[img]smilies/biggrin.gif[/img] I see there are some very attentive posters at the Downs! I guess it comes from the attempts of learning sindarin & Black Speech using only the Fellowship of the Ring poems!
"Dhachtylidi" is the actual word for Ring; the suffix "-iou" shows possessive - sorry if that's not exact, grammar has never been my strong point. "-iou" along with "tou" translates "of the". Nouns, like verbs, are inclined in Greek - as in Latin or elvish et al.
Indeed, "Ena" (=One) is repeated at the end of each couplet. That's a literal translation:
Ena olous na kyverna ke na tous vriski, Ena.
One to rule them all and to find them, One.
Ena na tous mazevi olous mazi me mavra magia, Ena.
One to bring them all with dark magic, One.
Sti gi tis Mordor pou zoun Skies.
In the land of Mordor where shadows live.
I agree it's a rather hasty translation. Actually it's very bad.
While we're speaking of translations, I have another question which concerns style. IMO, one of the things that make Tolkien grate is his writing style. It makes things epic, the use of old english adds to that. It's not plain narration. It's a style comparable to the Iliad or Odyssey, two of mankind's greatest epics. My question is, how well is this style rendered in the translations in your respective languages, provided you've read it in English?
To answer on my behalf, the French translation does not only little to follow Tolkien's style but is one of the worst translations I've ever seen. It's full of mistakes: orthograph, disposition, omissions, counter-senses, bad translations... Éomer is written Eomir in the same page; in dialogues when the speaker changes you don't realize it until you've read half of what he's said because >> has been used instead of << ; when a character quotes another, closing brackets are ommitted; "son of Thengel Théoden" is translated "Théoden's son Thengel". I can make a whole list of the terrible mistakes the French edition has!!! And it's been translated only one, in the 50s!
As for the Greek one, I can't tell much. The poem is teribly translated. I personally believe Tolkien's style cannot be transposed in another language without losing a major part of the spirit & style. What do you think?
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