A question for multilingual fans. - The Barrow-Downs Discussion Forum

03-04-2002, 05:49 AM

huhu.
i'm from germany, and my first time through LotR was in german. afterwards i noticed that i'm quite able to understand the english version... that's why all the other Tolkien books i own are in english (i prefer reading books in english... helps me learning the language -> better marks in school [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]).
this might be important to Nilaraniel:
there are two german translations around: the old one by Margaret Carroux and a very new one, translated by Wolfgang Krege. BY ALL MEANS, avoid Krege (his LotR at least. his translation of the Silmarillion is said to be well done). Carroux was able to talk to Tolkien when he still lived, and her translation is pretty good. it was his idea, for example, that the Elves are called "Elben" and not "Elfen" in german. i don't really know why, but he said he liked the sound of "Elb" more that "Elf" (why he didn't change the english word for it, i dunno).
and on to Mr. Krege. for some abstruse reason, he tried to modernize the language. it's AWFUL to read... Sam keeps on calling Frodo "chef" instead of "Herr" (Master, Lord) and they adress each other with "du" or "sie" insead of "ihr" ("ihr" is older, and more respectful) there is much more, i could go on for hours... it just destroys the atmosphere...

in the end, i think no translation can really live up to the original. a bit of the magic is always lost... (that's another reason why i'm reading the books in english)
but the old translation is pretty decent.

i could send you the Hobbit in German as a txt file, and maybe i find LotR, too.
my email is t.strenzke@gmx.de

[ March 04, 2002: Message edited by: Thranic ]

03-04-2002, 05:49 AM	#4
Thranic Guest Posts: n/a	huhu. i'm from germany, and my first time through LotR was in german. afterwards i noticed that i'm quite able to understand the english version... that's why all the other Tolkien books i own are in english (i prefer reading books in english... helps me learning the language -> better marks in school [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]). this might be important to Nilaraniel: there are two german translations around: the old one by Margaret Carroux and a very new one, translated by Wolfgang Krege. BY ALL MEANS, avoid Krege (his LotR at least. his translation of the Silmarillion is said to be well done). Carroux was able to talk to Tolkien when he still lived, and her translation is pretty good. it was his idea, for example, that the Elves are called "Elben" and not "Elfen" in german. i don't really know why, but he said he liked the sound of "Elb" more that "Elf" (why he didn't change the english word for it, i dunno). and on to Mr. Krege. for some abstruse reason, he tried to modernize the language. it's AWFUL to read... Sam keeps on calling Frodo "chef" instead of "Herr" (Master, Lord) and they adress each other with "du" or "sie" insead of "ihr" ("ihr" is older, and more respectful) there is much more, i could go on for hours... it just destroys the atmosphere... in the end, i think no translation can really live up to the original. a bit of the magic is always lost... (that's another reason why i'm reading the books in english) but the old translation is pretty decent. i could send you the Hobbit in German as a txt file, and maybe i find LotR, too. my email is t.strenzke@gmx.de [ March 04, 2002: Message edited by: Thranic ]