Mould-on-the-Wold

[Carol]

BBOYMINN:
> 
> First, I think a lot of these are VERY MUCH 'IN' jokes or inside
> jokes. I think she intended them to be overlooked by most readers
> and just taken for granted. Only the most astute and inquisitive
> reader were suppose to see the Sirius was the Dog star and 
> Sirius Black was a 'dog'. <snip>
>
> But at the same time, I think a lot of the translators, based 
> on my limited knowledge, could have done a better job of it,
> it they had translated less. 

Carol responds:

A name like Sirius Black would probably be best appreciated if the translator used the name for the Dog Star and the translated name "Black" (e.g., Schwarz in German, if I'm spelling that correctly). "Black," especially with Bellatrix, has connotations of Dark magic. OTOH, you lose the alliteration if you translate Black with Bellatrix, so it's a bit of a trade-off. Remus Lupin should certainly use the Latin name Remus to suggest the legend of Romulus and Remus and a last name suggesting "wolfish," the meaning of the adjective Llupine." (I don't think that a translation of "lupin/lupine," the flower name, would necessarily have the right connotations.

Names like Lucius Malfoy, Severus Snape, and Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore (which, IMO, is simply brilliant), should be left alone (unless the language is, say, Chinese, and they simply can't be translated into that language). "Severus Rogue" in the French edition is simply annoying.

However, the names of the textbook authors, such as Arsenius Jigger, are clearly intended as linguistic jokes and should, IMO, be translated.

Place names like "Mould on the Wold" (which have no clear meaning even to a British reader and are apparently intended to mimic real English placenames like Stow-on-the-Wold) should perhaps be translated for sound effects rather than meaning, with "on the" translated literally and the first and last words rhyming.

The Wold is, of course, a real river, which has apparently lost the original meaning of "wold"--or maybe it flows through green, rolling country? Geoff can tell us. You might retain "wold" and use a Russian word that rhymes with it, if such a word exists.

Carol, who was going to mention that jelly in the American sense doesn't contain any bits of fruit, peel, or seeds but thinks that Steve has covered that ground already