Quotes in other languages

[Aganzir]

"Did he say: 'Hullo, Pippin! This is a pleasant surprise!'? No, indeed! He said: 'Get up, you tom-fool of a Took! Where, in the name of wonder, in all this ruin is Treebeard? I want him. Quick!'"

-Pippin, quoting Gandalf.

It sounded so Gandalfish that, without understanding a word, I was sure it was him who was speaking. But it was that Stromovous that gave it away.

And surely you could try reading it in Finnish. The translation is quite good, and at least I have noticed I can read Lotr in a language I don't actually know and still understand what is happening. The feeling of the book remains the same, whatever the language.

[TheGreatElvenWarrior]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

And surely you could try reading it in Finnish. The translation is quite good, and at least I have noticed I can read Lotr in a language I don't actually know and still understand what is happening. The feeling of the book remains the same, whatever the language.

Maybe you could learn finnish by reading LOTR?

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Aganzir

And surely you could try reading it in Finnish. The translation is quite good, and at least I have noticed I can read Lotr in a language I don't actually know and still understand what is happening. The feeling of the book remains the same, whatever the language.

Yup, that's what I thought

Originally Posted by TheGreatElvenWarrior

Maybe you could learn finnish by reading LOTR?

Not sure, but maybe it will help?

Anyway, Agan, your turn.

[Aganzir]

Let's try some Hungarian.

"Amióta élek, nem láttam Lovasvégen a Vörös Nyilat! Hát idejutottunk? S mire számít Denethor úr, mennyi az én errőm, s mikorra érek oda?"

[Aganzir]

Nyíl = arrow
Számít = reckon

[Guinevere]

Thank you ! Arrow was a useful hint

I guess it must be Théoden to Hirgon:

The Red Arrow has not been seen in the Mark in all my years! Has it indeed come to that? And what does the Lord Denethor reckon that all my strength and all my speed may be

Originally Posted by Aganzir

I can read Lotr in a language I don't actually know and still understand what is happening. The feeling of the book remains the same, whatever the language.

Here I must disagree with you! The feeling of the book is often not the same when translated! There are two German translations and neither of them satisfies me. More in this thread (the only one I ever started...)

[Aganzir]

Yes, that's it. I thought that arrow would probably give it away.

I'm quite content with the Finnish translation- the translators have done wonderful work. I have the book also in some other languages, but eg. the Swedish translation is something I don't particularly like (I haven't read it, but leafed through it sometimes). Unless my knowledge of the Swedish language fails me, the translator has seemingly misinterpreted something and written that Treebeard had two lovers called Fimbrethil and Wandlimb (yes, the name is Wandlimb. It hasn't been even translated)...

[Guinevere]

OK, here is a quote in French again:

Ne méprisez pas la tradition qui est descendue des années lointaines; car souvent il se peut que les vieilles femmes gardent en mémoire des contes de choses qui autrefois étaient nécessaires à savoir pour les sages.

[Thinlómien]

But that's easy.

Originally Posted by Farewell to Lórien

"But do not despise the lore that has come down from distant years; for oft it may chance that old wives keep in memory word of things that once were needful for the wise to know."

[Guinevere]

Should I have picked an obscurer quote then?

There aren't that many languages I can (grammaticaly correctly) translate into from English. There are more languages I can understand a bit, of course (Finnish, obviously, not being among them...)

Anyhow, it's your turn now, Thinlómien!

[Thinlómien]

Originally Posted by Guinevere

Should I have picked an obscurer quote then?

Possibly.

Let's try some Spanish. This shouldn't be too difficult...

"Es cierto que el mundo esta colmado de peligros y que hay en él sitios lóbregos, pero hay también cosas hermosas y aunque en todas partes el amor está unido hoy a la aflicción, no por eso es menos poderoso."