At Convention Alley 2008 in Ottawa, Josee LeBlanc gave a fascinating talk on decisions translators of the Harry Potter books have to make. More dilemmas present themselves than you might think.
Here is one particular case study on that subject that you might find interesting.
I recall another example that Ms. LeBlanc gave. Do you translate or transliterate a surname if that surname has a common-word meaning? Especially if there’s a joke involved? Example: Do you translate Oliver Wood’s surname into the French, German, Spanish, etc. for “wood,” or do you simply transliterate, because “Wood” is a surname and not referring specifically to that of which trees are made?
Complicating the matter is the little joke Rowling makes with Wood’s name – after McGonagall catches Harry flying without Madame Hooch present in Philosopher’s Stone, Harry wonders if “wood” refers to a cane for punishment. Does this necessitate the translation rather than transliteration?
And to make it more complicated, what if that joke had appeared in Book 3 instead of Book 1, and they had chosen the transliteration back in Book 1?
Interesting stuff.
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Red Rocker on 
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{ 21 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m sure the various attempts at translations, with JKR’s creative & often significant use of names, have probably driven several translators into insanity. How do they say St. Mungo’s in Swahili?
Wasn’t he that huge bloke in Blazing Saddles?
It’s an interesting dilemma. Do you keep the names the same and maintain artistic integrity, or do you try for an analogue in your own language, knowing that the odds of being as humorous, creative and tongue-in-cheek witty are very small…
I love Blazing Saddles
My favorite line:
Are we awake?
That depends: are we black?
Interesting!
The moment when Tom rearranges his name in midair and reveals his identity to Harry in the Chamber was one of the first truly shiver-worthy moments I remember experiencing in the HP series. Maybe I should’ve seen it coming, but I didn’t…it totally took me by surprise.
I’ve often wondered how JKR came up with that anagram. I’m assuming she came up with Voldemort first (since the meaning of his name is so important) and then played around like crazy to discover his full birth name. I’ve wondered: did she doodle in a notebook for hours, playing with every possible combination of letters? Did she enter the sentence “I am Lord Voldemort” in an internet anagram changer and see what results she got? Because it seems to me that Tom Marvolo Riddle is just about perfect as a name: the ordinary Muggle first name you can imagine Voldemort coming to despise; the grandiose-somehow-sinister carnival barker kind of middle name you can understand might get passed down in mentally warped but old aristocratic wizarding family; and then the capper, the wonderfully enigmatic last name of Riddle!
Anyway, the translators must’ve found that element a big headache. The list made me laugh! I’m especially fond of the French version: Tom Elvis Jedusor. Somehow I’m now imagining Voldemort and Harry duking it out at Graceland.
I’d like to know how they translated ‘Ford Anglia’ into Ancient Greek. I’m sure Ancient Greeks would have a hard time with some of the concepts.
I’d often though Tom Marvolo Riddle being an anagram of I am Lord Voldemort was an afterthought. I was underwhelmed by it. I was like a cheap D&D module. Like the evil Lord Sivart Iznirp is master of this web site.
“…the evil Lord Sivart Iznirp is master of this web site.”
He is?! To arms! This sounds like a quest, Korg. But which rules system to use in bringing him down: D&D, Runemaster, MERP, Runequest, Palladium, GURPS…
How about Rolemaster? Or is that getting a bit too rules heavy?
Rolemaster would be great. I never really got much of a chance to play it. Mainly played it’s slightly less complicated child, MERP. Of course, when I was young, I loved those complicated rules systems; now that I’m old I like something a bit more simple & flexible. Ever play Savage Worlds?
Name your quest, little Marshmallow Man and Primate K; Stump the Hobbit stands by Iznirp to the death!
Now there’s a story someone could spin out into a trilogy:
A gorilla, Mr Staypuft, a cow and a hockey player head out on a great quest. They intend to destroy the evil wizard Iznirp but instead find it’s a journey of self-discovery and the value of friendship as the wizard (in a ruined hovel on a tower in a cave in a forest on the mountain top of an island next door to a castle with a dungeon) enlightens them on the meaning of life and literature.
Next door lives a certain Honj Gergran who initiates them into the symbolic meaning of all they have just accomplished and experienced.
Stump the Hobbit, huh?
I just rolled a 20. You’re toast.
A gorilla, Mr. Staypuft, a hockey player and a cow? But I could have sworn …. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, of course.
As long as there’s wicked witches & flying monkeys involved, I’m in.
Now that’s the first time in a long time that I do not see eye to eye with you, Mr. Staypuft. Because I’ve never enjoyed The Wizard of Oz the way other people seem to. I find the monkeys repellent, the munckins bizarre, the wicked witch scary and the good witch Hollywood-fake. I pity poor Judy Garland for having to force herself into an outfit suited to a much younger child. And I find the story line off-putting: the magical land, the quest motif, the flawed companions and the fake wizard just don’t mesh together. It’s like trying to have your deconstructionist cake and eat it too.
Well, Red, we’re back to where we originally started then.
Don’t we also disagree on the Wilder version of Willy Wonka?
I’m with you Red Rocker – The Wizard of Oz leaves me nonplussed. But you can guess what this cow would ask the wizard for.
I’m guessing a cowbell.
Good Lord! Those flying monkeys and that green Wicked Witch used to scare the bejesus out of me as a kid – nighmares for days! Come to think of it, that Wicked Witch is still pretty scary, even today…
Okay, this is extremely late.. but I just stumbled across it. I have read books 1-7 in Dutch, and the names are mostly different. Harry is Harry, but Sirius Black is Sirius Zwarts (zwart=black). Hermione Granger = Hermelien Griffel, Ron Weasley=Ron Wemel, etc.
I started to read the books when I was 8 years old, and I think I would’ve enjoyed reading the English names less, because I couldn’t understand English and wouldn’t have had a clue how tp pronounce them.
The Dutch translater did an excellent job translating. For example, with the Tom Riddle anagram. In Dutch, his full name is Marten Asmodom Vilijn, an anagram of ‘Mijn naam is Voldemort’ which translates as ‘My name is Voldemort.’
I think the Dutch translater did very well with all the jokes and stuff.
Thanks, Evanna11. I’m guessing “Vilijn” is “villain” in English.
Black Angus, your comment 11 is too funny! I don’t think I finished reading this thread at the time.