So, how great is Kromm anyway?

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

There's no better burden
than much man-wit.
There's no worse burden
than overmuch ale.

Whose translation is this?

Byrði betri
ber-at maður brautu að
en sé mannvit mikið.
Vegnest verra
vegur-a hann velli að
en sé ofdrykkja öls.

I'd have it:

A better burden
may no man bear
For wanderings wide than wisdom;
Worse food for the journey
he brings not afield
Than an over-drinking of ale.

That preserves the six line format, although I grant you it sounds clumsier. But your version is a bit too modern for my tastes.

I've not yet found a translation I like, though. I was reading a promising one by a Scottish professor at Edinburgh, friend of a guy I know who studied under him, but I haven't gotten the chance to really compare it with the originals.

[Anders]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Whose translation is this?

I translated it from Swedish. I don't know who translated it to Swedish, but my guess would be Åke Ohlmarks (who also translated the Lord of the Rings into Swedish and botched the job rather badly.)

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

I translated it from Swedish. I don't know who translated it to Swedish, but my guess would be Åke Ohlmarks (who also translated the Lord of the Rings into Swedish and botched the job rather badly.)

Shame. The Icelandic translation of The Lord of the Rings is good enough so that I still read it for the literary value of the translation, both of prose and poetry.

A masterful job.

Of course, we should just let KROMM handle all translations for us, with his Modular Language Advantage.

[Anders]

Well, the translation was botched in a rather unique way. He did a good job with the names and words - but he changed the story. No major changes - he added lines at certain places, etc., but Tolkien didn't feel that that was the translator's job. The most famous example is that he changed the scene with the Lord of the Nazgûls so that Merry, rather than Eowyn, kills the Witch-king...

[Shadlyn]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

The most famous example is that he changed the scene with the Lord of the Nazgûls so that Merry, rather than Eowyn, kills the Witch-king...

::Thus making Merry the first transgender halfling?::

[Anders]

Nope, he translated the "she" to "han" (he). And he never explained why.

Later he wrote a book on how he knew Tolkien was into black magic and that RPGs were flooding the land in a sea of satanism.

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Asta Kask

Later he wrote a book on how he knew Tolkien was into black magic and that RPGs were flooding the land in a sea of satanism.

Ah, but he was wrong.

It is a sea of KROMMism.

[Jame]

Originally Posted by Icelander

Ah, but he was wrong.

It is a sea of KROMMism.

And, as we well know, KROMM is completely the opposite of satan.

All Praise and All Hail and All Otherwise Worship KROMM!!!

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Jame

And, as we well know, KROMM is completely the opposite of satan.

But He does game with Satan.

[Jame]

Originally Posted by Icelander

But He does game with Satan.

Because HE is the only one who is strong enough to do so.