“Thee” and “thou” in “The Lord of the Rings”

[Findegil]

It is probably obvious for the Germans here at the downs, but for sure not for all members: German has preserved both familiar singular and polite plural up to now. But in daily speech polite plural is more and more neglected. That means modern English lost the familiar form while German is on the way to loss the polite form.
In translating an English text which uses the (now) obsolete and archaic familiar form you must choose between the archaism (which would be transported by the use of the German polite plural) and the familiarity of the characters (which is transported by the familiar singular). That is why Carroux and Krege came in some cases to different solutions.

Respectfuly
Findegil