REELING AND WRITHING VI: DOÑA ROSARIO FUE AL ARMARIO

REELING AND WRITHING
or,
Miss Dermark's 2015 Advent Calendar

DAY SIX

DOÑA ROSARIO FUE AL ARMARIO
or
TRANSLATING MEANINGFUL AND RHYMING NAMES

Every single Anglophone knows Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard. The rhyme has cemented the sentence, set it in stone. When I began translating nursery rhymes into Spanish and Catalan during my adolescence, I suddenly had the epiphany of changing her surname for a Spanish given name that fit like a glove: "Doña Rosario fue al armario". There is a female name in Spanish that rhymes with "armario", "cupboard:" it's "Rosario", literally "Rosary," a Catholic-sounding and old-fashioned given name, fitting for a grandmother, or aunt, or old maid, or "beata" (devoutly Catholic but hypocritical middle-aged/old lady) born during the dictatorship.

Speaking names are also a problem to translate, and here are a pair of Dickens examples: would Mr. Fezziwig change a tad of his essence if he became "el señor Pelucón", or Mrs. Corney if she became "la señora Cursy"? The jolly shopkeeper and the hypocritical orphanage matron whose names in original English even conjure the characters themselves (even to those who watch or read A Christmas Carol and Oliver Twist for the first time in their lives) in the minds of those who get to know them... Dickens was a master at giving his characters speaking names, after all, and keeping them in English is the best choice, with footnotes or an epilogue to explain the meanings of these powerful surnames.

And here are a few studies: a failure (Blâvingen into Licenea), a success (Sybill Trelawney into Sibilla Cooman), a cultural reference to trade for a pun, which succeeds (Becky Blunt into Becky Vanitas), and a comparative dilemma (Jon Snow/Nieve/Snö and other Westerosi bastards, taking into account the cases of Hot Pie/Pay Caliente/Varm-Paj/Tourte-Chaude and Gilly/Elí/Vère).


A GREAT ERROR: BLÂVINGE -> LICENEA
In one of August Strindberg's most lovely stories, the child protagonist is a soldier's daughter called Blâvinge, literally "Bluewing", after the common blue butterfly (Polyommatus icarus) ("blâvinge" is this butterfly's name in Swedish) due to her lively, energetic personality and the colour of her dress/frock. I bought myself Strindberg's short stories done into Spanish in Cádiz for Christmas, the translation by Francisco J. Uriz. The translations were excellent except for a pair of errors: one was leaving the names of royals untranslated (Karl XII instead of Carlos XII, Gustav Adolf instead of Gustavo Adolfo) in "The Golden Helmets"... and the other was naming Blâvinge Licenea, after the Spanish name of the butterfly species. Now Licenea sounds too cultured and too pompous, more like the name of a count's daughter than the one given to the child of a common soldier. I would opt myself for naming her Alazul (literally "Bluewing"), which retains the associations to the blue butterfly (albeit more subtly) and sounds more simple and childish, even sounding like the flutter of wings on a meadow wildflower.

A GREAT IMPROVEMENT: SYBILL TRELAWNEY -> SIBILLA COOMAN
But there are also translations that improve the quality of speaking names. The Fortune-Telling teacher at Hogwarts, given life by the legendary Emma Thompson (Amelia in Treasure Planet, Beatrice in Much Ado), was given in Italian a surname that even surpasses the English original one. "Trelawney" instantly recalls the local squire in Treasure Island (is it serendipity that Emma was chosen to play the role?), and, to more avid readers, the eccentric Enlightened scientist in The Cloven Viscount.

"Trelawney" is derived from a famous cry of defiance from the south-west of England, where Rowling grew up, often shouted at football matches:

"And shall Trelawney live? And shall Trelawney die? Here's ten thousand Cornishmen who ask the reason why!"

The cry is a line from The Song of the Western Men, written in 1833 by the poet and parson Robert Stephens Hawker and the unofficial Cornish national anthem. It concerns the march to London in 1688 in protest at the incarceration in the Tower of Jonathan Trelawney, Bishop of Bristol. This could be a reference to Trelawney predicting the death of one of her students every year. It is also interesting to note that Bishop Trelawney also was released and went on to live for another thirty-three years, just as Professor Trelawney's famous death predictions rarely came true.

The name "Trelawney" comes from the Cornish phrase tre-lonow, homestead of groves, or tre-launow, farm in clearing. J. K. Rowling claimed that she picked the name because of her love of Cornish surnames, which she had not used in her books before. The age of the name also made it suitable, because of Trelawney's over-reliance on her ancestry when seeking to impress.

But the bishop is, anyway, far less known than the squire (and the mad scientist). Only a few people know the reference and the rest assume it's an allusion to the character from Treasure Island. Me included.

Her full Italian name is, ut supra, Sibilla Cooman. As in the Cuman sybil, the most renowned one of these ancient soothsayers, who is said to have foretold, among other things, a new Golden Age believed to be the second coming of Christ. This is a historical reference far easier to get than the bishop imprisoned in the Tower of London (Just like, to put an example: if I asked any of you not from the Plana area of Castellón Province who Tombatossals and Bufanúvols were, you would be wondering... but if I ask those of you not from my birthplace about Zeus, Iago, or Tyrion Lannister, a bell would ring in your heads). So yes, "Sybill Cooman", if Rowling had chosen that surname, would ring the right bells for most of the readership across the globe.

A CHANGE THAT WORKS PERFECTLY: BECKY BLUNT -> BECKY VANITAS
One of Ada Goth's former nannies, an ambitious social climber and ace écarté player who got fired for attempting larceny at Ghastlygorm Hall, went by the name of Becky Blunt. Pictures of her show a blond shrewd maiden in typical Regency attire. It's plain to any English speaker that she is an expy of Becky Sharp from Vanity Fair, her surname being a pun ("blunt": the opposite of "sharp"). The Spanish translation would both lose the antonyms pun and the intertextual reference to her inspiration. But Elena Gallo Krahe has taken what we see as the best option: changing Becky's surname from Blunt to Vanitas, a reference to the title of the Thackeray novel, so that, while "Becky Blunt" rings no bells to a Spanish reader, "Becky Vanitas" immediately leads the reader to realize: "It's Becky from Vanity Fair! (La feria de las vanidades, in Spanish)." A clever choice indeed, and one that retains the original reference, not losing it in translation.

DIFFERENT APPROACHES: JON SNOW OR JON NIEVE / SNÖ / SCHNEE?
In Westeros, all the lovechildren born within each region are given the same surname, a surname derived from a prominent geographical feature of the region: "Snow" in the North, "Sand" in Dorne, "Flowers" in the Reach... While most translations (Spanish, Catalan, Swedish, German, Hungarian...) translate these surnames into the target language (into Spanish, for instance, as "Nieve", "Arena", "Flores"...), French and Italian versions do not, keeping them in English ("Jon Snow" and "Ellaria Sand", for instance [remain untranslated in Italian and in French], vs. "Jon Nieve" and "Ellaria Arena").
I am not against it, I mean, but the same Frenchman, Jean Sola, who gave us impressive translations of all the place names in Westeros, from beyond the Wall to the south coast of Dorne, into French (not to mention some characters: Hot Pie as Tourte-Chaude and Gilly[-flower] as [Prime-]Vère...) could have written "Jon Neige(s)" and "Ellaria Sable(s)", as well as for all the other lovechildren in the series, and the World of Ice and Fire would make even more sense to the Francophonie, even making Westeros appear far closer to them, like in other translations of this true-to-life universe.

PS. The Hungarian version translates the lovechild surnames, but uses 1) Eastern name order (surname first), the one used in Hungary (and for instance Japan, by the way), for illegitimate children, and 2) Western order (given name first), the one employed by the rest of European cultures, for trueborn children of nobility, with 3) a few exceptions like upstarts or place-of-origin surnames, which employ Eastern order as well. 
Examples of all three cases: 1) Havas Jon, Homok Ellaria; 2) Loras Tyrell, Sansa Stark; 3) Tengerjáró Davos, Tarthi Brienne.
Could this be a reflection of ancien régime Magyar society, in which only the elite, with their Austrian and French influences, used the Western name order? In my own humble opinion, 'tis so it is.

TON AND GUIDA... AND OTHER RENAMES

TRANSLATION NAME CHANGES

In Catalan, Hansel and Gretel are most usually known as Ton and Guida (Tony and Maggie, literally).
These are not the only storybook characters whose given names are changed in canon (not changed to the foreign variant of the names, like Lizzie into Lisa or Isa, or István into Stefano or Étienne, but given completely unrelated names! Note that this refers to canon as a whole, and not to specific translations/adaptations [Kai into Peter in Dumas's Snow Queen, for instance, is not covered here, neither Gerda into Freya in Marie Diaz's version of the same tale]. Neither are translations of speaking names, such as Gilderoy Lockhart into Gyllenroy Lockman, Mad-Eye Moody into Ull-Foll Murri, Granny Weatherwax into Yaya Ceravieja, Kanga and Roo into Kangu and Rito, Merry Brandybuck into M. Brandygamo, Crookshanks into Krummbein and Krumben, etc. The same kind of direct translation is used for high nobility and royalty: Tywin Lannister into Tywin Lennister; Gustavus Adolphus into Gustavo Adolfo, Gustave-Adolphe, Gusztáv Adolf, Kustaa Aadolf; Maria Theresa into Marie-Thérèse, Mária Terézia, etc.: neither do we cover this case.).

Herb, the male lead in Beware of Storybook Wolves, is known as Olmo in Spanish and Hug in Catalan.

Charlie and Lola, also created by Lauren Child, become Juan and Tolola in Spanish, Carles and Laia in Catalan.

Veruca Salt, the spoiled heiress in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, was renamed Erika in the Swedish translation (retaining her surname!)

Likewise, Emil from Lönneberga is Michel in German and Miguel in Spanish.

Snusmumriken, the minstrel of Moominland, is Snuffkin in English and Manrico in Spanish. His Finnish name, Nuuskamuikkunen, translates fittingly to "harmonica".
Also in Moomin canon, Mârran, the dreaded personification of the cold, is the Groke in English and the Amú in Spanish. In Finnish, this character is Mörkö (sounds like "mörk," "dark" in Swedish), which is phonetically and semantically the most ominous renaming.
My favourite Moominland characters, Tofslan and Vifslan, were Englished as Thingumy and Bob (what a butchery!) Luckily, they were called, in Spanish, better-sounding Tofelán and Pifelán. It also sounds fine in Finnish, where they are Tiuhti and Viuhti.

Kermit the Frog is Gustavo in Castilian and René in Latin American Spanish.

Bulle (literally, "Bun") in the Doctor Proctor saga by Jo Nesbö becomes Nilly (explained as shorthand for William) in English.

Gilly (named after "gillyflower", which can mean carnation or wallflower) the wildling girl is Elí (from "alhelí", wallflower or violet) in Spanish, and Vère (from "primevère", primrose) in French.

Enid Nightshade was renamed Isabelle Tromplamor in the French translated Worst Witch novels. Sounds more like a name for a court lady in the bevy of Francis I, or not?
Ethel Hallow, the Alpha Bitch in the Worst Witch books, becomes Esther Edel in German. After such a name change, she seems far less ominous, in fact, like someone you would invite for a drink and/or cakes...

The Beagle Boys Band become Die Panzerknacker in the German Disney comics. Which is the name I would give my own hard rock band. Panzerknacker. Badass.

Strider (Aragorn's nom de guerre) becomes Trancos in Spanish and Grands-Pas in French (both of which allude to his mighty steps), but Vidstige (Of the Wide Path, Well-Travelled), an even further translation, in Swedish. In Russian, it's Brodyaga-shire-shag (Vagrant step-wider), as far a translation as the Swedish one.
Wormtongue in Swedish: Ormstunga. Serpent-tongue. Way cooler.
Wormtail in Swedish: Slingersvans. Slithertail. Also way cooler. (Peter Pettigrew stays with his true name in Swedish, by the way).

Harold in the Captain Underpants novels becomes Berto in Spanish (George is Jorge, but we don't put it here, read above).
In the Italian translation of the book series (his bestie George is Giorgio, ut supra), Harold Hutchins (same character as above) becomes Carlo de Carlis.
In the same books into Spanish, Mr. Krupp, the teacher who becomes the titular superhero, is surnamed Carrasquilla.
In Italian, the same Mr. Krupp becomes signor Grugno. That's Mr. Grump, closely fitting.
Mrs. Ribble becomes signorina Nervetti in Italian and gets surnamed Pichote in Spanish.
Odd-name-out space alien Jennifer's Spanish name is Jeroma. Her Italian name's Giulietta (coincidental?)
Unpopular tattletale nerd turned... well, let's not spoil the plot of the book Melvin Sneedly is Mariolino Atomo in Italian and Gustavo Lumbreras in Spanish.
And Ricky Ricotta is Sito Kesito in Spanish.
General Jackrabbit becomes General Leporini (a reference to Il Duce?), also in Spanish.

Jack and Annie of the Magic Treehouse books become Tom and Léa in French.


Winnie the Pooh is Micimackó in Hungarian, in honour of Mici Karinthy, the translator Frigyes's sister, who was more proficient in English and helped her brother a lot with translating the books. The same Winnie's Polish name, by the way, is Kubuś Puchatek.
And Christopher Robin's Magyar name is Róbert Gida/Gida Róbert, depending of whether you see Róbert as his middle name or surname (Hungarians, like the Japanese, use Eastern name order, surname first).
Eeyore is Füles, "Eared", in Hungarian, and Igor in Spanish.
Roo's Magyar name is Zsebibaba, "Pouchbaby".

Irish stray turned Aristocat Thomas O'Malley was, in the Italian translation, given a Roman accent and turned into Romeo, er mejo der Colosseo!

Moaning Myrtle is Hulkende Hulda in Danish, chiefly to procure the effect of alliteration.
Speaking of Moaning Myrtle, she is called Mimi Geignarde in French. Which is rather strange given that she isn't a ditz in a pink cowgirl dress, or a consumptive Montmartre muse.
The surname Gaunt for the most dysfunctional family in the Potterverse is Barsk, "Harsh", in Danish.
Kingsley Shacklebolt is Kingo Sjaekelbolt in Danish. Pretty interesting since both given names, aside from being similar, are surnames of authors: Thomas Kingo was a Danish seventeenth-century hymn writer, while Charles Kingsley was the author of The Water Babies.

Neville Longbottom's pet toad Trevor is Oscar in the Italian translation (Lady, Lady, Lady Oscar...)

Albus Dumbledore's Italian surname is Silente, Silent. (First time I heard it, I was like :O)
And Severus Snape became Severus Piton... Python. Pythons are not venomous, but constrictors.
In Russian, Severus Snape's name is even more beautifully translated: as Severus Snegg: mind that "sever" means "north" in Russian (a bilingual pun!), and "Snegg" is "snow" (just like in Jon Snegg, to quote the most famous example from Westeros!).
Draco's henchboy Vincent Crabbe was surnamed Tiger in the Italian translation. Which sounds even more badass. I mean, a crab can only pinch you...
Mrs. Norris became Mrs. Purr, also "nel bel paese". Sounds purr-fect, doesn't it?
Penelope Clearwater's surname was changed to Light in the Italian translation. That makes only half the sense.
Then there's Sybil Trelawney, who became Sibilla Cooman in Italian. Not after the local squire in Treasure Island (who, by the way, lent his surname to the Enlightened surgeon in The Cloven Viscount), but after the Cuman sibyl, the most famous soothsayer in Roman lore. These Italians sure know about their classical heritage. There's a translated name that outranks the original! I mean, why didn't Jo Rowling call her Sibyl Cooman (or Sibyl Cuman)? Food for thought.
Minerva McGonagall became Minerva McGranitt, also in Italian. And once more, I take for granite, I mean, for granted, that Rowling could have used the translation surname.
To add a coda to this Potterverse digression, my favourite character Luna Lovegood's given name is changed in Russian into Polumna, which sounds like the Russian word for "halfwit" ("polumnaya", the translation for her bully-name "Loony"). At least it can refer to Pollyanna and to the muse Polyhymnia, which is a great thing for us Luna-tics. It could have been worse (Suka Lovegood? [shudders]).

The Cheshire Cat is Gato Risón in Spanish, Vigyor kandúr in Hungarian, and Grinsekatze in German. All three translated names refer to his ironic grin.

Lock, Shock, and Barrel become Vado, Vedo, and Prendo in Italian. There is the expression "vado, vedo e prendo", which obviously is tripartite but not synonymous with "lock, stock, and barrel" ("vado, vedo e prendo": I come, I see, I take: modelled, in turn, upon "veni, vidi, vinci").

Wunschpunsch, by Ende: Hold on to your hats! Dastardly villainous aunt-nephew team Tyrannia Vamperl and Beelzebub Irrwitzer become: Tyrannia Vampirella and Beelzebub Preposteror (English), Tirannia Vampiria and Belzebù Malospirito (Italian), Vampíria Tyrannia and Belzebub Lidérczy (Hungarian, rendered in Western name order), Tyrannia Vampyrén and Belzebub Kvackman (Quackman!) (Swedish), Tyranya Vampyr and Demonius Dwaalspoor (Dutch)...
The wishing punch, a character in its own right, was called Grog di Magog in Italian.

Caillou is Ruca in Portuguese.

Honor Harrington was renamed Victoria for the Russian translations, keeping her original surname.

Professor Tournesol/Tornasol ("Sunflower" but also "Litmus") in the Tintin graphic novels is surnamed Calculus in English and Kalkyl in Swedish. And Bienlein in German.
In German, also, Tintin becomes Tim and Milou becomes Struppi. Not to mention that the same Milou is Snowy in English canon.
The Dupondts (Dupont/Dupond) are the Thom(p)sons (Thomson/Thompson) in English, the Fhernández (Fernández/Hernández) in Spanish, and the Schul(t)zes (Schultze/Schulze) in German.

From Astérix and Obélix: druid Panoramix becomes Getafix in English, Miraculix in Swedish and German.
Local chieftain Abraracourcix becomes Vitalstatistix in English, Majestix in Swedish and German.
Tone-deaf bard Assurancetourix is called Cacophonix in English, Trubadix in Swedish and German.
The heroes' pet, Idéfix, becomes Dogmatix in English.
The perhaps oldest person in the village, septuagenarian Âgecanonix, becomes Edadepiédrix (Stoneageix) in Spanish.
The rival architect in Mission Cleopatra, Amonbofis (À mon beau fils, "To my son-in-law"), becomes Paletabis in Spanish and Catalan, Pyradonis in German and Swedish, and Artifis in English.
And this is just the tip of the iceberg. As if the two titular characters were the only ones in the 'verse to keep their names unchanged across languages, which they are, in fact.

Jack Skellington's Magyar name is Izsák Csontvázy (in Western name order). Not only is he renamed from Jack to Isaac (Izsák), but also surnamed in honour of Hungarian avant-garde artist Tivadar Csontváry!

Giroflée (Wallflower), the heroine in Le Prince Caniche by Laboulaye, becomes Reseda in the German translation of the fairytale.