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Black Speech School
translations:goblin_song
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Table of Contents
Goblin Song
Clap! Snap! the black crack! Grip, grab! Pinch, nab! And down down to Goblin-town You go, my lad! Clash, crash! Crush, smash! Hammer and tongs! Knocker and gongs! Pound, pound, far underground! Ho, ho! my lad! Swish, smack! Whip crack! Batter and beat! Yammer and bleat! Work, work! Nor dare to shirk, While Goblins quaff, and Goblins laugh, Round and round far underground Below, my lad!
This song from The Hobbit was sung by goblins of the Goblin-town after the capturing of Thorin and company (“Over Hill and Under Hill” chapter).
Despite simple structure and grammar, this text is very challenging to translate because of rich lexicon with sound-imitations which would be nice to keep in translation. I had to add several new words to Nûrlâm's dictionary. However according to Appendix F of LOTR, orcs of Moria and Misty Mountains spoke Westron and not Black Speech. So this is just translation exercise and not an attempt to reconstruct this song in the native language of goblins.
Make a translation
The List of required words
The following words (listed alphabetically) are required for translation:
| English | Nûrlâm | Etymology and comments |
|---|---|---|
| and | agh | TK (RI) |
| batter | pûlp- | LOS (to beat), probably from Quenya “palpa” (to beat, batter) |
| beat | bump- | HG < LOS “bum-” < MB |
| below | lata | EL (under, below, beneath) |
| black | bûrz | TK (RI) “dark”, better than “mor” suits the sound of song |
| bleat | blîn | NL, merging common Indo-European word of sound-imitating origin with Qenya “nýe” < Primitive Elvish “NYENE”, which was early etymology of Vala's name “Nienna” |
| clap | thlakh | NL < Noldorin “tlach(a)” (clap, clash, clatter) |
| clash | thlazg | see “clap” (thlakh) |
| crack | grik | NL < Qenya “kirkis” + Sindarin “criss” |
| crash | zurg | NL < RN “zgurum” < LOS “zgur” (thunder) < MB |
| crush | tûp- | all major dialects < SV “shatûp” |
| dare | ||
| down | ||
| far | ||
| go | ||
| goblin | ||
| gong | ||
| grab | ||
| grip | ||
| hammer | ||
| knocker | ||
| lad | ||
| laugh | ||
| my | ||
| nab | ||
| nor | ||
| pinch | ||
| pound | ||
| quaff | ||
| round | ||
| shirk | ||
| smack | ||
| smash | ||
| snap | ||
| swish | ||
| to | ||
| tongs | ||
| town | ||
| underground | ||
| while | ||
| whip | ||
| work | ||
| yammer | ||
| you |
The Translation
translations/goblin_song.1627765998.txt.gz · Last modified: 2023/09/07 15:32 (external edit)
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