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Originally Posted by Katsunami
The one thing that always jars me is the translation of names. It seems to be completely random: some names are not translated. Some names are "Dutchified", while other names are translated literally. Some are actually translated wrong. Most of the times, the translations appear to be foolish or out of character.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
In Dutch, "The Shire" is translated as "De Gouw". I wonder how they came by that name.
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Very easily, it's the official translation of "shire"...
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Originally Posted by http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gouw_%28Germaans%29
Een gouw (Latijn: pagus, Duits: Gau, Engels: shire, Fries: goa, Gronings: go, Limburgs: goew) is een territoriaal en institutioneel onderdeel van een Gallo-Romeins, Germaans of Slavisch stamgebied.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Katsunami
So, while "Meester Frodo" is correct, it's old and out of fashion; "Mijnheer Frodo" or even "Meneer Frodo" would be better, at least nowadays.
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I don't think "Master Frodo" is the same as "Meneer Frodo". I think "meneer" sounds too formal, while "master" is a touch less so. You mostly use "meneer" with a last name, while "master" is used with a first name.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rumpelteazer
What even bothers me more is with film adaptation of books that in the Dutch subtitles they use the Dutchified names. Again, I can understand it for films as Harry Potter (though it does annoy me) but with Lord of the Rings, IIRC, it just frustrates me and is the reason why I hardly ever watch films on tv but rather on dvd where I can either choose to have no subtitles or the English ones.
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Yes, I do mind that too, very much. If I read the subtitles I'm constantly trying to figure out who they're talking about... The subtitles become a hindrance then. Besides, subtitles should be a translation of what they're saying, to help you understand the original language, not a translation of a translation.
There are some names I don't mind if they're translated (in books), especially if they do carry meaning or there's a good Dutch word for it. But some things just can't be translated well. Simply because we don't have a word for it. And some names shouldn't be translated. Period.
Take a book by Raymond E. Feist: Boekanier des Konings - The King's Buccaneer
Prince Arutha - Prins Arutha
(no translation, as it should be, as it's a fantasy name)
Prince Nicholas - Prins Valentijn
(why not Prins Nicolaas, which is a perfectly Dutch name?)
Squire Harry - Jonker Han
(why not Jonker Harry, which is a perfectly Dutch name?)
Margaret - Margreet
(close enough, no problems with that)
Abigal - Adelinde
(doesn't make any sense to translate that name, especially as Arutha also isn't translated)
Duke Martin conDoin - Hertog Martin van Schreiborg
(if you translate names, Martin should have been Martijn, and van Schreiborg doesn't make any sense at all...)
Amos Trask - Emus Trask
(what's wrong with Amos in a fantasy book, as Emus also is a fantasy name...)