The ring poem in other languages

[Rumil]

Just for a giggle, I thought I'd put the versions above back through online translation (Babelfish)

German-

Three rings the Elbe kings highly in the light,
Seven the dwarf rulers into their resounding from stone,
which mortal ones purge eternally to death, nine,
The dark gentleman on dark throne
In the country Mordor where the shade drone.
A ring, it to farmhands to find it all,
To float and eternally bind in the darkness
In the country Mordor where the shade drone.

Esty, are there Teleri Swan-ships along the Elbe river? We must know!

Italian-
Three rings for the Elven-king under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-gentleman in their corridors of the stone,
Nine for the mortal men have condemned them to die,
One for the dark gentleman on dark its throne
In the earth of Mordor in which the shadows they are found.
A ring in order to regulate it all,
a ring in order to find them,
a ring in order to carry it all
And in the nerezza them alloy
In the earth of Mordor in which the shadows they are found.

Not too bad!

Dutch-
Three rings for the eleven kings on nature,
Seven for the dwarf frosts in their rooms clean,
Nine for people whom death does not save,
One for the black dominator on its black throne,
In Mordor, where the schimmen are.
One rings to govern all,
one rings on them
one rings which bring to find, them and in darkness will bind,
in Mordor, where the schimmen are.

Dutch dwarves are obviously tidy folk!


Russian (from Cyrillic)
Three [Prstena] after you [elfite] to [krale] under [tozi] the firmament and [sedem] for [dzhudzhetata] in you [dvortsite] by them from [kamk],
yes [vzemat] De wet [khorata] of [ss] of [kratkiya] stomach,
is united - after [Mrachniya] of [vladetel] throne from [cheren] of [plamk] into [stranata] mu Of [mordor],
[kdeto] [tegne] gloom.
Is unique [Prsten] of [gi] [vladee],
It is unique that cabbage soup [gi] [otkrie],
Is unique [vsi] cabbage soup [gi] [sbere]
and into [tmnina] cabbage soup [gi] [obvie] in [stranata] mu Of [mordor], [kdeto] to [tegne] gloom.

I rather think that Babelfish struggled with this one! Am fascinated by the presence of cabbage soup

By the way, a hearty welcome to the Downs Olos!

[Estelyn Telcontar]

Originally Posted by Rumil

Esty, are there Teleri Swan-ships along the Elbe river? We must know!

Would you settle for a swan pedal boat on a lake in Münster? This one is especially memorable because a real black swan thought it was its partner for a long time.



Rumil, those translations are hilarious! To think that cabbage soup has a place in the Legendarium - Sam and his Gaffer would be delighted!

I am amused over the fact that Sauron is considered a gentleman - except in Holland, where he is a dominator!

[Rumil]

Cool pedallo Esty,

poor old black swan though (I suppose its a long way from New Zealand/ Mirkwood).

The German, er... retrotranslation (?) nearly gives away the whole plot with 'A ring, it to farmhands to find it all' - pretty close to Sam the gardner I think.

It is unique that cabbage soup,
Is unique cabbage soup.

[Aganzir]

This is a cool thread and shouldn't be buried.

Here's a (by no means perfect) translation from Hungarian back into English.

Originally Posted by Eglarcarien

The hungarian version of the Ring-verse:

"Három Gyűrű ragyogjon a tünde királyok kezén,/Hét a nemes törpök jussa, kiknek háza cifra kő,/Kilencet halandó ember ujján csillantson a fény,/Egyet hordjon a Sötét Úr,szolganyájat terelő,/ Mordor éjfekete földjén, sűrű árnyak mezején. / Egy Gyűrű mind fölött,Egy Gyűrű kegyetlen,/ Egy a sőtétbe zár, bilincs az Egyetlen/ Mordor éjfekete földjén, sűrű árnyak mezején."

Let three Rings shine on the elf kings' hands,
Let seven go to the dwarf lords, whose houses are ornamented stone,
Let light glint on the nine on mortal men's fingers,
Let one be worn by the Dark Lord, steering a flock of servants
in the night-black land of Mordor, on fields of thick shadows.
One Ring is above all, One Ring is ruthless,
One shuts into darkness, a fetter is the One,
In the night-black land of Mordor, on fields of thick shadows.

Originally Posted by Rumil

Three rings the Elbe kings highly in the light,
Seven the dwarf rulers into their resounding from stone

This sounds somewhat pipeweed-induced.

I also like how they all are gentlemen in Babelfish-Italian.