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TFNAtoday at 9:59 AM1 replyview on HN

> I wish translations into contemporary English went further to preserve the etymology of certain words

This is how the Icelandic sagas were translated into English in the nineteenth century. Translators then almost always chose the English cognate of the Old Norse world, even if that English cognate was obsolete or its meaning had changed. Far from helping immerse readers in the medieval world, the effect (at least for modern sensibilities) is offputting and goofy, and in the twentieth century publishers like Penguin replaced those translations by new ones with a very different approach. More judicious use of the Germanic lexicon in English, à la Tolkien, provides a more appealing atmosphere of olden times.


Replies

lproventoday at 11:07 AM

> the effect (at least for modern sensibilities) is offputting and goofy.

Oh my. I find the reverse. It's spooky and enchanting because once I know all the cognates I feel like I can magically understand the original.