Translating Tolkien: Text and Film

by Thomas Honegger (Editor)

As in the preceding volume (TolkieninTranslation), the studies presented here deal with a wide range of problems and challenges connected with the task of translating Tolkien's work. Contributions do not only discuss aspects of translation into different languages (German, Dutch, Swedish, Hebrew), but also offer in-depth analysis of especially difficult areas of translation (names, Tolkien's invented languages). Moreover, with the initial publication of this volume having closely followed the release of the third and final part of the movie in 2003, it could take stock and make a first assessment of Jackson's achievement (or failure). Five out of twelve contributions united in this volume thus deal with the movie under the aspect of 'translation'. The preceding volume, Tolkien in Translation, is available as number 4 in the Cormarë Series from Walking Tree Publishers.

243 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

Reviews

[Norbert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some essays I found very interesting. One or two less.

But they are well written and well documented

[Jenna (Falling Letters) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found the articles in the preceding volume ( Tolkien in Translation ) to be better edited and more interesting. Awkward phrasing, typos and misspelt names (Ian Mckellan and Christoffer Lee??) are not uncommon.

This book contains five articles addressing the 'translation' of The Lord of the Rings from novel to film. While I thought this would make for an interesting discussion, I found most of these articles uninteresting, with many grand yet not well substantiated claims. Perhaps that's because this text was released shortly after The Return of the King film - before even the extended edition was released - making some of the articles read rushed and dated compared to more nuanced, developed discussions of the films that have grown in the years since.

Overall, this book feels like a more personal, hobbyist work to it than the previous volume. While the articles on translation into other languages don't feel as polished as the articles in the previous volume, the topics will still prove engaging if you are curious about Tolkien in translation. (You can skip the articles on the films.)