We discuss the choices of Ottavio Fatica regarding the translation of Wormtongue (Rettilinguo) and Shelob (Aragne) in The two Towers: why didn't you leave Vermilinguo and Shelob?
Recently, the second volume of The Lord of the Rings in the translation of Ottavio Fatica, that is The two Towers. We have not seen the same rising of shields and the same indignation (often free and uninformed) exploded at the publication of The Fellowship of the Ring, but discontent is certainly not lacking.
I will not be here to summarize the comments made to The Fellowship of the Ring even before its release, or the legal clash between Bompiani, Ottavio Fatica and Vittoria Alliata. The discussion would be very long, so I refer you to this article, With the 'list of all our articles about Tolkien.
It is not my intention in this article to comment extensively on the translation of The two Towers, since it would be absolutely too long to be summarized in an article. It is much better, therefore, to lower the bar and talk about two specific translation choices of Ottavio Fatica, that is Wormtongue e Shelob.
Because Wormtongue has been translated as Rettilingua, where the Alliata / Principe version had Vermilingual? Because Shelob, which was left unchanged in the previous translation, has now become Aragne? Thanks also to the comments and discussions on the group Tolkienian studies, let us shed some light on these choices.
Names from The two Towers: Rettilingua
In the Alliata / Principe translation, the character of Gríma Wormtongue, had been translated as Vermilingual Grima. This choice was probably due to having taken the modern meaning of the term as a reference worm, Namely supplythus giving the impression of a slimy person.
Ottavio Fatica, however, in his translation of The two Towers preferred to make the name like Gríma Rettilinguto. But what is the reason for this choice?
The root wyrm-tunge: "Snake tongue"
As often happens in Tolkien, many terms do not express the contemporary meaning of a word, but its archaic meaning. The same happens with Wormtongue, In which worm does not have the actual meaning of supply, but the archaic meaning of reptile/serpente.
Indeed, how can you learn from A Reader's Companion by Wayne G. Hammond and Christina Scull, Wormtongue is the version modernized by wyrm-tunge, which in Old English means precisely snake-tongue, "Snake tongue". wyrm (variant of Old English wurm) derives from the Proto-Germanic wurmiz and in Old English had the meaning not only of serpente, But also dragon o reptile.
The nickname Wormtongue for Gríma it is probably a reference to the poet's nickname Gunnlaug Ormstunga, as Hammond and Scull speculate. Protagonist of the Gunnlaugs saga ormstungu, Gunnlaug was so famous for his sharp tongue and for his wit that he deserved the nickname of, in fact, Ormstunga, or "snake tongue". In this sense, I remember that even the Old Norse ormr derives from the Proto-Germanic wurmiz. In the case of Gunnlaug, his nickname was de facto an honorific, whereas in Tolkien wyrm-tunge it obviously makes sense derogatory, even because wurm in Old English it was used as an insult and Tolkienian dragons are always abject beings.
The translation of wyrm-tunge ne The two Towers
According to the instructions left by Tolkien in Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings, Wormtongue should be translated meaning.
Therefore, Fatigue is right in translating wyrm like reptile, creating precisely Rettilingua. Another correct choice could have been Serpilingua, recalling the snake instead of the reptile. However, in my humble opinion, reptile it is perhaps more appropriate, since it has a more extensive meaning and therefore can also include (obviously in the Tolkienian imaginary) the category of dragons, the evil deceivers par excellence of Middle-earth.
Wormtonguehowever, it is not an equally correct translation, if Alliata is supposed to have translated the name based on the modern meaning of worm. However, if Alliata had done a more in-depth etymological research, perhaps her choice would not even be too wrong, since the Proto-Germanic wurmiz it probably indicated not only reptiles and snakes, but also worms. Indeed, wurmiz probably derives from the proto-Indo-European wrmi, which meant precisely supply and gave rise to Latin vermis, from which we obviously have Italian supply. Therefore, the translation of Alliata / Principe of Wormtongue is not exact, but it is interesting to note how the cycle of change and specialization of the meaning from Proto-Indo-European to modern English manages to somehow make even Vermilinguo square.
The translation of wyrm-tunge in other languages
The choice of Alliata / Principe seems not to be too widespread. In fact, as a user points out in the Tolkienian Studies group, even in translations into other languages the most common choice would be to translate wyrm by serpente/reptile. In Spanish, for example, we have Grima Lengua de Serpiente, while in Polish we have Grima Gadzi Język which, according to the user, literally means “Gríma Tongue of Reptile”. This user delves into the meaning of the Polish translation:
it does not properly indicate the tongue of a snake, but it still conveys the idea of empty words, without a precise meaning, used mostly with the sole purpose of diverting and confusing the thoughts of the upright and the just, bringing them almost involuntarily at a crossroads between two choices: either like this or like that, or right or wrong, or the law or the arbitrariness of actions.
Also in French and Greek we have choices similar to that of Fatica: Grima Langue de Serpent, Γκρίμα ο Φιδόγλωσσος (Gríma Forked Tongue).
However, it should be noted that wyrm was made like supply also in other languages. For example, in Portuguese we have Grima Língua de Verme, while in Romanian there is Grima Limbă de Vierme.
Names from The two Towers: Aragne
In the Alliata / Principe translation the monstrous Shelob had not seen her name translated and therefore Shelob also remained in the film version of The Lord of the Rings, pronounced "Scèlob". Therefore, this name may also sound orcish, and therefore without any relation to our natural languages.
So why Ottavio Fatica it The two Towers results Shelob by Aragne?
The meaning of She-lob: "Female spider"
How many and many will have already guessed, actually Shelob it is not an Orcish word, but a compound of two English words made by Tolkien.
As we read in Nomenclature of The Lord of the Rings and in Tolkien Gateway, the name of the giant spider is formed by the personal feminine pronoun nominative she and lob, and therefore literally means "female spider". Lob is defined by Tolkien as an English dialectal variant of spider, Namely spider. Lob it is also generally referred to dangling objects and Lobbe in Old English it meant precisely spider.
The translation of She-lob ne The two Towers
In its translation de The two Towers, Ottavio Fatica has translated Shelob by Aragne. But what does this word mean and what does it have to do with "female spider"?
Well, aragne is an obsolete Italian word which means spider and, by extension, Spider web, and is a variant of aragna, which has the same meaning. The Bran attests also the male variant Aragno. The Dictionary of the Italian language by Tommaseo, from 1865, indicates aragne as a male name, but currently all Italian dictionaries define it as a name female (see Thu, Thu e Thu). Arachne / a derives from the Latin female name Aranea, which in turn means spider; the male name spider, instead, derives from the Latin masculine name araneus.
Let me now make a small digression on the etymology of Aranea/araneusplease, because it is interesting. Be Aranea, both araneus are akin to Greek ἀράχνη (Arachne), which always means spider. THE'Etymological Dictionary of Latin and other Italic Languages he hypothesizes that Araneae araneus derive from ἀράχνη, with the sound -khn- greek changed to -gn-, to whom the veil would then fall g. But this is not the only possible hypothesis. In fact, both this dictionary and theEtymological Dictionary of Greek, believe that ἀράχνη e araneus/Aranea could both derive from * araksn-/* araksna-, which however would not seem to be an Indo-European word.
Therefore, Fatigue tried to replicate Tolkien's operation, but turning it into Italian. Therefore, he took up an outdated term for "spider" and made sure it had an obvious feminine meaning. Hence, Fatigue chose the female version of aragna/Aragno, however, leaning towards the alternative aragne. I can't say why Fatica chose aragne su aragna, However.
Aragne, being an Italian word derived from Latin, it should not be pronounced with the g lasts for, for example, Wagner o Ragnarok, ie as [ar'agne]. In reverse, aragne it should be pronounced in Italian, that is with the gn di dumpling e spider: [ar'aɲe].
Why not choose Aracne? And how has Shelob been translated into other languages?
It is quite evident that, following Tolkien's linguistic path, Fatica could never have translated Shelob by Arachne. In fact, Arachne is a Greek term which in Italian only came with the proper name of the mythological character Arachne. Therefore, Arachne it is a name too Greek and too tied to an alien mythology compared to the Tolkienian one to translate Shelob, which has no reference to Greek mythology.
Also in the translation of The two Towers in other languages the same reasoning of Fatigue was probably made. In fact, for example, in Spanish we have Ella-Laraña, in Brazilian Portuguese we have larachne, while in the second French translation we have araigné, which is an ancient French female name meaning spider and it derives, hear hear, from the Latin Aranea.
Very few languages seem to have left the original Shelob unaltered, without even a phonetic adaptation, in addition to the Alliata / Principe translation: the only one I can find is that Portuguese. Similar to the English original, but with an adaptation, are the Lithuanian and Bosnian versions (Šeloba) and the Croatian ones (Sheloba). The reference to the mythological Arachne seems to have been present only from the first French translation, which it therefore proposes Arachne.
Some conclusive words
I hope this article has been interesting and informative for anyone wishing to understand the likely reasons behind some translation choices of Ottavio Fatica. I obviously don't have the presumption to speak on his behalf and I still strongly recommend that you wait for his essay on Tolkien's translation to come out to get a full perspective on his work.
However, the explanations I propose for the translation of Wormtongue and Shelob tend to be in line with Fatica's working style and with the etymology given by Tolkien. And with this article I would like to emphasize how hard Fatigue works. We may like or dislike names translated by him, sound good or bad in our ears, and this is fine. However, we must always remember that the musicality and beauty of a word are matters of personal taste, not objective aspects; in reverse, etymology is an objective aspect and should be respected as such.
Therefore, as readers and fans we can certainly not appreciate Rettilingua or Aragne, even for personal reasons such as "it sounds bad" or "I don't like it." However, personal taste should not be confused with objective data. In this sense, the translation of Fatigue of Aragne and Rettilingua may not be liked, but it cannot be said to be incorrect. Our personal taste can coexist with respect for the work of a professional.
In fact, I go even further. In my opinion, without the translation of Fatigue many and many of us would never have learned the etymology of Wormtongue and Shelob. For many and many, in fact, It was the subversion of the Alliata / Principe canon that made us question the profound meaning of the Tolkienian names. And for this reason alone, in my opinion, the Italian community has become more cultured and richer, in its part that has been willing to question the historical names of its favorite book.
Nice article, congratulations: calm and documented,
On “Wormtongue” I only allow myself to note that in Italian “lingua biforcuta” (ie snake tongue) was used to indicate people who lie; for example, in the dialogues of western movies (Pale Face speaking with a forked tongue!). While a hypothetical "worm's tongue" does not have an immediate meaning that I know of.
Furthermore, Grima is sneaky but cunning - like the snake (or dragon) in Western culture.
Excellent analysis, Norbert!
A user yesterday proposed Linguaforcuta as a possible alternative translation and I personally found it very nice. 🙂
Guys, these articles are wonderful. You feel the passion and a cultured and thorough research. Only this year I approached the literary work of Tolkien, therefore crippled by the Bompiani-Alliata affairs. Your articles have accompanied me to recognize the beauty of translation, the "effort" to grasp the profound meaning of words and you are a wonderful guide.
Thank you so much for the nice words! <3
I appreciate the translation of Fatigue: he managed to modernize The Lord of the Rings, making it attractive to new generations.
At this point I expect a new, more modern translation of Anne Frank's Diary, so that today's young people can appreciate it.
We could start with the title: "The blog of Anne Frank". “Dear followers, I'm here in my bedroom…”.
It would be a success.
In fact, it was not Fatica's intention to modernize anything.
Congratulations, however, for trying to make irony about nothing, even if these days it is quite frequent.
I really appreciate the etymological analysis, my only doubt / problem about Rettilingua is that, as a first impact, reading the new translation I perceived "retti-lingua" -> "retto", in the sense of "correct, honest, moral" , that is, the exact opposite of what Vermilinguo transmitted to me and that the original intended. I "reptile" I can not "read" in this name, it will be my limitation or a problem of spelling ... Even other people with whom I have been confronted have wondered "why 'straight language'? Isn't he a deceiver? ", Without in the least perceiving the" reptile "...
At this point, I wonder why not choose a Grima Linguaforcuta (or forked, or similar), which very clearly refers to the snake without being ambiguous ...
Thanks anyway for the research done 🙂
Mah. I am highly perplexed.
I do not question Mr. Fatica's good intentions, but Mrs. Alliata has made the English text Tolkien had chosen for his novels much more epic and stately. And let's not forget that he did it with instructions dictated directly by the author.
So, no. I remain a supporter of the more classic Vermilingual Grima and Shelob.
As we have said in other articles, it is not clear whether Alliata had actually received direct instructions from Tolkien.
Secondly, The Lord of the Rings is a complex and multi-toned work. It's not just epic or just courtly. The fact that, in your opinion, Alliata made the English text more epic and stately is not necessarily positive.
Sorry but “The Story” that Tolkien approved or read, or gave instructions to Alliata is not ascertained by anyone. No letters, no documentation. Nothing at all. Have you read Alliata's text? I doubt. It took Tolkien "some time" to choose the term ELVES, where in older works or early drafts he used the term GNOMES. A Germanic versus a Nordic term. Tolkien lover of Nordic Myths should have chosen GNOMO, but the term had been too overused over time, so much so as to make an idea of "little creatures that were under bridges attacking travelers". Eventually Tolkien was convinced and decided to use ELVES. In the Poetry of the Ring translated by Alliata, she uses the term GNOME, and she does so throughout the book. Did Tolkien understand what he wrote? Have you read it? I do not believe. Or he would have told her to use the term ELVES. And the Poetry of the Ring is the very first thing one encounters in the Book; Tolkien put it at the beginning; out of text, as an "introduction" to the story. And we meet her again in the second or third chapter. So the doubts that Tolkien had read what Alliata wrote, studying more and more his prose, his life, etc ... turns out to be more and more "false".
In the case in question, "worm" is the noble term used in epic poems to indicate the dragon, not earthworms and the like which, moreover, are not reptiles and do not even have a tongue. The reference is precisely to the poisonousness of the dragons' words, exemplified by the dialogue between Glaurung and Túrin at the gates of Nargothrond.
The choices of a translator must be spot on as well as philologically correct. A musician cannot limit himself to playing a series of notes, in his composition there must be harmony and rhythm, otherwise it will be unpleasant. Musicality and beauty are not aspects linked solely to personal taste. Aragne is a bad choice, it will be philologically correct but it sounds bad. Translating the common "turf" with "rind" frankly leaves you stunned. Putting an expression in Gandalf's mouth such as "I have them in syrup" is an incommentable operation if not resorting to foul language. Dozens of examples like these could be cited. The old translation was not free from questionable choices (Trombatorrione, Orcs, Gaffiere etc ...) but with the new one we ended up from the pan into the embers.
As we discovered in a discussion on the Tolkienian Studies Facebook group, actually "worm" is historically not a courtly term used to refer to dragons in Italian. In Italian, "verme" or "vermo" was used to indicate crawling and disgusting beings, such as Dante's Vermo used for Cerberus. There are just some exceptions in the medieval Lombard literary tradition, probably due to the influence of the Lombard language, which is of Germanic origin and therefore has the word “wurm” with the meaning of “dragon / reptile / snake”.
Musicality and beauty are personal factors. If Aragne sounds bad to you, ok. But you can't make your personal taste a universal factor.
In theory it should sound out of place even at Fatigue. The translator in fact criticizes Tolkien for using "jovial" but then resorts to "host" or "Aragne".
Cerberus in the Comedy, as well as in Greco-Roman mythology, is a three-headed infernal dog for which he does not crawl. Dante in this case is the exception and not the rule. In any case we are talking about the translation of a work full of references to the Germanic world, not to the Greco-Roman one. In the Italian translations of works of Germanic, Finno-Ugric literature (serpent = "worm of Thunder") and other Tolkenian works, the dragon / serpent is often referred to as the "worm". Glaurung is the "Great Golden Worm" or "the Worm of Angband" and Scatha is called "the Worm" after all dragons in ancient Germanic literature were crawling, disgusting beings and almost never had wings (the latter were the "dracas" ). This conception of the dragon is also present in Italy, just note how the Visconti dragon is depicted or learn about the legend of Tarantasio.
In fact, “Aragne” does not refer to Arachne, but refers to a Latin word. Then, of course, the assonance remains, but it is not a reference to Greek mythology.
On the figure of the dragon in Italy and how it can be defined as a "worm", the discussion is long and complex, and certainly should be treated in other contexts. Probably in northern Italy there was a revival of the Germanic wurm, presumably due to Lombard influence. Dante's Word, on the other hand, is something else and does not refer to the fact that Cerberus crawls, but to the fact that Cerberus is disgusting. In this sense, Dante's Word cannot be taken as a reference, because it has never been associated with the figure of the dragon / vermo / wurm / wyrm.
I recently purchased the single volume and stumbled upon this article, desperate for the meaning of "Shelob" since in my limited knowledge of the English language, the only term I had for "spider" was "spider", while the term Italian "Aragne" was very clear.
I therefore found this article precise, careful, answering all my doubts. A beautiful job also for those who, like me, discovered Tolkien too many years ago and can find themselves confused in front of some choices.
So thank you!
Heartfelt thanks for the nice words! 🙂
A well-argued and articulated writing, like all the others in this "blog", however I do not agree at all with the conclusions. To begin with the now famous choice (I would not call it translation) of the name "rectilingual" for Grima, I find it interesting to start by reporting two short writings, in English, I apologize if I do not dare to translate them but they are quite clear and understandable and I would not like to incur the ire of the "guardians of correct translations" now very present:
… Keep in mind that a 'worm' doesn't have to be an earthworm, tapeworm, or anything else we call a 'worm' in modern English. Historically any narrow creeping or crawling animal (snakes, slugs, caterpillars) could be termed a 'worm'. In legend and Tolkien, it's used for dragons, too, and Smaug certainly had a gift of cunning speech. Here, though, I think the reference is more likely to be to a snake; Gandalf calls Gríma a snake more than once. So 'Snaketongue', or maybe 'Dragontongue', is perhaps a less 'Evildude' rendering of the nickname….
… Théoden name Gríma 'the Wormtongue' (II. 516). Therefore, being more commonly known as Wormtongue, the absence in his name of a more complex linguistic significance makes his role more transparent to Tolkien's readers, in a similar way to Sam. His character is developed around animalistic qualities and behavior relating to the name Wormtongue, which is demonstrated when Gandalf calls him a 'witless worm' and instructs him to 'be silent, and keep [his] forked tongue behind [his] teeth' (II . 514). These animalistic links are reminiscent of Sméagol and the concept of worm relating to all creatures that creep and crawl, including snakes. Gandalf presents Wormtongue to Théoden and exclaims: 'here is a snake… To slay it would be just. But it was not always as it now is. Once it was a man, and did you service in its fashion '(II. 520). Once again, this echoes Sméagol's fortunes and his corruption by a stronger dark power. He is presented, and indeed occasionally acts, as a malicious character, exemplified when he bares his teeth 'and then with a hissing breath' spits at King Théoden after he has been offered a chance of redemption (II. 520). Nevertheless, Tolkien clearly depicts Wormtongue as Saruman's tool; he is used as an instrument for evil, but is not truly evil himself….
I would say that the word Worm in the tale, as in other sagas, is indicative in a derogatory sense of any animal form that crawls, writhes and steals slowly; all this therefore referred to worms, scolopendras, snakes and even dragons (the worms of Morgoth), the dragons, however, instilled terror rather than disgust, which is usually the case with other creatures; even today it is very different to tell a person you are a Dragon than to say you are a Worm. Gandalf then addresses Grima both as a "stupid worm" and as a "snake", when he tells him to hold his forked tongue between his teeth (literally behind his teeth). He uses the two different words to point out in a decisive way the disgust that Grima aroused. So the original translation "Vermilinguo" is definitely guessed, unless the point was instead that, for other reasons, it was absolutely necessary to change it (and this is a choice of the current translator, Fatigue), translate or better interpret Worm as " reptile "(from the Latin repto, reptilis, which indicates crawling) is again a choice of Fatigue but then it really would have been more correct to use" Forked tongue "(even if in fact, as already written, it would remember the words of Sitting Bull) or as rightly hypothesized in the Serpilingua "Blog", however in any case the Alliata / Principe translation is not at all wrong it is one of the possibilities and perfectly conveys the idea of the character:
… ..Wormtongue. 'Modernized' form of the nickname of Gríma, the evil counselor of Rohan: Rohan wyrm-tunga 'snake-tongue'. Translate by sense
personally the word "Rettilinguo" brought to mind an accessory for colonoscopy rather than the appellation of a despicable individual like Grima as it appears in the story, or in antithesis, an individual who speaks with righteousness (always from the Latin, rectus), in one case, therefore, a choice at least questionable or in the second case, a choice that would have nothing to do with the character (but this was certainly not the purpose of Fatigue).
As for the choice of interpreting and transforming the name of Shelob into Aragne, here again it was an interpretation of Fatica, (I also discovered that Aragna not Aragne though! Is a dialectal name of the Tracina, a fish then) frankly to say then which had the merit of modernizing the "Lord of the Rings" sometimes using terms that were little used even when they were known, it seems to me a counterdiction in terms and personally I do not find in any way these choices in line with the etymology given by Tolkien , but rather with the idea that this is what Tolkien should have meant, unfortunately it will certainly not be possible to know his opinion and therefore each of us will feel free to express his considerations.
Personally I believe that these choices and others do not add any improvement to the reading or add any “new light” to the story but this is just my idea that is worth as much as a thousand different ones.