Why Tolkien Was Accused of Black Magic By His Translator

[@h3rteby]

Reminds me of this quote by George R. R. Martin “Everywhere you look, there are more screenwriters and producers eager to take great stories and ‘make them their own. No matter how major a writer it is, no matter how great the book, there always seems to be someone on hand who thinks he can do better, eager to take the story and ‘improve’ on it”.

[@rursus8354]

Åke Ohlmarks was despised as an idiot among Swedish Tolkien fans. Also his translations are considered sloppy as well as violating the intention of Tolkien.

[@justthinkingoutloud2538]

This just goes to show that being a fan of Tolkien's work does not make you qualified to adapt it. You can supposedly love his writings while not knowing what the heck you're doing and arrogantly thinking you can do better.

[@RoseBaggins]

Yup

[@napoleonfeanor]

But are you really a fan if you think you can do better than the author and intentionally avoid asking for help despite Tolkien having offered help.

[@MmMm-tp7vw]

Fun fact: this book Tolkien och den Svarta Magin (Tolkien and the Black Magic) is actually a rare collectible now, as very few copies were ever printed due to its libellous nature.

[@annaa3772]

Well yeah, the book is total trash written by someone who couldn't take Tolkien's criticism of his terrible translation.

[@jespernielsen8549]

I tried to find a copy 20 years ago, but gave up.

[@GrinningNimbus]

Tolkien ded in 1973. 3 for elven kings, 7 for dwarf lords, 9 for men, 1 to rule them all. Ohlmarks died in 1984. That book about misinformation and lies becoming truth

[@RoseBaggins]

Oof

[@Fishhunter2014]

My favorite translated name for a lotr character is the Spanish name for treebeard. They went with Barbol, as in barba and arból

[@licmir3663]

Translators are not supposed to rewrite or reinterpret the original work. What the guy in Sweden did was unethical. He sought to replace the original work with his fan made version.

[@mizukarate]

That translator seems like a jerk. How dare he ruin JRR's work.

[@labrynianrebel]

Well he did put Black Speech *uncensored* in his book! Never before has Imaldris Publishing accepted such filth!

[@RoseBaggins]

Unfortunately, Tolkien still gets those accusations leveled against him to this day. I in fact encountered it from someone who was supposed to be getting a degree in Tolkien studies. He left it all because of a couple of examples that he claims are proof of Tolkien's racism. So, yeah, those accusations are still kicking.

[@AndreasSelzer]

Even those in the current Tolkien Society itself!

[@deplorabledegenerate2630]

It is unfortunate, especially given one reason Tolkien didn't like Wagner was his antisemetic views. Though the irony of that is that while Wagner definitely held those it was more nuanced than that, Wagner himself was part Jewish and maintained friendships with both full blooded and religiously practicing Jews. I take no joy in Tolkien being smeared for his much more milquetoast racism, if you even want to call it that, but it is kind of karmic.

[@Thumbdumpandthebumpchump]

This seems like a VERY misleading comment. Accusing Tolkien, correctly or not, of holding racist views, is not the same as accusing him as accusing him of being a crypto-notsee cult leader.

[@EgoEroTergum]

Geeze. It's amazing how much of his life that Ohlmark spent obsessing over and then trying to tear down the work of a fellow linguist and author. I understand the concept of envy, not everyone can be the best - but it seems very clear that he would have found more fulfillment in life just writing his own book. I have to conclude that he lazy as well. He had the passion, he had a story he wanted to tell, but he was more willing to try and twist the words another man had obsessed and slaved over than to actually buckle down and lay some words himself. I think that the Catholic concepts of Envy, and Pride, while not always applicable, fit to a "T" in the case of Mr. Ohlmark. One self-destructive character flaw, and another flaw that prevented him from changing; because how can you change what you see as perfect already?

[@rursus8354]

Tolkien was the linguist and author. Ohlmark was just a jealous wannabe.

[@VTdarkangel]

Ohlmarks may have had a genuine love for Tolkien's work, but he apparently wasn't above his own arrogance. It is the height of arrogance and conceit to try to rewrite the work of another with the idea that you could do it better. Ohlmarks further proved this about himself when he couldn't take the criticism of Tolkien as something he could learn from. Tolkien wasn't perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but he knew his world better than anyone else.

[@StorySenseChannel]

reminds me of Saruman and Gandalf. Like how he was jealous of gandalf and started doing all shite because he didn't get the ring of fire from Cirdan

[@Ithirahad]

Gods, I WISH the world were run by a secret Tolkien fan cabal. 'Twould be a very different world than this one.

[@denniszaychik8625]

There is also a weird conspiracy going on around Christian circles that both Tolkien and Lewis were memebers of the Hermetic Golden Dawn.

[@SonofSethoitae]

Even though the Order was disbanded when Tolkien was 11

[@TSN-WVK08]

@SonofSethoitae Yeah, Little Studios may have good intentions but they are idiot.

[@denniszaychik8625]

@@TSN-WVK08 Well on that we can totally agree. It also doesn't help that they miss the mark in their cultural analysis videos.

[@vulpesinculta9578]

This is going to be a good one.

[@XGD5layer]

I recall reading about the Swedish translation in the Finnish translator's book, but I didn't know that it went that far. Anecdotally the Finnish translator was a fledgling when she started, so it would be interesting to hear Tolkien's thoughts on it as Tolkien had learned Finnish for the Kalevala

[@yrjanaermala6726]

Back in the 70`s, before the LOTR was completely translated into Finnish, I read it first in Swedish and a bit later, in English. I made comparisons and found out the Swedish translator had even included a full sentence of his own!

[@mordraynlachant271]

"Hompen"...lol

[@selwrynn6702]

Christopher Tolkien was the best son a man could ask for in how he protected his fathers legacy. Sadly Christopher's son Simon has been about the worst grandson in this regard, the polar opposite to his father. All this to say that I do fear that such things as this may again happen in the comming days under the stewardship of Simon.

[@AndreasSelzer]

This reminds me of the current Anime Localizers who forcefully change things in anime, games and manga to push their ideology.

[@cadian101st]

Also a frequent problem of anime adaptations of manga and light novels.

[@tominiowa2513]

Not as bad as things used to be, such as Operation Ten Go being removed when *Space Battleship Yamato* was -translated- localized into *Star Blazers* so as to hide its Japanese origin. Then there was 4Kids...

[@andreyradchenko8200]

Ohlmarks was the living embodiment of fuming pinkjak.

[@JizyaLord]

Ohlmark is literally Morgoth

[@martineldritch]

If only Ohlmarks had the wit to just write his own damm Swedish fantasy epic and just let Tolkien be Tolkien. It would have saved him from (the well earned) paranoia that plagued his last years

[@codemancz798]

The Czech translations of Tolkien's works are (at least in my opinion) some of the best in Czech literature, but there is one thing that irks me now. "Wizard" is translated as "čaroděj". The word wizard is derived from the word "wise", whereas čaroděj means something like "line maker"; some sort of druid that makes lines on the ground, which Gandalf is not. The word wizard should be translated as "mudrc" (from moudro, wisdom), but everyone keeps using čaroděj.

[@hglundahl]

5:25 Åke is pronounced Awkay.

[@Kreln1221]

*This reminds me a bit of what L. Sprague de Camp did with the works of Robert E. Howard...* 😕

[@JesusRocksTryPrayin]

I wanna read The Hompen now... cuz, I thought the books were boring. I thought the movies were a bit boring too; I just rewatched them. idk. Meh. The Hobbit book was rly good anyway.. 3 cheers for The Hompen, on DVD this summer! HIP HIP

[@brianc9374]

The Similirilion boring???

[@joemccallister4883]

Did he know about Camp Hobbit?

[@MatthewCaunsfield]

It seems the translation bordered on fanfic! Not part of the brief, I'm sure.

[@ManicPixieTransGirl]

I have now learned about a new person that I despise with a passion, thanks for posting! Seriously, what a horrible human being this guy was.

[@ishmaelforester9825]

It's a great insult to the Hobbits themselves that their own words and stiry would be disregarded. The Lord of the Rings is famously their book.

[@ianweir3608]

Im reading LOTR for the first time and i swear i *cant watch shit* on youtube because even videos about something as random as the Swedish fuckin translation contain deep end-story spoilers Im 1/3 through the last book. Glad i just randomly learned who kills the witch king /s. Literally every single LOTR videos is off-limits because they all contain totally unnecessary spoilers. I get the idea of avoiding videos with titles like "how does LOTR end?" If i dont want to know how LOTR ends, but even ostensibly totally unrelated videos ruin the whole ending. It's exasperating. Video about how some guy accused tolkien of black magic? Sounds interesting. "Hey guys! Guess who kills the witch king!" OH FFS

[@meduseldtales3383]

If you're really reading LotR for the first time, how would you have time to watch yourtube vids? Or- eat??

[@ianweir3608]

@meduseldtales3383 lmao, your name checks out. That's a good point, though. I should get back to the battle of the Pelennor; the rohhirim just showed up and things are popping off. Last time on _LOTR_ Gandalf and the Witch King were getting ready to square up, but unfortunately now I know that that leads nowhere

[@tominiowa2513]

Spoiler - Everything is done by Eru Ilúvatar. 🤪

[@tasse0599]

It's like 80 years old

[@ianweir3608]

@tasse0599 I'm not ...