names to English, within the history of English, and of the Germanic languages more generally, is intended to reflect the relation of the purported "original" names to Westron. The Tolkien scholar Tom Shippey states that Tolkien began with the words and names that he wanted, and invented parts of Middle-earth to resolve the linguistic puzzle he had accidentally created by using different European languages for those of peoples in his legendarium. [2]

Early translations

The first translations of The Lord of the Rings to be prepared were those in Dutch (1956–7, Max Schuchart) and Swedish (1959–60, Åke Ohlmarks). Both took considerable liberties with their material, apparent already from the rendition of the title, In de Ban van de Ring "Under the Spell of the Ring" and Härskarringen "The Ruling Ring", respectively. [3]

Most later translations, beginning with the Polish Władca Pierścieni in 1961, render the title more literally. Later non-literal title translations however include the Japanese 指輪物語 (Hepburn: Yubiwa Monogatari) "Tale of the Ring", Finnish Taru Sormusten Herrasta "Legend of the Lord of the Rings", the first Norwegian translation Krigen om ringen "The War of the Ring", Icelandic Hringadróttinssaga "The Lord of the Rings' Saga", and West Frisian, Master fan Alle Ringen "Master of All Rings".

Tolkien in both the Dutch and the Swedish cases objected strongly while the translations were in progress, in particular regarding the adaptation of proper names. Despite lengthy correspondence, Tolkien did not succeed in convincing the Dutch translator of his objections, and was similarly frustrated in the Swedish case.

Dutch (Schuchart) 1956–1957

On Max Schuchart's Dutch version, In de Ban van de Ring , Tolkien wrote

In principle I object as strongly as is possible to the 'translation' of the nomenclature at all (even by a competent person). I wonder why a translator should think himself called on or entitled to do any such thing. That this is an 'imaginary' world does not give him any right to remodel it according to his fancy, even if he could in a few months create a new coherent structure which it took me years to work out. [...] May I say at once that I will not tolerate any similar tinkering with the personal nomenclature. Nor with the name/word Hobbit .

3 July 1956, to Rayner Unwin, Letters, #190, pp. 249–51

Despite this, the Dutch version stayed largely unchanged except for the names of certain characters. Schuchart's translation remains, as of 2008, the only authorized translation in Dutch. An unauthorized translation was made by E.J. Mensink-van Warmelo in the late 1970s. [4] [5] A revision of Schuchart's translation was initiated in 2003, but the publisher Uitgeverij M decided against publishing it.

Swedish

Ohlmarks 1959–1961

Åke Ohlmarks was a prolific translator, who during his career published Swedish versions of Shakespeare, Dante and the Qur'an as well as Tolkien. Tolkien intensely disliked Ohlmarks' translation of The Lord of the Rings (which Ohlmarks named Härskarringen, 'The Ruling Ring'), however, more so even than Schuchart's Dutch translation. Ohlmarks' translation remained the only one available in Swedish for forty years, and until his death in 1984, Ohlmarks remained impervious to the numerous complaints and calls for revision from readers. [3]

After The Silmarillion was published in 1977, Christopher Tolkien consented to a Swedish translation only on the condition that Ohlmarks have nothing to do with it. After a fire at his home in 1982, Ohlmarks incoherently charged Tolkien fans with arson, and subsequently published the book Tolkien och den svarta magin (Tolkien and the black magic) - a book connecting Tolkien with "black magic" and Nazism. [6]

Andersson and Olsson 2005

Ohlmarks' translation was superseded only in 2005, by a new translation by Erik Andersson  [ sv ] with poems interpreted by Lotta Olsson. The work was retitled Ringarnas herre, 'The Rings' Lord'. [7]

A Sample of Ohlmarks and Andersson's translations [3]
TolkienOhlmarks 1959–1961Andersson and Olsson 2005
Indeed, few Hobbits had ever seen or sailed upon the Sea, and fewer still had ever returned to report it.Det var ju så, att sjömanslivet alls inte passade samman med hobernas allmänna läggning. Ytterst få hade sett havet, ännu färre befarit det, och av dem som verkligen seglat hade blott ett försvinnande fåtal återvänt och kunnat berätta om vad de upplevat.Över huvud taget var det få hobbitar som hade sett havet eller färdats på det, och ännu färre hade återvänt och berättat om det.
(Translation of samples:)It was the case that a sailor's life did not fit in at all with the general disposition of the hobbits. Extremely few had seen the sea, even fewer had sailed it, and of those who really had sailed, only a vanishingly few had returned and been able to tell what they had experienced.Indeed there were few hobbits who had seen the sea or travelled on it, and even fewer had returned and told about it.

German

Carroux 1969–1970

As a reaction to his disappointment with the Dutch and Swedish translations, Tolkien wrote his Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings, gaining himself a larger influence on translations into other Germanic languages, namely Danish and German. Frankfurt-based Margaret Carroux qualified for the German version published by Klett-Cotta on basis of her translation of Tolkien's short story "Leaf by Niggle", that she had translated solely to give him a sample of her work. In her preparation for The Lord of the Rings (Der Herr der Ringe), unlike Schluchart and Ohlmarks, Carroux even visited Tolkien in Oxford with a suitcase full of his published works and questions about them. Yet, mainly due to a cold that both Tolkien and his wife were going through at the time, the meeting was later described as inhospitable and 'chilly', Tolkien being 'harsh', 'taciturn' and 'severely ill'. [8] Later correspondences with Carroux turned out to be much more encouraging with Tolkien being generally very pleased with Carroux's work, with the sole exception of the poems and songs, that would eventually be translated by poet Ebba-Margareta von Freymann.

On several instances Carroux departed from the literal, e.g. for the Shire . Tolkien endorsed the Gouw of the Dutch version and remarked that German Gau "seems to me suitable in Ger., unless its recent use in regional reorganization under Hitler has spoilt this very old word." Carroux decided that this was indeed the case, and opted for the more artificial Auenland "meadow-land" instead.

"Elf" was rendered with linguistic care as Elb, the plural Elves as Elben. The choice reflects Tolkien's suggestion:

With regard to German: I would suggest with diffidence that Elf, elfen, are perhaps to be avoided as equivalents of Elf, elven. Elf is, I believe, borrowed from English, and may retain some of the associations of a kind that I should particularly desire not to be present (if possible): e.g. those of Drayton or of A Midsummer Night's Dream [...] I wonder whether the word Alp (or better still the form Alb, still given in modern dictionaries as a variant, which is historically the more normal form) could not be used. It is the true cognate of English elf [...] The Elves of the 'mythology' of The L.R. are not actually equatable with the folklore traditions about 'fairies', and as I have said (Appendix F[...]) I should prefer the oldest available form of the name to be used, and leave it to acquire its own associations for readers of my tale.

The Elb chosen by Carroux instead of the suggested Alb is a construction by Jacob Grimm in his 1835 Teutonic Mythology . Grimm, like Tolkien, notes that German Elf is a loan from the English, and argues for the revival of the original German cognate, which survived in the adjective elbisch and in composed names like Elbegast. Grimm also notes that the correct plural of Elb would be Elbe, but Carroux does not follow in this and uses the plural Elben, denounced by Grimm as incorrect in his German Dictionary (s.v. Alb).

On many instances, though, the German version resorts to literal translations. Rivendell Tolkien considered as a particularly difficult case, and recommended to "translate by sense, or retain as seems best.", but Carroux opted for the literal Bruchtal. The name "Baggins" was rendered as Beutlin (containing the word Beutel meaning "bag").

Another case where Carroux translated the meaning rather than the actual words was the name of Shelob , formed from the pronoun she plus lob , a dialectal word for "spider" (according to Tolkien; the OED is only aware of its occurrence in Middle English). Tolkien gives no prescription; he merely notes that "The Dutch version retains Shelob, but the Swed. has the rather feeble Honmonstret ["she-monster"]." Carroux chose Kankra, an artificial feminine formation from dialectal German Kanker ('Daddy-longlegs', cognate to cancer ).

Krege 2000

In 2000, Klett-Cotta published a new translation of The Lord of the Rings by Wolfgang Krege, not as a replacement of the old one, which throughout the years had gained a loyal following, but rather as an accompaniment. The new version focuses more on the differences in linguistic style that Tolkien employed to set apart the more biblical prose and the high style of elvish and human 'nobility' from the more colloquial 1940s English spoken by the Hobbits, something that he thought Carroux's more unified version was lacking. Krege's translation met mixed reception, the general argument of critics being that he took too many liberties in modernising the language of the Hobbits with the linguistic style of late 90s German that not only subverted the epic style of the narrative as a whole but also went beyond the stylistic differences intended by Tolkien. Klett-Cotta has continued to offer and continuously republishes both translations. Yet, for the 2012 republication of Krege's version, his most controversial decisions were partly reverted.

Russian

Interest in Russia awoke soon after the publication of The Lord of the Rings in 1955, long before the first Russian translation. A first effort at publication was made in the 1960s, but in order to comply with literary censorship in Soviet Russia, the work was considerably abridged and transformed. The ideological danger of the book was seen in the "hidden allegory 'of the conflict between the individualist West and the totalitarian, Communist East'", while, ironically, Marxist readings in the West conversely identified Tolkien's anti-industrial ideas as presented in the Shire with primitive communism, in a struggle with the evil forces of technocratic capitalism. [9] [10]

Russian translations of The Lord of the Rings circulated as samizdat and were published only after the collapse of the Soviet Union, but then in great numbers; no less than ten official Russian translations appeared between 1990 and 2005. [9] Tolkien fandom grew especially rapidly during the early 1990s at Moscow State University. Many unofficial and incomplete translations are in circulation. The first translation appearing in print was that by Kistyakovski and Muravyov (volume 1, published 1982).

Hebrew

The rendering of "Elves" in the Hebrew translation as "Children of Lilith" was changed to the transliteration "Elefs" to avoid the connotations of Lilith, mother of all demons. Painting of Lilith (1887) by John Collier Lilith (John Collier painting).jpg
The rendering of "Elves" in the Hebrew translation as "Children of Lilith" was changed to the transliteration "Elefs" to avoid the connotations of Lilith, mother of all demons. Painting of Lilith (1887) by John Collier

The first translation of The Lord of the Rings into Hebrew (שר הטבעות, Sar ha-Tabbaot) was done by Canaanite movement member Ruth Livnit, aided by Uriel Ofek as the translator of the verse. The 1977 version was considered a unique book for the sort of Hebrew that it used, until it was revised by Dr. Emanuel Lottem according to the second English edition, although still under the name of the previous translators, with Lottem as merely "The editor". [12]

The difference between the two versions is clear in the translation of names. "Elves", for an example, was first translated as "בני לילית" (Bneyi Lilith, i.e. the "Children of Lilith") but in the new edition was transcribed in the form of "Elefs" maintained through Yiddish as "עלף". The change was made because "Bneyi Lilith" essentially relates to the Babylonian-derived Jewish folklore character of Lilith, mother of all demons, an inappropriate name for Tolkien's Elves. [11] Since all seven appendices and part of the foreword were dropped in the first edition, the rules of transcription therein were not kept. In the New edition Dr. Lottem translated the appendices by himself, and transcribed names according to the instructions therein. Furthermore, the old translation was made without any connection to the rest of Tolkien's mythological context, not The Silmarillion nor even The Hobbit. Parts of the story relating to events mentioned in the above books were not understood and therefore either translated inaccurately, or even dropped completely. There are major inconsistencies in transcription or in repetitions of similar text within the story, especially in the verse. [13]

Tolkien's Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings

The Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings is Tolkien's guideline on the nomenclature in The Lord of the Rings compiled in 1966 to 1967, intended for the benefit of translators, especially for translations into Germanic languages. The first translations to profit from the guideline were those into Danish (Ida Nyrop Ludvigsen) and German (Margaret Carroux), both appearing 1972.

Frustrated by his experience with Schuchart's Dutch and Ohlmarks's Swedish translations, Tolkien asked that

when any further translations are negotiated, [...] I should be consulted at an early stage. [...] After all, I charge nothing, and can save a translator a good deal of time and puzzling; and if consulted at an early stage my remarks will appear far less in the light of peevish criticisms.

Letter of 7 December 1957 to Rayner Unwin, Letters , p. 263

With a view to the planned Danish translation, Tolkien decided to take action in order to avoid similar disappointments in the future. On 2 January 1967, he wrote to Otto B. Lindhardt, of the Danish publisher Gyldendals Bibliotek:

I have therefore recently been engaged in making, and have nearly completed, a commentary on the names in this story, with explanations and suggestions for the use of a translator, having especially in mind Danish and German.

Tolkien-George Allen & Unwin archive, HarperCollins, cited after Hammond and Scull 2005

Photocopies of this "commentary" were sent to translators of The Lord of the Rings by Allen & Unwin from 1967. After Tolkien's death, it was published as Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings, edited by Christopher Tolkien in Jared Lobdell's A Tolkien Compass (1975). Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull (2005) have newly transcribed and slightly edited Tolkien's typescript, and re-published it under the title of Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings in their book The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion .

Tolkien uses the abbreviations CS for "Common Speech, in original text represented by English", and LT for the target language of the translation. His approach is the prescription that if in doubt, a proper name should not be altered but left as it appears in the English original:

All names not in the following list should be left entirely unchanged in any language used in translation (LT), except that inflexional s, es should be rendered according to the grammar of the LT.

The names in English form, such as Dead Marshes , should in Tolkien's view be translated straightforwardly, while the names in Elvish should be left unchanged. The difficult cases are those names where

the author [Tolkien], acting as translator of Elvish names already devised and used in this book or elsewhere, has taken pains to produce a CS name that is both a translation and also (to English ears) a euphonious name of familiar English style, even if it does not actually occur in England.

An example is Rivendell , the translation of Sindarin Imladris "Glen of the Cleft", or Westernesse , the translation of Númenor . The list gives suggestions for "old, obsolescent, or dialectal words in the Scandinavian and German languages".

Ida Nyrop Ludvigsen's Danish and Margaret Carroux's German translations were the only ones profiting from Tolkien's "commentary" to be published before Tolkien's death in 1973.

List of translations

The number of languages into which Tolkien's works has been translated is subject to some debate since the European and Brazilian dialects of Portuguese are sometimes counted separately, as are the Nynorsk and Bokmål forms of Norwegian and Traditional and Simplified Chinese editions. Elrond's Library, as of its last updating in 2019, explicitly lists 87 translations in 57 languages for which translations of The Lord of the Rings exist. [14]

Comparatively few translations appeared during Tolkien's lifetime: when he died on 2 September 1973, the Dutch, Swedish, Polish, Italian, Danish, German and French translations had been published completely, and the Japanese and Finnish ones in part. The Russian translations are a special case because many unpublished and unauthorized versions circulated in the 1970s and 1980s Soviet Union; these were gradually published from the 1990s onwards.[ citation needed ]

LanguageTitleYearTranslatorPublisherISBN
Dutch In de Ban van de Ring1957Max SchuchartHet Spectrum, Utrecht
Swedish Härskarringen1959 to 1961Åke OhlmarksAlmqvist & Wiksell, Stockholm 978-91-1-300998-8
Polish Władca Pierścieni1961 to 1963Maria Skibniewska (poems by Włodzimierz Lewik and Andrzej Nowicki)Czytelnik, Warsaw
Italian Il Signore degli Anelli1967 to 1970 Vittoria Alliata di Villafranca Bompiani, Milan 9788845210273
Danish Ringenes Herre1968 to 1972 Ida Nyrop Ludvigsen [15] Gyldendal, Copenhagen 978-87-02-04320-4
German Der Herr der Ringe1969 to 1970Margaret Carroux and Ebba-Margareta von Freymann (poems)Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 978-3-608-93666-7
French Le Seigneur des anneaux1972 to 1973Francis LedouxChristian Bourgois 9782266201728
Japanese Yubiwa Monogatari (指輪物語, lit. "The tale of the Ring(s)")1972 to 1975Teiji Seta (瀬田貞二) and Akiko Tanaka (田中明子)Hyouronsha(評論社), Tokyo 978-4-566-02350-5, 978-4-566-02351-2, 978-4-566-02352-9
Finnish Taru sormusten herrasta1973 to 1975 Kersti Juva, Eila Pennanen, Panu Pekkanen
Norwegian (Bokmål) Krigen om ringen1973 to 1975Nils WerenskioldTiden Norsk Forlag 82-10-00816-1, 82-10-00930-3, 82-10-01096-4
Portuguese (BRA) O Senhor dos Anéis1974 to 1979António Rocha and Alberto Monjardim (unauthorized)Publicações Europa-América 978-972-1-04102-8, 978-972-1-04144-8, 978-972-1-04154-7
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets1976 (publ. 2002)A. A. GruzbergU-Faktoriya, Yekaterinburg 5-94799-164-0
Portuguese (POR) O Senhor dos Anéis1977Fernanda Pinto RodriguesPublicações Europa-América 972-1-04144-0, 972-1-04154-8, 972-1-04102-5
Spanish El Señor de los Anillos1977 to 1980Luis Domènech (Francisco Porrúa) and Matilde HorneMinotauro Buenos Aires 84-450-7032-0 (Minotauro)
Greek Ο Άρχοντας των ΔαχτυλιδιώνO Archontas ton Dachtylidion1978Eugenia Chatzithanasi-KolliaKedros, Athens 960-04-0308-2
Hebrew שר הטבעותSar ha-Tabbaot1979 to 1980Ruth LivnitZmora-Bitan, Tel Aviv
Norwegian (Bokmål) Ringenes herre1980 to 1981Torstein Bugge HøverstadTiden Norsk Forlag 978-82-10-04449-6
Hungarian A Gyűrűk Ura1981Chapters 1-11: Ádám Réz
Rest: Árpád Göncz and Dezső Tandori (poems)
Gondolat Könyvkiadó (1981)
Európa Könyvkiadó (since 1990), Budapest
First: 963-280-963-7, 963-280-964-5, 963-280-965-3
2008 reworked: 978-963-07-8646-1 [16]
Serbian Господар ПрстеноваGospodar Prstenova1981 [17] Zoran StanojevićNolit, Belgrade
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets1982 to 1992V. S. Muravev (2nd to 6th books, poems), A. A. Kistyakovskij (first book)Raduga, Moscow 5-05-002255-X, 5-05-002397-1, 5-05-004017-5
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets1984 (publ. 1991)H. V. Grigoreva and V. I. Grushetskij and I. B. Grinshpun (poems)Severo-Zapad 5-7183-0003-8, 5-352-00312-4 (Azbuka)
Catalan El Senyor dels Anells1986 to 1988Francesc ParcerisasVicens Vives, Barcelona 84-316-6868-7
Korean 반지 이야기 (Banji iyagi), (reprinted as 완역 반지제왕 (Wanyeok Banjijewang))1988 to 1992강영운 (Kang Yeong-un)Dongsuh Press, Seoul
Armenian ՊահապաննէրըPahapannērë1989Emma MakarianArevnik, Yerevan Only The Fellowship of the Ring, no ISBN
Korean 반지전쟁 (Banjijeonjaeng), (reprinted as 반지의 제왕 (Banjieui Jewang))1990김번, 김보원, 이미애 (Kim Beon, Kim Bo-won, Yee Mi-ae)Doseochulpan Yemun, Seoul 8986834200, 8986834219, 8986834227
Russian Властители Колецvlastiteli kolets1990Z.A. Bobyr'Molodaya Gvardyr 5235019466, 5235019458 (Condensed translation with Hobbit & I in first volume and II & III in second volume)
Bulgarian Властелинът на пръстенитеVlastelinăt na prăstenite1990 to 1991Lyubomir NikolovNarodna Kultura Sofia
Czech Pán prstenů1990 to 1992Stanislava PošustováMladá fronta, Prague 80-204-0105-9, 80-204-0194-6, 80-204-0259-4
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets1991V.A.M. (Valeriya Aleksandrovna Matorina)Amur, Khabarovsk
Korean 마술반지 (Masulbanji)1992 to 1994이동진 (Lee Dong-jin)Pauline (Baorottal), Seoul Only The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers. 8933103422 (first volume)
Icelandic Hringadróttinssaga1993 to 1995, 2nd ed. 2003Þorsteinn Thorarensen and Geir Kristjánsson (poems)Fjölvi, Reykjavík 9979-58-364-9, 9979-58-366-5, 9979-58-365-7
Lithuanian Žiedų valdovas1994 Andrius Tapinas and Jonas Strielkūnas Alma littera, Vilnius 9986-02-038-7, 9986-02-487-0, 9986-02-959-7
Portuguese (BRA) O Senhor dos Anéis1994Lenita Maria Rimoli Esteves and Almiro PisettaMartins Fontes 978-85-3360-292-2, 978-85-3360-314-1, 978-85-3360-315-8
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets1994Mariya Kamenkovich and Valerij KarrikTerra-Azbuka, St. Petersburg 5-300-00027-2, 5-300-00026-4
Croatian Gospodar prstenova1995Zlatko CrnkovićAlgoritam 953-6166-05-4
Slovenian Gospodar prstanov1995Polona Mertelj, Primož Pečovnik, Zoran ObradovičGnosis-Quarto, Ljubljana
Esperanto La Mastro de l' Ringoj1995 to 1997, 2nd ed. 2007 William Auld Sezonoj, Yekaterinburg, Kaliningrad 5745004576, 9785745004575
Polish Władca Pierścieni1996 to 1997Jerzy Łozinski and Marek Obarski (poems)Zysk i S-ka, Poznań 8371502419, 8371502427, 8371502435
Estonian Sõrmuste Isand1996 to 1998Ene Aru and Votele ViidemannTiritamm, Tallinn 9985-55-039-0, 9985-55-046-3, 9985-55-049-8
Turkish Yüzüklerin Efendisi1996 to 1998Çiğdem Erkal İpek, Bülent Somay (poems)Metis, Istanbul 975-342-347-0
Romanian Stăpânul Inelelor1999 to 2001Irina Horea, Gabriela Nedelea, Ion HoreaEditorial Group Rao 978-606-609-367-5, 978-606-609-366-8, 978-606-609-365-1
German Der Herr der Ringe2000 Wolfgang Krege Klett-Cotta, Stuttgart 978-3-608-93639-1
Korean 반지의 제왕 (Banjieui Jewang)2001한기찬 (Han Ki-chan)황금가지 (Hwanggeum Gaji), Seoul 6 volumes. 8982732888, 8982732896, 898273290X, 8982732918, 8982732926, 8982732934, 898273287X (set)
Polish Władca Pierścieni2001Books I – IV: Maria and Cezary Frąc; Book V: Aleksandra Januszewska; Book VI: Aleksandra Jagiełowicz; Poems: Tadeusz A. Olszański; Appendices: Ryszard DerdzińskiAmber, Warszawa 8372457018, 8324132872, 978-83-241-4424-2
Slovenian Gospodar prstanov2001Branko GradišnikMladinska knjiga, Ljubljana 8611162447, 8611163001, 861116301-X
Chinese (Simplified) 魔戒2001Book One – Book Two: Ding Di (丁棣); Book Three – Book Four: Yao Jing-rong (姚锦镕); Book Five – Book Six: Tang Ding-jiu (汤定九) Yilin Press (译林出版社), Nanjing 7-80657-267-8
Chinese (Traditional) 魔戒2001 to 2002 Lucifer Chu (朱學恆) [18] Linking Publishing (聯經出版公司), Taipei
Galician O Señor dos Aneis2001 to 2002Moisés R. BarciaXerais, Vigo 84-8302-682-1
Slovak Pán prsteňov2001 to 2002Otakar Kořínek and Braňo VarsikVydavatelstvo Slovart, Bratislava 8071456063, 8071456071, 807145608-X
Thai ลอร์ดออฟเดอะริงส์Lord oof doe rings2001 to 2002Wanlee ShuenyongAmarin, Bangkok 974-7597-54-3
Macedonian Господарот на прстенитеGospodarot na prstenite2002Romeo Širilov, Ofelija KaviloskaAEA, Misla, Skopje 9989-39-170-X, 9989-39-173-4, 9989-39-176-9
Russian Властелин колецVlastelin kolets2002V. Volkovskij, V. Vosedov, D. Afinogenova AST, Moscow 5-17-016265-0
Russian Властелин КолецVlastelin kolets2002Alina V. NemirovaAST, Kharkov 5-17-009975-4, 5-17-008954-6, 966-03-1122-2 (Folio)
Basque Eraztunen Jauna2002 to 2003Agustin Otsoa EribekoTxalaparta, Tafalla 84-8136-258-1
Indonesian The Lord of the Rings2002 to 2003Gita K. YulianiGramedia, Jakarta 9796866935, 9792200355, 979220556-X
Latvian Gredzenu Pavēlnieks2002 to 2004Ieva KolmaneJumava, Riga 9984-05-579-5, 9984-05-626-0, 9984-05-861-1
Persian ارباب حلقههاArbāb-e Halqehā2002 to 2004Riza AlizadihRawzanih, Tehran 964-334-116-X, 964-334-139-9, 964-334-173-9
Ukrainian Володар ПерснівVolodar Persniv2002Oleksandr MokrovolskyiШкола (Shkola) 966-661-063-9 966-661-064-7 966-661-081-7
Ukrainian Володар ПерснівVolodar Persniv2003Alina V. Nemirova [19] Фоліо (Folio) 966-03-1915-0 966-03-1916-9 966-03-1917-7
Faroese Ringanna Harri2003 to 2005Axel TórgarðStiðin, Hoyvík 99918-42-33-0, 99918-42-34-9, 99918-42-38-1
Swedish Ringarnas herre2004 to 2005Erik Andersson [20] and Lotta Olsson (poems) Norstedts förlag 91-1-301153-7
Ukrainian Володар ПерстенівVolodar Persteniv2004 to 2005Olena Feshovets, Nazar Fedorak (poems)Astrolabia, Lviv 966-8657-18-7
Albanian Lordi i unazave, republished as Kryezoti i unazave2004 to 2006Ilir I. Baçi (part 1), Artan Miraka (2 and 3)Dudaj, Tirana 99927-50-96-0 99943-33-11-9 99943-33-58-5
Norwegian (Nynorsk) Ringdrotten2006Eilev Groven MyhrenTiden Norsk Forlag, Oslo 82-05-36559-8
Arabic سيد الخواتم، رفقة الخاتم، خروج الخاتمSayyid al-Khawātim, Rafīqat al-Khātim, Khurūj al-Khātim2007Amr KhairyMalamih, Cairo 978-977-6262-03-4, only The Fellowship of the Ring, Book I
Belarusian Уладар пярсьцёнкаў: Зьвяз пярсьцёнка, Дзьве вежы, Вяртаньне караляUladar pyars'tsyonkaŭ: Z'vyaz Pyars'tsyonka, Dz've vezhy, Vyartan'ne karalya2008 to 2009Дзьмітрый Магілеўцаў and Крысьціна Курчанкова (Dźmitry Mahileŭcaŭ and Kryścina Kurčankova) Minsk 978-985-4921-24-3 [21]
Belarusian Валадар пярсцёнкаў: Брацтва ПярсцёнкаValadar piarścionkaŭ2023Ihar KulikouAndrei Yanushkevich Publishing, Warsaw 978-83-969297-6-1
Arabic سيد الخواتمSayyid al-Khawātim2009Farajallah Sayyid MuhammadNahdet Misr, Cairo 977-14-4114-0, 977-14-1134-9, 977-14-1127-6
Georgian ბეჭდების მბრძანებელი: ბეჭდის საძმო, ორი ციხე–კოშკი, მეფის დაბრუნებაBech'debis Mbrdzanebeli: Bech'dis Sadzmo, Ori Tsikhe-k'oshki, Mepis Dabruneba2009 to 2011Nika Samushia (prose and poems) and Tsitso Khotsuashvili (poems in The Fellowship of the Ring)Gia Karchkhadze Publishing, Tbilisi 978-99940-34-04-8, 978-99940-34-13-0, 978-99940-34-14-7
West Frisian Master fan alle ringen2011 to 2016Liuwe WestraFrysk en Frij and Elikser, Leeuwarden 978-90-8566-022-4, 978-90-825871-0-4. Only Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers translated so far
Ukrainian Володар перснівVolodar persniv2013 Kateryna Onishchuk-Mikhalitsyna, Nazar Fedorak (poems)Astrolabia, Lviv 978-617-664-022-6, 978-617-664-023-3, 978-617-664-024-0
Chinese 魔戒2013Deng Jiawan / 邓嘉宛 (story), Shi Zhongge / 石中歌 (preface, prologue, appendix, and checking), Du Yunci / 杜蕴慈 (poems) Shanghai People's Press 9787208113039
Vietnamese Chúa tể những chiếc Nhẫn2013 to 2014(Prose) Nguyễn Thị Thu Yến (f), Đặng Trần Việt (m); Tâm Thuỷ (f); (Poetry) An Lý (f)Nhã Nam, Hanoi
French Le Seigneur des anneaux2014 to 2016Daniel LauzonChristian Bourgois 9782267027006
Marathi स्वामी मुद्रिकांचा Swami Mudrikancha (I, II, III)2015Mugdha KarnikDiamond Publications, Pune 978-8184836219
Yiddish דער האַר פֿון די פֿינגערלעךDer Har fun di Fingerlekh2016Barry Goldstein 978-1500410223, 978-1512129038, 978-1517654474
Afrikaans Die Heerser Van Die Ringe2018 to 2020Janie Oosthuysen (1), Kobus Geldenhuys (2, 3)Protea Boekhuis, Pretoria 978-1-4853-0975-8, 978-1-4853-0976-5, 978-1-4853-0977-2
Azerbaijani Üzüklərin Hökmdarı2020 to 2021Samir BulutQanun Nəşriyyatı 978-9-9523-6832-1, 978-9952-38-002-6 (I, III only, II has no ISBN)
Bengali (Bangladesh)দি লর্ড অফ দ্য রিংস Di larḍa apha dya rinsa (I only)2020Moheul Islam MithuAishwarya PrakashThe ISBN printed in the book is improperly formatted, 978-91288-3-X
Bengali (India)সর্বাধিপতি আংটি Sarbādhipati āṇṭi (I, II only)2012 to 2013AniruddhaCinnamon Teal Publishing 978-93-81542-61-3, 978-93-80151-76-2
Uzbek Uzuklar Hukmdori (I only)2019Shokir Zokirovich Dolimov
(from the Russian translation of V. S. Muravev and A. A. Kistyakovskij)
Ilm-ziyo-zakovat 978-9943-6033-0-1
Sinhala මුදු වල අධිපතියා Mudu vala adhipatiyā (I only in two parts)2018 to 2019Kaveesha Nadun Kaggodaarachchi and Upekha Draupadhi RajapakshaMuses Books 978-955-37-2703-9, 978-955-37-2708-4
Croatian Gospodar Prstenova2018Marko MarasLumen 978-953-342-154-4, 978-953-342-155-1, 978-953-342-156-8
Italian Il Signore degli Anelli2020 to 2021Ottavio FaticaBompiani 978-88-452-9919-3, 978-88-301-0271-2, 978-88-301-0272-9
Slovenian Gospodar prstanov2023Sergej HvalaMladinska knjiga 978-961-016-906-2, 978-961-016-907-9, 978-961-016-908-6

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>The Lord of the Rings</i> 1954–1955 fantasy novel by J. R. R. Tolkien

The Lord of the Rings is an epic high fantasy novel by the English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's book The Hobbit, but eventually developed into a much larger work. Written in stages between 1937 and 1949, The Lord of the Rings is one of the best-selling books ever written, with over 150 million copies sold.

The English philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien created several constructed languages, mostly related to his fictional world of Middle-earth. Inventing languages, something that he called glossopoeia, was a lifelong occupation for Tolkien, starting in his teens.

Eärendil the Mariner and his wife Elwing are characters in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium. They are depicted in The Silmarillion as Half-elven, the children of Men and Elves. He is a great seafarer who, on his brow, carried the Morning Star, a jewel called a Silmaril, across the sky. The jewel had been saved by Elwing from the destruction of the Havens of Sirion. The Morning Star and the Silmarils are elements of the symbolism of light, for divine creativity, continually splintered as history progresses. Tolkien took Eärendil's name from the Old English name Earendel, found in the poem Crist A, which hailed him as "brightest of angels"; this was the beginning of Tolkien's Middle-earth mythology. Elwing is the granddaughter of Lúthien and Beren, and is descended from Melian the Maia. Through their progeny, Eärendil and Elwing became the ancestors of the Númenorean, and later Dúnedain, royal bloodline.

<i>Bilbos Last Song</i> 1973 poem by J.R.R. Tolkien

Bilbo's Last Song is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien, written as a pendant to his fantasy The Lord of the Rings. It was first published in a Dutch translation in 1973, subsequently appearing in English on posters in 1974 and as a picture-book in 1990. It was illustrated by Pauline Baynes, and set to music by Donald Swann and Stephen Oliver. The poem's copyright was owned by Tolkien's secretary, to whom he gave it in gratitude for her work for him.

The Red Book of Westmarch is a fictional manuscript written by hobbits, related to the author J. R. R. Tolkien's frame stories. It is an instance of the found manuscript conceit, a literary device to explain the source of his legendarium. In the fiction, it is a collection of writings in which the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were recounted by their characters, and from which Tolkien supposedly derived these and other works. The name of the book comes from its red leather binding and casing, and from its having been housed in the Westmarch, a region of Middle-earth next to the Shire.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Salo</span> American linguist

David Salo is an American linguist who worked on the languages of J. R. R. Tolkien for the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit film trilogies, expanding the languages by building on vocabulary already known from published works, and defining some languages that previously had a very small published vocabulary.

Ælfwine the mariner is a fictional character found in various early versions of J. R. R. Tolkien's Legendarium. Tolkien envisaged Ælfwine as an Anglo-Saxon who visited and befriended the Elves and acted as the source of later mythology. Thus, in the frame story, Ælfwine is the stated author of the various translations in Old English that appear in the twelve-volume The History of Middle-earth edited by Christopher Tolkien.

Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion. The concept of Tolkien fandom as a specific type of fan subculture sprang up in the United States in the 1960s, in the context of the hippie movement, to the dismay of the author, who talked of "my deplorable cultus".

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to the real-world history and notable fictional elements of J. R. R. Tolkien's fantasy universe. It covers materials created by Tolkien; the works on his unpublished manuscripts, by his son Christopher Tolkien; and films, games and other media created by other people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Namárië</span> Elvish poem by J. R. R. Tolkien

"Namárië" is a poem by J. R. R. Tolkien written in one of his constructed languages, Quenya, and published in The Lord of the Rings. It is subtitled "Galadriel's Lament in Lórien", which in Quenya is Altariello nainië Lóriendessë. The poem appears, too, in a book of musical settings by Donald Swann of songs from Middle-earth, The Road Goes Ever On; the Gregorian plainsong-like melody was hummed to Swann by Tolkien. The poem is the longest Quenya text in The Lord of the Rings and also one of the longest continuous texts in Quenya that Tolkien ever wrote. An English translation is provided in the book.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tolkien's legendarium</span> J. R. R. Tolkiens mythological writings

Tolkien's legendarium is the body of J. R. R. Tolkien's mythopoeic writing, unpublished in his lifetime, that forms the background to his The Lord of the Rings, and which his son Christopher summarized in his compilation of The Silmarillion and documented in his 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth. The legendarium's origins reach back to 1914, when Tolkien began writing poems and story sketches, drawing maps, and inventing languages and names as a private project to create a unique English mythology. The earliest story drafts are from 1916; he revised and rewrote these for most of his adult life.

This is a list of all published works of the English writer and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien's works were published before and after his death.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Åke Ohlmarks</span> Swedish writer and academic (1911–1984)

Åke Joel Ohlmarks was a Swedish author, translator and scholar of philology, linguistics and religious studies. He worked as a lecturer at the University of Greifswald from 1941 to 1945, where he founded the institute for religious studies together with the Deutsche Christen member Wilhelm Koepp. His most notable contribution to the field is his 1939 study of Shamanism. As a translator, he is notable for his Swedish version of the Icelandic Edda, of Shakespeare's works and a heavily criticised translation of J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, as well as a version of the Qur'an and works by writers including Dante and Nostradamus.

Wolfgang Krege was a German author and translator.

The translation of The Lord of the Rings into Swedish has been the subject of controversy. The first version, by Åke Ohlmarks, was made in 1959–1961; it was the only one available in Swedish for forty years. Tolkien took issue with Ohlmarks' translation, identifying numerous errors and inconsistencies. In 1967, in response to Ohlmarks' Swedish and Max Schuchart's Dutch translations, Tolkien produced his "Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings"; it discusses how to translate The Lord of the Rings' personal names and place-names, giving multiple examples from Ohlmarks' Swedish of what not to do when translating. Ohlmarks rejected all criticism, stating that he had intentionally created an interpretation of Tolkien, not a straight translation. Swedish commentators took a wider range of positions on Ohlmarks' version: some admired it, while others thought it defective.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, Elves are the first fictional race to appear in Middle-earth. Unlike Men and Dwarves, Elves are immortal, though they can be killed in battle. If so, their souls go to the Halls of Mandos in Aman. After a long life in Middle-earth, Elves yearn for the Earthly Paradise of Valinor, and can sail there from the Grey Havens. They feature in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Their history is described in detail in The Silmarillion.

Legolas is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. He is a Sindar Elf of the Woodland Realm and son of its king, Thranduil, becoming one of the nine members of the Fellowship who set out to destroy the One Ring. Though Dwarves and Elves are traditionally rivals, he and the Dwarf Gimli form a close friendship during their travels together.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Max Schuchart</span> Dutch poet, translator, journalist and writer

Max Schuchart MBE was a Dutch journalist, literary critic and translator. He is most famous for translating the works of J. R. R. Tolkien into the Dutch language.

J. R. R. Tolkien used frame stories throughout his Middle-earth writings, especially his legendarium, to make the works resemble a genuine mythology written and edited by many hands over a long period of time. He described in detail how his fictional characters wrote their books and transmitted them to others, and showed how later in-universe editors annotated the material.

<i>Master of Middle-Earth</i> 1972 book of literary criticism by Paul H. Kocher

Master of Middle-earth: The Fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien, alternatively subtitled The Achievement of J.R.R. Tolkien, is a 1972 book of literary criticism of J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth fantasy writings, written by Paul H. Kocher, and one of the few to be published in Tolkien's lifetime. It focuses especially on The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, and also covers some of his minor works such as "Leaf by Niggle" and "Smith of Wootton Major".

References

  1. Letters, 305f.; c.f. Martin Andersson "Lord of the Errors or, Who Really Killed the Witch-King?"
  2. 1 2 3 Shippey, Tom (2005) [1982]. The Road to Middle-Earth (Third ed.). Grafton (HarperCollins). pp. 131–133. ISBN   978-0261102750.
  3. 1 2 3 Strömbom, Charlotte (29 January 2009). "God åkermark eller fet och fruktbar mylla? – Om Erik Anderssons och Åke Ohlmarks översättningar av J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings" [Good arable land or fertile and fruitful soil? – On Erik Andersson's and Åke Ohlmarks' translations of J.R.R. Tolkiens The Lord of the Rings]. Vetsaga (in Swedish). ISSN   1654-0786.
  4. Hooker, Mark T. (2004). "Dutch Samizdat: The Mensink-van Warmelo Translation of The Lord of the Rings". Translating Tolkien: Text and Film. Walking Tree Publishers. pp. 83–92.
  5. "Newly Revised Dutch Edition of the Lord of the Rings". Archived from the original on 16 February 2008. Retrieved 7 March 2008.
  6. Tolkien och den svarta magin (1982), ISBN   978-91-7574-053-9.
  7. Löfvendahl, Bo (30 December 2003). "Vattnadal byter namn i ny översättning" [Waterdale changes name in new translation]. Svenska Dagbladet (in Swedish). Retrieved 7 September 2016.
  8. "Margaret Carroux". Ardapedia. Retrieved 28 December 2016.
  9. 1 2 Markova, Olga (2004). "When Philology Becomes Ideology: The Russian Perspective of J.R.R. Tolkien". Tolkien Studies . 1. Translated by Hooker, Mark T.: 163–170. doi: 10.1353/tks.2004.0011 . S2CID   51684428.
  10. See also Hooker, Mark T. (2003). Tolkien Through Russian Eyes. Walking Tree Publishers. ISBN   3-9521424-7-6.
  11. 1 2 The new version, Editor's endnote.
  12. The second edition therefore soon replaced the older one on the shelves, under the name: "שר הטבעות, תרגמה מאנגלית: רות לבנית. ערך מחדש: עמנואל לוטם ("The Lord of the Rings". Translated by Ruth Livnit, revised by Emanuel Lottem. Zmora Beitan [זמורה ביתן] publication: Tel Aviv, 1991)
  13. Yuvl Kfir, who assisted Dr. Lottem in the revision, wrote an article in favour of the new edition, translated by Mark Shulson: "Alas! The Aged and Good Translation!"
  14. Elrond's Library
  15. a special edition of 1977 included illustrations by Queen Margrethe II of Denmark, working under the pseudonym of Ingahild Grathmer.
  16. The terminology was reworked and several mistakes corrected. For example, the original Hungarian translation left unclear whether Éowyn or Merry killed the Witch-king which caused confusion when the movie version was released.
  17. "COBISS/OPAC | Грешка". Vbs.rs. Retrieved 19 June 2013.
  18. Turning fantasy into a reality that helps others Gavin Phipps, Taipei Times, 6 March 2005, p. 18.
  19. Unlicensed edition, translated from Alina Nemirova's Russian translation (2002, AST Publisher), in Maksym Strikha. Ukrainskyi khudozhniy pereklad: mizh literaturoyu i natsiyetvorennyam. Kyiv: Fakt, 2006. p. 305.
  20. published Översättarens anmärkningar "translator's notes" in 2007 ( 978-91-1-301609-2)
  21. Уладар Пярсьцёнкаў: Зьвяз Пярсьцёнка (Uladar Pyarstsyonka: Zvyaz Pyarstsyonka) [The Lord of the Rings: The Union [aka Fellowship] of the Rings] (in Belarusian). Minsk: private, 500 copies. 2008.

Bibliography