My mothertongue isn't English (it's German), but I have first read the Hobbit, LotR and the Silmarillion in English. It was a bit of a challenge, but I delighted in Tolkiens wonderful language.(And I learnt a lot!)
My sons have the books in German, and I am now reading them together with my younger son (he has to read aloud to me, by request of the teacher, and alternately I read to him) As we go along I keep comparing the translation to the original, and I must say, I am often very disappointed. Much of the charm, wit and sheer beauty of Tolkien's language is lost in the translation.
Tolkien has such a rich, wonderful language and his many contrasting styles add to the special atmosphere of Middle Earth, to the feeling that the characters are "real" and historical.
Often I feel the translator could have done better. Especially in the new German translation he tried to modernize particularly the Hobbit's talk.(e.g. I wince every time Sam says "Chef" (i.e. "boss" instead of "master"!!).
On the other hand I think it is just not possible to render in another language all these subleties that come with the use of "archaic" words and sentence structures. As T.Shippey says: "Tolkien knew the implications of style, and of language, better and more professionally than almost anyone in the world."
The above is a quote from another thread on Translations
web page if you like to read the whole thread.
I have since then also been able to look at the old German translation. It seems better than the new one, but still, it can never compare to the original. And I found some mistakes as well.
e.g: "I must see it through" is translated to "ich muss es durchschauen"! (=I must see through it) which is not the meaning at all!
On the whole, I noticed, that W.Krege, the translator of the new edition, was mainly taking pains to write every sentence differently from the old translation.
So he changes , e.g. "his voice was like music"(about Glorfindel) to "seine Stimme klang wie ein Orchester" (=his voice sounded like an orchestra)!
or another example about Galadriel: "...said the Lady with a gentle laugh" becomes "... sagte die hohe Frau kichernd." (kichernd = giggling!!! )
And about the cry of a Nazgul in the Shire:
"like the cry of some evil and lonely creature" is translated as " das Wehklagen eines vereinsamten Bösewichts". Absolutely ridiculous! (I could quote dozens of such examples.)
And even if the translation
per seis correct, the mood is destroyed when the style of the language is wrong.
[ September 11, 2003: Message edited by: Guinevere ]