eryn-galen

[eryn-galen]

I think this has been shared here before but I wanted to put it here one more time cuz it’s one of the very few pieces of media we actually have of them singing live 😭

Also I absolutely love how the lights on them go with their characters (blue on Joey for Blue Furious Boy and red on Madeleine for Scarlet Scarlet)

And yeah just the way they’re genuinely having fun and being silly is everything to me 😭

[eryn-galen]

… But there are other creatures of the same species that live in harmony with nature. In mountains, in woods. These I don’t chase… And some I don’t touch at all. For example…

[eryn-galen]

Surprise! Tumblr just got turned into an epic fantasy RPG, just like [your favorite appropriate media franchise]. And the Tumblr RPG's plot needs to have all of its characters covered, in roles both large and small.

That means that you are assigned to a stereotypical RPG role inside our new fantasy world. Spin this wheel to find out what you are now doing for a living.

[eryn-galen]

Literally nobody asked, but...

As a translator, I simply can’t not chime in. Sorry

So buckle up, this will be long and rambly

TL;DR: Jaskier's name should be translated.

Here's why:

Translation is a complex discipline, however, for us right now, the important thing is to differentiate between non-literary and literary translation.

Non-literary texts can be user manuals, contracts, product descriptions, etc. Generally speaking, translating them requires accuracy, attention to detail, and being as literal as linguistically possible. You can’t exactly be creative when people’s lives and safety are at stake. The translation needs to be functional, rather than enjoyable.

Literary texts are – you probably guessed it – novels, short stories, poems, and so on. Translating literary texts is a whole other experience, it’s honestly freeing. You still cannot invent things that are not present in the source material but you have more freedom to play with words and it’s so much fun! As opposed to non-literary texts (where the focus is placed on facts), the emphasis here is on emotions, feelings. Literary translation is more than translation – it’s transcreation. Your goal is to (faithfully) recreate the story in a way that resonates with the target audience, that delivers the same message and the same emotions across languages and cultures. Your translation needs to evoke the same feelings as the original work. This means that sometimes you need to change things.

An example. Let’s say I’m translating a novel from Hungarian (my mother tongue) to English, and Character A says this to Character B: „Ne legyél már ilyen nyuszi!” Now, if I translated this phrase word for word, it would be „Don’t be such a bunny!” What does this mean to the English language readers? Absolutely nothing! They’d stop, their reading interrupted, and wouldn’t understand what’s going on. They’d try to figure out the meaning based on textual context or the plot, but they’d probably reach the wrong conclusion (why bunny? -> what do I know about bunnies? -> they f*ck a lot? -> is Character B horny??). The correct approach here is to find a phrase in English that may be different but conveys the same message. So this is how Character A’s outburst should be translated: „Don’t be such a chicken!” So Character B is acting like a coward, and to make sure the meaning isn’t lost in translation, you have to use a different animal. This inaccuracy makes your translation faithful.

What does all this mean for Jaskier?

As we all know, ’Jaskier’ is not a real personal name, it’s a common noun. As far as I’m aware, there are no little Jaskiers running around in Poland (although I’m not familiar with Polish naming laws; so please correct me if I’m wrong here). ’Jaskier’ isn’t even a real personal name in The Witcher universe – it’s a stage name.

What’s important for us is that this name has a meaning. When a Polish reader meets Jaskier for the first time, they stop for a moment and think ’Huh, here’s this poet guy who named himself buttercup. Why did he do it? What does this tell me about him? What’s his real name and why isn’t he using it?’ And this is why Jaskier’s name needs to be translated – the thoughts and feelings of the ’source readers’ need to be recreated in the ’target readers’. What a Polish reader thinks and feels when meeting Jaskier is what a German reader thinks and feels when meeting Rittersporn. It’s what an American, British etc. reader thinks and feels when meeting Dandelion, what a Czech reader thinks and feels when meeting Marigold. And so on. The point isn’t even what kind of flower Julian Alfred Pankratz named himself after – the point is that he named himself after a flower. And everybody needs to know that. It’s important to know. It tells us a lot about this character. That he’s bright, that he has secrets, that there’s more to him than meets the eye.

And this is what Netflix viewers have been robbed of. What does ’Jaskier’ mean to someone who doesn’t speak Polish? Absolutely nothing. The name has lost all its meaning; it has been degraded to just another funny-sounding fantasy name.

A bunny instead of a chicken.

PS: And yeah, I know that Jaskier meaning buttercup is a common knowledge now. But it hasn’t been back in 2019 when season 1 came out. People who weren’t familiar with The Witcher just acknowledged that the bard’s name is Jaskier and then didn’t really think about it anymore. And people who were familiar with The Witcher (books or games, in English) were left confused.

The worst thing the Witcher tv show ever did was convincing people Jaskier was a good name replacement for Dandelion

[eryn-galen]

your vampire steals a mule and calls it dracula. your bard is writing a set of memoirs called “fifty years of poetry” when he’s only been writing poetry for twenty years. your main warriors are 1) guy who loves his daughter to the point of incredible violence and 2) guy who tried to kidnap that daughter multiple times. traveling party full of silly motherfuckers

[eryn-galen]

can’t take this guy anywhere. the complainerrrrrrr

[eryn-galen]

Someone PLEASE tell the Witch-King of Angmar that this little hobbit genuinely thinks it’s anyone’s guess whether or not he’s literate. PLEASE.

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Today was a good day

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 Doucet evening dress,  Paris, 1900-1905

[eryn-galen]

That particular disappointment of the more literate-than-average child upon discovering that “gaol” is just pronounced “jail”

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One of my favorite themes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes works. (✿◡‿◡)

[eryn-galen]

I think it was very sexy of the new firelord to have an elite team of all female warriors as his royal guards

[eryn-galen]

Sauron: *after LotR* as much as being a spirit sucks, at least I’m not trapped under a mountain

Ar-Pharazôn: as much as being trapped under a mountain sucks, as least I got betrayed by someone cool

Saruman’s ghost: as much as being murdered by Wormtongue sucks, at least I never had to have sex with my sister

Turin: As much has having to have sex with my sister sucks, at least I didn’t have to watch my kids have sex together

Hurin: I hate this game

[eryn-galen]

Art by J.R.R. Tolkien

[eryn-galen]

Dandellion and Essi Daven

[eryn-galen]

“i mean dandelion could be in this one, too”

geralt if dandelion was in this one, too

[eryn-galen]

NEW BOOK THE WITCHER! coming out 29th of november only in Poland. Worldwide dates not available yet but the name will be smth like 'the crossroad of the raven'

This time, the grandmaster of Polish fantasy goes back to Geralt's teenage years, when he is just taking his first steps in the witcher's profession and must face numerous challenges. Armed with two runic swords, he fights monsters, saves innocent maidens and helps unhappy lovers. He always and everywhere tries to follow the unwritten code that he took from his teachers and mentors. As is usually the case, life does not spare him disappointments - youthful idealism clashes with reality time and again. The story continues. The story never ends...

Found this on Goodreads!!

I had already hoped it would be aboit Geralts youth :)