Hello hello, everybody! I know I have not updated since last year, and much has happened since. For one, my translation stopped for a while because I was taking German, which took up most of my time. Secondly, I'm getting married, so you know, that has an effect on things :D Nevertheless, this project is NOT DEAD! Ne timeas! Here is a small new bit from chapter one since we last left off, with a few things I've revised. Enjoy! I'll be translating a bit each night, it's summer now, and I hope to update as often as I can, maybe even a fabled paragraph a day! So, here you go:
Caput Primum
CONVIVIUM EXSPECTATUM DIU
Cum Magister Bilbo Bursonus qui habitabat Bursae Imae nuntiavit eum breviter centesimum et undecimum diem sui natalis convivio magnificentiae egregiae celebraturum esse, erat multa fama et commotio in Hobbitovico.
Bilbo erat perdives et insolitissimus, et annos sexaginta fuerat spectaculum Pagi, tempore quo notabiliter e conspectu aberat et insperatum rederat. Divitae quae is rettulerat itineribus suis iam factae erant fabulam Pagi, et id creditum est, neglegens illa quae seneces dicant, populariter ab multo populi Pagi Collem Bursae Imae cuniculos fartos divitis habuisse. Et si illud erat non satis fama, erat quoque suus prorogatus vigor spectare. Tempus extendit, et videtur id multo non affecisse de Bilbone. Annis nonaginta aetatis similis erat quam fuerat annis quinquaginta aetatis. Annis nonaginta et novem aetatis inceperunt vocare eum conservatum bene; sed non immutatus verius verbum dictu esset. Erant aliqui qui sua caputa quasserunt et cogitaverunt hoc nimium esse; id videtur iniustum aliquem iuventutem sempiternam (specie) et quoque divitas infinitas (per famam) tenturum esse.
“Id solvendum erit!” dixerunt. “Id est non naturale, et molesta venient propter id!”
Sed illo tempore molesta non adhuc venerat; et quoniam Magister Bursonus suam pecuniam aliis benigne dedit, plurimi homines volebant condonare novitatem suam et divitas bonas suas propter hoc. Is suos propinquos interviseat (praeter Bursoni ex Sackvilla) habuit homines studiosos multos qui eum admirati sunt inter hobbites familiarium pauperium et levium. Sed is familiares nullos habuit, donec aliqui patruelium et consobrinorum invenium suorum inceperunt adolescere.
Veterrimus eorum, et carissimus Bilboni, erat adolescens Frodo Bursonus. Cum Bilbo erat nonaginta et novem anni aetatis is fecit Frodonem suum heredem, et is tulit eum ad Bursam Imam ad vivendum ibi; et propter hoc spes Bursonorum ex Sackvilla ad inritum redacti sunt tandem.
Accidit ut Bilbo et Frodo quoque nati erant die eodem, qui erat alter et vicesimus dies mensis Septembris. “Debes venire et habitare hic, Frodo mi puer,” Bilbo dixerat ei die uno, “et tum poterimus celebratare diem nostrorum natlium commode inter nos.” Tunc Frodo erat etiam tweenus, verbum quo hobbites vocaverunt aetates immaturas inter pueritiam aetate annorum viginti et aditum in puberitatem aetate annorum triginta tres.
Duodecim anni transierunt. Per annum omnem Bursoni convivia acerrima mixta ad tempus diei natalium suorum Bursae Imae celebraverat; sed nunc intellebatur aliquid eximius autumno illi advenienti excogitari. Bilbo anni centum et undecim aetatis futurus erat, CXI, numerus attractivior, et aetas honestissima hobbito (Tuccus Vetus ipse solum aetate annorum centum et triginta mortuus erat); et Frodo anni triginta et tres aetatis futurus erat, XXXIII, numerus sonticus: id erat dies quo is in pubertatem ingrediatur.
Rumores per Hobbitovicum et Iustaquam inceperunt spargere; et rumor de convivio advenienti Pagum totum perlustravit. Res gestae et indoles Magistri Bilbonis Bursoni rursum factae sunt primus res in sermone; et homines vetiores subito invenerunt multos recordiationes suos laete velle audire.
Nemo habuit auditores attentiores quam Vetus Hammus Gamsio, qui vocabatur Vetulum ab multis. Is mansit Fruticis Haderae, tabernae parvae in Via Iustaqua; et habuit auctoritatem aliquam cum dicebat, nam curaverat hortum Bursae Imae annos quadraginta, et adiuverat Veterem Cavivirum arte eadem ante. Sed quod is incepiebat fieri vetus et sui artus incipiebant fieri rigidi, opus extendebatur fere ab adolescentissimo filio, Same Gamsione. Et pater et filius usi sunt familiariter Bilbone et Frodone. Habitaverunt in Colle ipso, in Bursamisso Ordone numero tres signatis solummodo infra Bursam Imam.
“Suavissimus eloquentissimus generosus-hobbitus est Magister Bilbo, ut semper dixi,” Vetulus declaravit. Verrime: nam Bilbo dixit urbanissime ei, vocans eum ‘Magistrum Hamfastum’, et consultans eum semper de cultu holerum – de re cultus ‘stirpum’, maxime de patatis, Vetulus noscebatur ut primum auctorem ab omnibus in vicinia (et quoque ab ipso).
“Sed hic Frodo qui habitat secum?” Nocus Vetus ex Iustaqua rogavit, “Bursonus est suus nomen, sed plus quam dimidia sui sanguinis est ex Brandicapris, dicitur. Nescio quare aliqui Bursonus ex Hobbitovico eat ad quaerendum uxorem longe in Capriterram, ubi homines sunt insolitissimi.”
“Et non est miraculum eos insolitos esse.” addidit Tatula Bipes (vicinus Vetuli), “si habitant in ripa prava Fluminis Brandivini, et sub Silvam Veterem, quae est locus obscurus malus, si dimidia fabularum sit vera.”
“Dicis vere, Tata!” dixit Vetulus. “Non est ut si Brandicapri ex Capriterra habitant in Silva Vetere; sed sunt genus insolitum, ut videtur. Conludunt ratibus in illo magno flumene - et illud non est naturale. Non est miraculum molesta propter id venisse, dico. Utcumque res ceciderit, Magister Frodo est tam lepidus quam velis offendere adolescenti hobbito. Est simillimus Magistro Bilboni, et non solum specie. Denique suus pater erat Bursonus. Decens respectabilis hobbitus erat Magister Drogo Bursonus; erat numquam multum narrare de eo, quoad mersitit."
“Mersitit?” dixit complures voces. Audiverant hoc et alios obscuriores rumores prius, quippe; sed hobbiti adamant historias de familis, et desidervaerunt audire ea rursum.
“Em, ita aiunt,” dixit Vetulus, “Ecce: Magister Drogo, is nupsit miseram Magistram Primulam Brandicaprum. Ea fuit prima consobrina nostri Magistri Bilbonis (sua mater fuit iuvenissima filiarum Veti Tucci); et Magister Drogo fuit suus secundus consobrinus. Sic Magister Frodo est suus primus et secundus consobrinus, remotus semel utroque modo, sicut dicunt, si me sentitis. Et Magister Drogo habitabat in Brandivini Villa cum suo socero, sene Magistro Gorbadoco, sicut fecit saepe post suum matrimonium (amavit suos cibos, et senex Gorbadocus paravit convivium munificissimum); et is naviculatus est in Flumine Brandivino; et is ac uxor merseruntunt, et miser Magister Frodo tantum infans et omnia.”
You will notice something funny about the perfect forms for mergere: I've butchered them on purpose. The hobbits in LOTR tend to have a very... rural way of speaking, shall we say. Tolkien's text reads 'drownded' where it should say drowned. So in keeping with proper hobbitisms (can we make that an actual word now?), I thought I might do something unorthodox and try doubling the sound at the end of the verb form, hence mersitit and merseruntunt. I've made notes in the glossa to translate them as 'drownded'. I'm think of doing something similar for Gollum's dialogue when the time finally arrives. Untraditional I know, but I think I like the idea overall. So, enjoy! You'll likely hear from me either tommorow or on Monday, as it's supposed to rain then! Take care, and I hope you're all still following along!
Mike
Congratulations! I will have to look at your text but I wanted to say this first. :-)
ReplyDeleteAs to your Hobbitisms, Roman authors frequently took similar liberties with their Latin. Just look at the Satyricon with all its colloquial speech, or Catullus with things like "basationes"(kissifications was what my class came up with...) instead of "basia." In my opinion at least, the hobbitisms were a good decision, and I can't wait until Gollum shows up to see what you'll do with him. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteLicetne me adnotare errores - et non raros - in translatione tua inveniri (exempli causa "seneces" pro "senes", "id erat dies" pro "is erat dies", "nuntiavit eum ... celebraturum esse" pro "nuntiavit se ... celebraturum esse", "Veti Tucci" pro "Veteris *Tucci", "desidervaerunt" (?) pro "desiderabant" et cetera)?
ReplyDeleteNihilominus, cogitabas de transferrendo verba (et propria nomina) quae in textu divulgato inconversa linquis, ut "hobbit", posterius "Gandalf", "Rivendell", fortasse et "Frodo", "Sam" et alia similia in linguam Latinam? (Adnotandum mihi est me etiam de omnibus his verbis et nominibus vertendis cogitavisse et nomine "Pagus" pro "Shire" aeque usum esse.)
Civis Europae:
ReplyDeleteTu potes scribere et intelligere anglicam? Scribens anglice sit facilius mihi, si potes, gratias!
Hi, I wanted on the one hand remark on some errors that you made in your translation (the Latin "pro" means "instead of" in my previous comment), on the other hand I wanted ask whether you considered translating the hobbits', men's, dwarfs' and wizard's names used by Tolkien which have (mostly) an ancient German or concretely Anglo-Saxon origin and concrete meaning in these languages into Latin instead of their pure Latinization by a suffix (for example: Frodo is a real (originally dwarfish) name based on an old English adjective "fród" or old Norse "fróðr", both meaning "wise, experienced").
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for the corrections, a lot of these escape my initial notice! As to your question, I had considered that route but ultimately decided against it because:
ReplyDelete1) I have no training in any of the old Anglo Saxon or Gemranic languages and thus didn't think that I would be capable of providing a translation in that manner
2) Because LOTR was written first for an English speaking audience, many people are familiar with the anglicized names as they appear in the original text. I wanted to keep that familiarity as much as I could, hence why I opted for the Latinizing and declining. The translation is geared toward people who are familiar with the original English text. Hope that helps.
Am I correct in surmising that you are the fellow who attempted this translation before me (you mentioned that you also translated Shire as Pagus, that caught my eye)? If so, I have been trying to contact you for an eternity! Welcome!!!
I agree that to translate the proper names in Latin is a very difficult task. But it is unnecessary to have an active knowledge of the Anglo-Saxon, old Norse or other old Germanic languages for etymology of the proper names used by Tolkien is in most case known and described in various sources (also in the net). The most difficult is to find appropriate Latin counterparts.
ReplyDeleteAny translation should make an impression to a reader that the text was written in no other language than the translated one. So if anybody wants translate some text (and the Tolkien's should not be an exception) into Latin, the translated text should be Latin from the first letter to the last one.
To the question: no, I am not any THE fellow, I attemp to translate the Lord of the Rings in Latin language too but only privately and have not published it nowhere yet.
I recently obtained a copy of Tolkien's notes on Nomenclature. According to the Professor, any of the names NOT on his given list should be left as is as much as possible. After scanning through it, I cannot find any of the names of the major characters such as Bilbo, Frodo or Gandalf or Sauron. Therefore, according to the Professor's instructions, the best course of action would be to leave these names untouched and to decline them in Latin.
ReplyDelete