Happy Potter and the Untranslatable Names

Language Level: Intermediate

Source: Speak Up, edition 242

Standard: American Accent

Harry Potter and the Untranslatable Names

Many reasons have been given for the phenomenal popularity of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books. For some critics, it is the narrator’s magical mix of narrative tricks: for others she has simply captured the mood of the moment. Yet few acknowledge her gift for language. For translators, who have contributed to the international success of the Harry Potter series the books represent a major challenger.

J.R.R. Tolkien’s epic, Lord of the Rings, conjured up mystical locations and forgotten languages with names of hobbits, elves and dark powers. In a less dramatic way – but just as effectively – J.K. Rowling evokes a world with names for people, places and spells, and even a new sport, Quidditch.

EVOKING CHARACTER

Like many common English surnames (such as Smith, Wright, Cooper and Taylor), Potter was originally a trade name.  Yet the fact that the potter is a “maker of pots” would suggest that Harry is more creative.

Hermione’s sophisticated name instantly tells us that she is upper class. Dudley Dursley sounds dull, unpleasant and middle class. Draco Malfoy, by contrast, is the the perfect name for a villain. Draco is Latin for dragon or snake, and Malfoy comes from old French for bad faith. His friends sound suitably evil: Crabbe sounds like a crab, while Goyle sounds like gargoyle, the grotesque face on a medieval cathedral.

Voldemort’s name is the most sinister of all, suggesting desire for death of death wish, even if there is a Valemort character in Shakespeare’s Henry V.

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Serena Daniel an editor of the Harry Potter series in Europe explains the delicate choices that translating presented: “The names of people and places almost always contain an allusion, a parody, a pun”. Offer they stuck with the original English forms. How could you translate Hogwarts, Hagrid or Dobby? Some translated names echo the meaning, Oliver Wood has a typically solid English surname: (Olivio Wood in Brazil “filching” reflects a bad character as filching is slang for stealing.

But it’s not possible to capture everything. The Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge is a good example. A first meaning is a sweet, but a secondary meaning  of fudge is to avoid commitment or decision – a typical politician trait.

Headmaster, Albus Dumbiedore’s surname begins with the word dumb, meaning mute. It’s unlikely that Brazilian readers (Alvo Dumbiedore) will capture the meaning, besides the English name sounds friendlier, like a bumbling old man. Dumbledore is also an archaic word for bumblebee, as Rowling imagined him strolling around Hogwarts humming. It also suggests he has a sting in his tail.

NAMES AND DESTINIES

Rowling also uses names to shape our expectations of a character. Snape (Severo Snape) is not a real word, but it sounds harsh and cruel. Many words beginning with “sn” have a negative meaning: snake and snare, snoop and snarl, snip and snap. By contrast, Quirrel (Professor Quirrel) sounds timid and uncertain: like a squirrel. It is a fantastic plot twist when Snape  turns out to be on Harry’s side and  Quirell a follower of Voldemort. Rowling’s nonsense word for non-wizards, muggles (trouxas), sounds like a cross between muddled and mug. A mug is not only for drinking, it is also slang for an ignorant person, easily tricked. When Draco wants to insult a halfblood, he calls them mudbloods. This perjorative word conveys the snobbery, even racism, against magicians, with Muggle parents.

KEEP IT SIMPLE

Rowling’s names are inventively borrowed from history, mythology, geography, literature and various languages. Hedwig (Edwiges) and Ronan were saints. Dursley and Flitwick are English towns. Flint is a scary character in the children’s classic, Treasure Island. Fawkes is named after Guy Fawkes, the man who tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament in 1605: a good name for a fiery phoenix.

“Translating the name is one of the pleasures that go with this book,” said Beatrice Massini, a European interpreter of J.K. Rowling. “It’s necessary to find the right balance between the suffocating search for synonyms and the book’s right to simplicity.”