Tolkien Translated... into Googlese

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Pitch

Neither do I, but I guess it's Fingolfin to Fëanor: "Your half-brother in blood, but your full brother in heart I will be", etc.

That's it.

Lee Teng-hui? Is that the Chinese name for Lalaith?

No. Apparently it's Chinese for "Fool of a Took". This is Gandalf to Pippin after the latter throws a stone into the shaft in Moria.

Originally Posted by Pitch

"Aragorn, remember the Paths of the Dead"?

Yep.

Originally Posted by Pitch

An insight we'd all do well to take to heart. No idea.

Guinevere has it: "Many are the strange chances of the world and helps oft shall come from the hands of the weak when the Wise falter."

Originally Posted by Pitch

Can this be Gandalf to Pippin at the gate of Moria - "Knock on the door with your head, Peregrin Took", etc.? Otherwise, no idea.

Of course, Urwen! *slaps forehead* But I wonder where 'password' and 'Mr President' came from...

Yes, Urwen's right, it's the sword Gurthang. "Mr President" starts out as "master" and morphs gradually by way of "sir" and "Chairman". "Password" is more mysterious. It appears right after the first (Afrikaans) translation: "Yes, I will gladly drink your blood, that I may the blood of the siege of my master password, and the blood of slain Brandir unfair. I will fast to death."

"Beleg" becomes "seige" at the same point, but after a while that disappears.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

"Password" is more mysterious. It appears right after the first (Afrikaans) translation: "Yes, I will gladly drink your blood, that I may the blood of the siege of my master password, and the blood of slain Brandir unfair. I will fast to death."
"Beleg" becomes "seige" at the same point, but after a while that disappears.

It just hits me that "password" may actually come from "Beleg" via German Beleg (pronounced roughly 'balague', as in 'plague') = 'proof, voucher, receipt'. The poor guy - wasn't being slain by his best friend hard enough on him?

[Morthoron]

What an odd site. I put in this:

In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort.

And the eighth translation (from Chinese) gave me the strangest return:

Living in the ground a short hole. This is a dirty, dirty hole, wet, damp cave completely worms and smell the end, but no nudity, dry, nothing I heard him sand: This is a troll-hole, which means comfort.

Thank goodness 'no nudity'. It was all beginning to sound vaguely indecent.

[Aiwendil]

This is most amusing.

I tried:

There was Iluvatar, the All-father, and he made first the Ainur, the holy ones, who were the offspring of his thought, and they were with him before aught else was made.

Result:

I am the Earth, God, it's just Ainur and the saints who from their ideas, do not do anything.

Those lousy Ainur (and saints), why don't they ever do anything with their ideas?

Curiously, the first iteration (to Afrikaans and back to English) transformed 'Iluvatar' into 'Eru Iluvatar'. So apparently the dictionaries include the names of some Tolkien characters.

[Pitchwife]

Originally Posted by Urwen

Get away from my garden,you giant toad of Mr.Gloomy!

Could be Fëanor to Melkor: "Get thee gone from my door, thou gaolbird from Mandos" (or some such).
As for your other one, I haven't got a clue.

Originally Posted by Oddwen

Earendil left the ship, in order to reduce Nimbrethil trees

I suppose Vingilot needed some repairs.

"All shall love me and despair" made it almost unharmed through the first 10 rounds, but after 54 finally became "I love goals". Had no idea Galadriel was a football fan!

On the other hand,

Go not to the Elves for counsel, for they will say both yes and no.

took only 10 rounds to become

Return to the wizard that is a fact, not the West.

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

It just hits me that "password" may actually come from "Beleg" via German Beleg (pronounced roughly 'balague', as in 'plague') = 'proof, voucher, receipt'. The poor guy - wasn't being slain by his best friend hard enough on him?

Ah, you must be right. But then I don't know where "seige" comes from.

Ja, Ek sal graag jou bloed drink nie, dat daar so ek kan die bloed van die beleg van my heer vergeet, en die bloed van Brandir verslaan is onregverdig. Ek sal jou vinnig doodmaak

Any clues?

Anyway, Beleg's not so badly off, just being turned into a password*. The equally unfortunate Brandir eventually becomes, "the wrong brand of blood".





*Next time I need a password, I'll know what to pick.

[Legate of Amon Lanc]

Originally Posted by Nerwen

Anyway, Beleg's not so badly off, just being turned into a password*. The equally unfortunate Brandir eventually becomes, "the wrong brand of blood".

As in: "What kind of cheap rubbish are you drinking, Dracula?"

But, look at this:

"Lord Black, who left the country! This is very unfair. The illegal seizure of their countries' struggle. Therefore, the king must be wrong battle, he should buy, so it will always exist."

Aww, poor them. This is very unfair.
The last sentence, however, seems like having some deeper idea behind it, probably some "Capitalist metaphysics".

[Pitchwife]

After a quick search of some Afrikaans online dictionaries, it looks like we could both be right, Nerwen: Afr beleg (noun)= Engl siege (cf. German Belagerung siege, belagern to lay siege on). On the other hand, Afr beleg (verb) = Gm belegen = Engl to proove. So my best guess at the moment is that Beleg got split into 'siege' and 'password', while forget seems to have been... well, forgotten. But maybe some Dutch Downer could shed some more light on this?
Anyway, it's all quite fascinating, once you dig into it - even more if you happen to understand two or three of the languages involved, I suppose.

Originally Posted by Legate

"Lord Black, who left the country! This is very unfair. The illegal seizure of their countries' struggle. Therefore, the king must be wrong battle, he should buy, so it will always exist."

*input error*input error*input error*input error*input error*(insert smilie with smoke coming out of its ears)*

[Guinevere]

Well, in Dutch "Beleg" does mean "siege". (in German "siege" is "Belagerung" , I can see the relationship.)
When I fetch money at the cash machine they always ask "Wünschen Sie einen Beleg?" (Do you wish a Beleg (receipt)?
Makes me always think of poor Cuthalion!

Edit:Oops, cross-posted with Pitchwife!

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Pitchwife

After a quick search of some Afrikaans online dictionaries, it looks like we could both be right, Nerwen: Afr beleg (noun)= Engl siege (cf. German Belagerung siege, belagern to lay siege on). On the other hand, Afr beleg (verb) = Gm belegen = Engl to proove. So my best guess at the moment is that Beleg got split into 'siege' and 'password', while forget seems to have been... well, forgotten. But maybe some Dutch Downer could shed some more light on this?r*input error*input error*input error*(insert smilie with smoke coming out of its ears)*

Originally Posted by Guinevere

Well, in Dutch "Beleg" does mean "siege". (in German "siege" is "Belagerung" , I can see the relationship.)
When I fetch money at the cash machine they always ask "Wünschen Sie einen Beleg?" (Do you wish a Beleg (receipt)?
Makes me always think of poor Cuthalion!

I wonder why the word came back into English twice? in other cases it seems this program picks a possible translation at random, if there's more than one– that's how "swiftly" in the original became "hunger" via "fast".

Mr Cuthalion really sent this thing haywire, anyway– most quotes I've tried didn't get that bizarre until they'd been translated back from Chinese.

[Blind Guardian]

Wow this is great! It translated blessed to holy Oo and somehow got paraphrase in there !

[Nerwen]

Originally Posted by Legate

"Lord Black, who left the country! This is very unfair. The illegal seizure of their countries' struggle. Therefore, the king must be wrong battle, he should buy, so it will always exist."

I suspect this started life as:

"Let the Lord of the Black Land come forth! Justice shall be done upon him. For wrongfully he has made war upon Gondor and wrested its lands. Therefore the King of Gondor demands that he should atone for his evils, and depart then forever."