The ring poem in other languages

[Daniel Telcontar]

After the War of the Jewels in the silmarillion, most of the Noldor kingdoms were destroyed and only Lindon remained. It also was lost after its king, Gil-galad died. The only major kingdoms left were then Teleri. Only in Rivendell were many Noldor living together and speaking Quenya. But in spite of the few Noldor in ME, Quenya kept its position as a higher langauge then Sindarin and Silvan, spoken by the Teleri.

[Olos]

First of all, as this is my first post here, I would like to express my sincere excitement about my "finding" - the forum. I haven't wandered around the topics yet but I think I'll have to take my time and do so very soon. However, what led me to this pages is a search for the Latin translation of the ring poem. I found this certain topic and though I'd already found what I'd been looking for, what stands on this site definately caught my attention.
Now, here is the Bulgarian version of the Ring Poem, translated and adapted by Lyubomir Nikolov.

Три Пръстена за елфите крале под този небосвод
[Three rings for the elven kings under this sky]
и седем за джуджетата в дворците им от камък,
[and seven for the dwarves in their halls of stone]
да вземат девет хората със краткия живот,
[let people with their mortal life take nine]
един - за Мрачния владетел с трон от черен пламък
[one - for the Morose lord with throne of black flame]
в страната му Мордор, където тегне мрак.
[in his land Mordor where darkness lies]

Единствен Пръстен ги владее,
[One and only ring rules them]
Единствен той ще ги открие,
[One and only it will find/discover them]
Единствен вси ще ги сбере
[One and only it will collect them]
и в тъмнина ще ги обвие
[and will wrap them in darkness]
в страната му Мордор, където тегне мрак.
[in his land Mordor where darkness lies]

Transliteration:

Tri Prãstena za elfite krale pod tozi nebosvod
i sedem za džudžetata v dvorčite im ot kamãk,
da vzemat devet horata sãs kratkija život,
edin - za Mrachnija vladetel s tron ot cheren plamãk
v stranata mu Mordor, kãdeto tegne mrak.

Edinstven Pãsten gi vladee,
edinstven toj šte gi otkrie,
edinstven toj šte gi sbere
i v tãmnina šte gi obvie
v stranata mu Mordor, kãdeto tegne vechen mrak.

So, I hope you'll find it interesting.

[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.