TRA6015 Readings in Translation CHEUNG Lai-luk Changing Role of the Translator & LOTR

A Descriptive Study of the Changing Role of the Translator

Through Lucifer Chu’s Translation of The Lord of the Rings

TRA6015 Readings in Translation

Prof. Tung Yuan Fang

CHEUNG Lai Luk 張禮六

(S01007760)

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The Chinese University of Hong Kong

April 27, 2003

Table of Contents

A. Abstract........................................................................................................4

B. Introduction..................................................................................................4

C. About The Lord of the Rings........................................................................5

D. Difficulties and Pitfalls for the Translator.....................................................6

E. Different Versions of Chinese Translations..................................................6

F. The Atypical Translator Lucifer Chu.............................................................8

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G. Success Factors of Chu’s Translation.........................................................9

H. The Changing Role of the Translator.........................................................15

I. Conclusion..................................................................................................16

J. Reference...................................................................................................17

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A. Abstract

This paper is aimed at describing the changing role of postmodern translators through the
phenomenal success of Lucifer Chu’s Chinese translation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s classic work of fantasy
literature, The Lord of the Rings, among three other Chinese versions, all published within a short
period of three years from 1998 to 2001.

B. Introduction

Being one the two oldest professions on earth, translators have found their identities and focus
shifting over the centuries, from intermediaries in ancient barter trades, to missionaries and
decipherers of the Holy Scriptures and Buddhist Sutra, to promoters of cultural exchange through
translated works of literature and other genres. Now more than ever, they find themselves assuming
roles other than mere men (and women) of letters . The school of translators at Toledo (13 century)
achieved their status as learned men rather than as translators (Newmark, 1998), whereas to
succeed in the modern world, translators may need to turn themselves into businessmen and
marketing executives. Also, Newmark’s (1993) advice for translators that “in principle, the
translator should be invisible” seems no longer a rule of thumb in today’s media-oriented world. To
achieve greater success, the new generation of prominent translators employ wit, in addition to
words, and get themselves involved in publishing and marketing promotion, matters that were
traditionally outside a translator’s working perimeters.

This paper presents a descriptive study of the changing role of the translator, by going through
the atypically successful story of Lucifer Chu（朱學恆） and his re-translation of Tolkien’s highly
acclaimed classic, The Lord of the Rings. We shall begin by giving a brief overview of the novel, its
publishing history and its acclaimed status in the Western world over the past years. Then the
different Chinese versions will be listed out with some background information. Next we shall
enter into our main discussion by focusing on Lucifer Chu, who took unconventional steps to
approach Linking Publishing Company in Taiwan and initiated to re-translate the lengthy novel. By
analyzing the extraordinary success of this new Chinese version which will likely sell over 100,000
sets, we shall explore the changing role and critical success factors of translators as well as of their
works in today’s world.

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C. About The Lord of the Rings

"It's a book that crosses the magic line between childhood and

adulthood."

As Malcolm Bradbury, Professor Emeritus of American Literature at the University of East

Anglia, rightly points out in the above statement (Alberge and Wagner, 1997), the triumph of The
Lord of the Rings is well justified, though many ‘expert scholars’ like Germaine Greer and Auberon
Waugh have openly questioned the novel’s worthiness as a great work of literature. A poll held in
the U.K. by the chain bookstore, Waterstone, in 1996, and repeated many times since, named The
Lord of the Rings the “Book of the Century”, i.e. the top in the list of the hundred most-read and
best-loved books of the 20th century. It is a well-founded result confirmed by sales figures and
bestseller charts over the years.

Written by J.R.R. Tolkien (1892-1973), philologist and Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford

University, The Lord of the Rings was published between 1954 and 1955. It was a grandiose
‘sequel’ to The Hobbit, the author’s first novella (when compared with the enormous work of three
thick volumes in The Lord of the Rings) about Middle Earth and its different kinds of bizarre
inhabitants besides men: hobbits, elves, wizards, dwarves, orcs and more. The lengthy novel, being
an instant big hit in the U.K., was quickly translated in other European languages, Dutch being the
first. Its success across Europe was unstoppable. The novel’s first paperback version (pirated by Ace
Publishers) was launched in the U.S. in 1965, immediately creating a fad across campuses left and
right. Reading groups and fan clubs burgeoned in no time. Since then, generations of people in the
West have grown up under the influence of The Lord of the Rings.

The world of Middle Earth is a tapestry of unlimited boundaries meticulously weaved in a

period of 16 years by Tolkien, to include every possible detail of everything mentioned in the story,
which has a backdrop spanning over thousands of years, from the different aliases of some ancient
king, to the history of the swords and horses of each warrior, and even to the particulars of different
pipe-weeds (tobacco). It is a whole creation, complete in its own geography (including topography
and maps), history, invented languages, and niceties of everyday life. This can be reflected in the
exceptionally voluminous Appendices and Indices section which covers almost one third of the last
volume, providing a overwhelming amount of background information and cross-references for the
zealous and diligent reader.

According to Pearce (1998), this epic written by Tolkien, a devoted Catholic, has three central
themes bound together, connecting the essential nature of man's mortality with the importance of
free will and the intrinsic conflict between good and evil. Despite the complicated backdrop,
intertwining characters, and twists and turns that make up the huge volume, the underlying story is

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simple. It is about the quest imposed on, and willingly taken up, by Frodo, the ring bearer, together
with other characters in the fellowship, to destroy the evil ring and save the Middle Earth. As
Galadriel, the elf queen, puts it, "Even the smallest person can change the course of the world".

D. Difficulties and Pitfalls for the Translator

Apart from the novel’s sheer volume and complexity, challenges posed to anyone attempting to
translate The Lord of the Rings mainly stem from the philological aspect of the novel. In a letter to
the Houghton Mifflin Co., Tolkien himself declared that “the invention of languages is the
foundation. The ‘stories’ were rather made to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. I
should have preferred to write in ‘Elvish’”. The philological and mythological background of
Tolkien’s fictional works is one of the major pitfalls for Chinese translators lacking of sufficient
understanding of the complicated linguistic and cultural backdrop against which Tolkien’s fantasy
novels are placed. Tolkien created the Middle Earth sagas primarily as a pseudo-historic setting for
his invented languages, and as a “Mythology for England.”

Adding to this is the fact that the genre “fantasy literature” （魔幻小說）, which was firmly
established through Tolkien’s Middle Earth sagas, is rather new and foreign to eastern readers and
translators. Modern Chinese literature has no fantasy literature tradition as such. Children's
literature has a few translations of Western fantasy stories. Computer games are about the only area
exploring fantasy worlds. The Chinese tradition closest to fantasy literature in the West may be
kung-fu or knight-errand novels（武俠小說）, and the popularity of that genre among the Chinese
is indeed reminiscent of the enduring popularity that Tolkien’s fiction has enjoyed in the West over
the four decades since The Lord of the Rings was published (Van der Peet, 2000).

E. Different Versions of Chinese Translations

Although the original The Lord of the Rings novels were published in the ‘50s in the U.K. and
landed in the U.S. in 1965, gaining widespread popularity and scoring a huge success on both sides
of the Atlantic Ocean, their Chinese translations only came into being decades later in 1998. Two
Chinese versions were published individually in this year, one by Linking Publishing Company
（聯經出版社） who owned the Chinese publishing rights to the novels, and the other by Variety
Publishing Company（萬象出版社）, who openly launched a pirated version (Van der Peet,
2000).

Variety’s version of the Lord of the Rings called《魔戒之主》系列 is made up of 15 pocket-sized

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volumes, including two volumes of 《霍比特歷險記》 (the Hobbit), with cover design, illustrations,
and layout similar to that of Japanese comics books. The whole series was translated by a translator
called 海舟。

Linking’s version comprises six volumes, matching with the six books defined in the original
novel. Therefore each of the three parts consists of two volumes, and was tackled by different
translators, reportedly from mainland China. The first two books were translated by a team of three
translators, thus the whole translation project involved five translators in total. This may have
adversely affected the quality of translation, as Van der Peet (2000) puts it, “It remains a mystery
how unity of style and the overall narrative pattern and smoothness of the story are to be retained if
so many different people work on the translation of one book, probably even without reading the
parts they did not have to translate. No editor can probably make up for the breaks and irregularities
that will occur in the design of a story if many different people, probably working under tight
deadlines, translate parts of one single story that are then deliberately put together. At least, no such
editor was available for the 聯經 edition of The Lord of the Rings.”

These first two Chinese versions were not well received. Linking’s version sold less than 1000
sets. Then in 2001, two new Chinese versions emerged, jumping on the bandwagon of the
worldwide hype generated by the mega movie project of The Lord of the Rings. One was a
simplified Chinese version published by Nanjian Yiling Press in three volumes, each translated by a
different translator, but the overall output was checked by a single proofreader. The other new
Chinese version was from Taiwan Linking. In less than two years, Linking commissioned Lucifer
Chu to re-translate Tolkien’s Middle Earth sagas: The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, and created
the first millionaire-translator.

Discussion and comparison between the different translated versions in this paper mainly focus
on the three Taiwanese versions.

The following table summarizes the different Chinese versions published in mainland China
and Taiwan:

Original Title The Fellowship of The Two Towers The Return of the
(1954/55） the Ring King
Taiwan Variety 《魔戒同盟》1─4 集 《雙塔記》1─5 集 《國王歸來》1─4 集

台灣萬象（1998） 海舟譯 海舟譯 海舟譯

《魔戒之主》系列

Taiwan Linking 《魔戒團》 《雙塔記》 《國王歸來》

台灣聯經（1998） 張儷、鄭大民、 吳洪譯 楊心意譯

魔戒 I－VI 本 張建平譯

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Taiwan Linking 《魔戒現身》 《雙城奇謀》 《王者再臨》

台灣聯經（2001） 朱學恆譯 朱學恆譯 朱學恆譯

魔戒首、二、三部曲

PRC Yilin 《魔戒再現》 《雙塔奇兵》 《王者無敵》

大陸譯林（2001） 丁棣譯，郭少波校訂 姚錦鎔譯，郭少波校訂 湯定九譯，郭少波校訂

魔戒第一、二、三部

F. The Atypical Translator Lucifer Chu

Thanks to Lucifer Chu （朱學恆）, who has taken an atypical path to become a translator,
Chinese readers are given a second chance to enjoy and appreciate J.R.R. Tolkien's canon of
literature.

Chu comes from a scientific background, with a degree in electrical engineering from Taiwan’s
National Central University. Being a dedicated fan of computer games since the age of eight,
playing as long as ten hours straight a time, Chu has unconsciously equipped himself with the
philological basics relevant to the translation of The Lord of the Ring, because many of the games
that he has been playing either partially originated or were adapted from it. Then Chu started
reading the novel and realized it really was the beginning of all the legends.

When Chu was an 18-year-old high-school student, he was already working as a columnist for
a computer magazine called Software World (《軟體世界》) introducing new English-language
fantasy/adventure games. It was Chu’s vast experience in playing and writing about the games that
helped him visualize the fantasy world in The Lord of the Rings, and lent him a systematic
translation for the terminology. When other translators failed to properly name or vividly portray an
elf or an orc, Chu has already got the imagery as well as visual depiction of what elves and orcs
would look like in his mind for years.

Starting in 1997, Chu began translating various books from the fantasy literature genre, such as
Dragonlance Chronicle（《龍槍》）, and the Dark Elf trilogy（《黑暗精靈三部曲》） as well as
Isaac Asimov's science fiction Foundation series（《基地三部曲》）. He and his friends founded a
web site titled Lucifer's Hell (路西法的地獄) about fantasy literature and related games. In its chat
room Chu learned of the mega movie project on Tolkien's trilogy. Chu then approached Linking
Publishing Company and initiated to re-translate the books, showing to their editors his past
translation of 19 books related to fantasy literature. Chu plainly pointed out to Linking that their

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existing Chinese translation (1998 version) was lousy and failed to speak to fantasy/adventure fans.
Chu proposed a bold and comprehensive marketing plan to Linking, and took audacious moves to
achieve his goal:

1. Chu assured Linking that if the book sold less than 10,000 sets (40,000 copies), he
would not charge them a thing.

2. If the target sales volume was reached, Chu would receive 9% of the sales of each
book. It set an unprecedented example of translators getting royalties.

3. Chu quit his job at a public relations company and completed the translation of 1,800
pages of Tolkien's four books (The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings) in nine months,
three months ahead of the agreed schedule.

4. Chu took advantage of his Lucifer's Hell web site to mobilize fantasy
literature/games fans to help promote the books, and spent NT$80,000 to organize a "fan
ceremony" to treat his fellow ringers to the movie in one of Warner Village's cinemas.

5. He led the charge on marketing the book to a new fan base in Taiwan, with tactics
like establishing retail channels to reach game players, setting up advance sales online,
working closely with the film's distributor in Taiwan, making dozens of speeches, taking
daily calls from media and running book-signing activities for months on end.

6. The Lucifer's Hell web site began collecting updates about the making of the film.
The web site's more enthusiastic supporters helped translate daily news articles from
sources such as USA Today and the New York Times and sent these stories to both
Linking and the film's distributor in Taiwan, Mata Entertainment. The site also
established links with TheOneRing.com, the world's biggest Tolkien fan site, and has
become the most authoritative Chinese web site for The Lord of the Rings.

G. Success Factors of Chu’s Translation

Following on the discussion above, we can summarize factors contributing to the phenomenal
success of the new Chinese translation of The Lord of the Rings by Lucifer Chu, when compared
with the other not so successful Chinese versions, as follows:

Internal Factors:

1. Chu’s indepth knowledge of Tolkien’s mythology: Chu’s past experiences and

researches in fantasy literature paid off and earned him great skills to tackle the
translation with relative ease. Comparing with other translators of the novel, Chu is
probably the most knowledgeable and authoritative as far as Tolkien’s mythical world is

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concerned. There are many examples in the books showing how a thorough study of
Tolkien’s mythology helps in the translation. Here are a few of them:

Translation example: The art of naming in the mythology

The other versions translate ‘elf’ as 小 精 靈 , ‘dwarf’ as 小 矮 人 and even the ‘Nazguls’ are
sometimes called 小 魔 影 in Linking’s first version. These are all quite unacceptable, as the
prefix ‘ 小 ’ gives an impression of mischievous little creatures, thus robbing these characters of
their stature and personality. In Tolkien’s mythological world, the Elves are tall and noble
creatures of light. The Dwarves, although coming from a shorter race, are stoutly built. Nazguls
or Ringwraiths are terrible enemies, fierce creatures of the dark. Only Chu’s translation has no
prefix of ‘ 小 ’ in front of 精靈 and 矮人, and 戒靈 (Nazguls or Ringwraiths) are never called
cute names like 小魔影.

Another problem in naming can be found in the mistranslations of the terms ‘High Elves’ and
their language ‘high-elven’, due to a lack of understanding of the mythological background.

High Elves

Variety 台灣萬象（1998）海舟譯 高山小精靈

Linking 聯經（1998）張建平等譯 高種小精靈

Linking 聯經(2001）朱學恆譯 高等精靈

Yilin 譯林（2001）丁棣等譯 純種小精靈

The term High Elves refers to a special kind of Elves, a nobler kind who had seen the light of the
Two Trees of Valinor before they were destroyed by Morgoth. It is obvious that only Chu’s
translation correctly conveys this meaning.

2. Chu’s literary attainment: Chu’s translation shows commendable literary skills in

many places. As Chen Chiu-ling (陳秋玲), marketing manager at Linking said, “[Chu's]
dialogues are more vivid and fluent and especially appeal to college students." A
prominent example is the translation of the Verse of the Rings, the ‘theme song’ of the
novel, as follows:

Translation example : Verse of the Rings

Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,

Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne
In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.

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In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie.

Variety 萬象 Linking first version 聯經初譯 Yilin 譯林

天下魔戒有三枚屬於小精靈國王 三枚戒指給天底下的小精靈國君， 三大戒指歸屬天下小精靈諸君，

七枚在侏儒王爺那石頭的殿堂 　七枚戒指給石廳中的小矮人之王， 　七大戒指歸屬石廳小矮人列王，
九枚屬於壽命不長的世間凡人 九枚戒指給注定免不了一死的人， 九枚戒指屬於陽壽可數的凡人，
還有一枚屬於黑暗之君， 　一枚戒指給在黑暗中的黑大王── 　還有一枚屬於高居御座的黑魁首。
在黑暗寶座上 在那摩多地方由一片魔影籠罩著。 莫都大地黑影幢幢。
在摩爾多國那陰影居住的地方 　這枚戒指發現了它們， 　一枚戒指統領眾戒，盡歸羅網，
這一枚魔戒統轄著全部戒指 並且掌管著它們， 　一枚戒指禁錮眾戒，昏暗無光。
持有它就在冥冥中牽動各方 　這枚戒指帶回了它們， 莫都大地黑影幢幢。
持有它就能找到所有魔戒 並將它們禁錮在黑暗之中。
在摩爾多國那陰影居住的地方 是呀！在那摩多地方
由一片魔影籠罩著……。

Linking 聯經朱學恆譯
天下精靈鑄三戒，
地底矮人得七戒，
壽定凡人持九戒，
魔多妖境暗影伏，
闇王坐擁至尊戒。
至尊戒，馭眾戒；
至尊戒，尋眾戒，
魔戒至尊引眾戒；
禁錮眾戒黑暗中，
魔多妖境暗影伏。

Comparing the four translations of the verse, obviously Chu’s translation reads and looks more
like a verse than the rest. It is succinct and rhythmic, reminiscent of Buddhist chants.
However, as there are as many as 56 songs and verses in the novel, not all of them are treated
with equally zealous endeavors, taking care of rhymes etc. The same is also true for the rest of
the book, which although is in general vivid and eloquent, contains a number of places which
deserve better rendering, as can be seen in a later example.

3. Poor qualities of the other versions of translation: While Chu’s version is in general
an acceptable translation from correctness and language points of view, the other
versions, especially the older version published by Linking in 1998, are found to contain
numerous flaws and some outright mistakes, mostly due to poor comprehension of the

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original text and a lack of thorough understanding of the whole mythology set out by
Tolkien.

Translation example 1:

But my lad Sam will know more about that. He’s in and out of Bag End. Crazy about
stories of the old days he is, and he listens to all Mr Bilbo’s tales. Mr Bilbo has
learned him his letters—meaning no harm, mark you, and I hope no harm will
come of it. (Tolkien, p.24)

不過我兒子薩姆對這事會比我清楚些，他常在巴根出入，他對過去時代的故事喜歡得入
迷，關於比爾博先生的故事他全都愛聽。比爾博先生給他傳授過自己的 學問 ──他沒有
惡意，你知道的，而我希望這件事不要落個壞結果。
【Variety 萬象《魔戒同盟》，海舟譯，
第一冊，第 48 頁】

不過我兒子山姆會瞭解詳情的，他常常在貝金兜底進進出出。他對於以前在那裡的事情好
奇得要命，不管畢爾波先生說什麼，他都不肯漏掉，畢爾波先生得知他那些信件的事─
─要記住，這沒惡意，而我也不希望會招來什麼壞事。
【Linking 聯經《魔戒團（上）》，第
39 頁】

我兒子山姆大概會知道得更清楚。他常常進出袋底洞。這孩子最喜歡聽故事，所有比爾博
先生的故事他都背得滾瓜爛熟。比爾博先生甚至還教他識字，各位別露出那種表情，他
可是一片好心，但願不會有什麼麻煩才好。
【Linking 聯經《魔戒首部曲：魔戒現身》，朱學
恆譯，第 43 頁】

“Learn someone one’s letters” means “teach someone what one knows”. The first Linking
version gives an incorrect literal translation of “letters” and leaves the reader totally
dumbfounded.

Translation example 2:

And the Dark Lord took it, and nursed it with fell meats, until it grew beyond the
measure of all other things that fly; and he gave it to his servant to be his
steed. (Tolkien, p.822)

而黑暗之君收留了牠，用腐肉養大牠們，使牠體烈超過所有會飛的動物， 並將牠交給部
下作為坐騎。【Variety 萬象《國王歸來》，海舟譯，第一冊，第 215 頁】

薩烏隆捉住它，用死人肉餵養它，直至它長得超過其他一切飛禽，他使它成為他的腳力，
為他效勞。【Linking 聯經《國王歸來（上）》，楊心意譯，第 157 頁】

黑暗魔君接納了牠，用腐敗的肉類餵養牠，直到牠的體型超越了所有飛行的生物為止，
【Linking 聯經《魔戒三部曲：王者再臨》，朱學恆
魔王再把這些妖獸賞賜給忠實的僕人。
譯，第 138-139 頁】

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The winged creature was given by Sauron, the Dark Lord, to his servants, the Ringwraiths. Here
the first Linking version again made a serious mistake in comprehension and translated as
Sauron using the winged creature as his own steed.

Translation example 3:

You stand between me and my lord and kin. Begone, if you be not deathless. For living or
dark undead, I will smite you, if you touch him.”

The winged creature screamed at her, but the Ringwraith made no answer, and was silent, as if
in sudden doubt. (Tolkien, p.823)

你擋在我和我的 陛下與親人 之 間 ，如果你並非打不死，那就快滾吧！要是你碰他一碰 ，

我就殺死你，不管他是活著還是昏死過去。」

那隻長翅膀的怪物衝她尖叫，但魔戒陰魂 卻沒有回答，他在沈默，似乎突然有些遲疑。
【Variety 萬象《國王歸來》，海舟譯，第一冊，第 216─217 頁】

你站到我和我的陛下及親屬之間了。如果你也是會死的人，那就滾開吧！只要你碰他一
下，為了生者和隱蔽的不死者，我會殺了你。」

大翅膀怪物對著她尖聲怪叫，但是薩烏 隆沒有回答，他雖不作聲，似乎突然猶豫不決。
【Linking 聯經《國王歸來（上）》，楊心意譯，第 158─159 頁】

你的對象是我王和我父 ，如果你並非永生不死，那就滾開吧！不管你是活人還是邪惡
的幽靈，如果你敢碰他一根汗毛，我都會將你千刀萬剮，永世不得超生。

妖獸對她嘶吼，但戒靈卻遲疑了，沉默地沒有做出任何回應。
【Linking 聯經《魔戒三部曲：
王者再臨》，朱學恆譯，第 140 頁】

In this example, Linking’s first version contains two serious mistakes. Firstly, ‘living or dark
undead’ is used to describe the Ringwraith. Linking’s rendering is completely incomprehensible.
Secondly, it should be the Ringwraith standing next to the winged creature there, but Linking’s
first version mistook it as Sauron, probably due to the mistake mentioned in example 2 above
about who was using the winged creature as his steed.

Here we have found also a problem in Chu’s translation, in the sentence “you stand between me
and my lord and kin”, which are better rendered in the other two translations.

External Factors:

1. Successful marketing campaigns: Marketing strategies carefully planned and carried

out for Linking’s relaunch of the new Chinese version of The Lord of the Rings played
an instrumental part in pushing sales to a wild success. Linking made a sound business
judgment with calculated risks on the business proposal put forward by Chu, despite the

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fact that re-translating the book was not only risky but embarrassing because it was a
tacit admission that the previous version was a failure. Chu did not let Linking down.
His in-depth knowledge of Tolkien’s fabricated world and its influence on various forms
of art (literature, music and film) in the West over the decades easily won him the status
of the authoritative advocate for The Lord of the Rings in this part of the world. In
countless speeches and seminars, he would cite the influence of Tolkien’s works on new
fantasy writers (e.g. R.A.Salvatore and Ursula Le Guin), film makers (e.g. George
Lucas’s Star Wars series) and composers (Dutch composer Johan De Meij’s The Lord of
the Rings Symphony 1). These and other marketing activities together helped create the
miracle in Taiwan’s publishing world.

2. Web site as a promotion tool: Chu's web site has taken advantage of the ubiquitous
presence of the internet in the information age to promote his work. The site has a forum
to discuss translation problems encountered in The Lord of the Rings, as well as a chat
room through which Chu formed an ally with his fellow ringers. According to him, there
are about 20,000 Taiwanese ringers, most of whom dwell in on-line game forums and
chat rooms. These people constituted the core of an important base to help in the
propaganda campaign.

3. Harry Potter’s fad: Worldwide success of Harry Potter introduced Western fantasy
literature to the East. While enchanted Chinese readers try to find more works in a
similar genre, Chu would point out in speeches and seminars that The Lord of the Rings
has more depth and height than Harry Potter, because J.K. Rowling was criticized by
religious groups for promoting witchcraft but The Lord of the Rings is set beyond all
religious, cultural or national boundaries.

4. The Lord of the Rings movie: As explained above, Chu and Linking have closely
followed the production details of the movie. It is part of the plan that they would re-
launch The Lord of the Rings in a schedule which would coincide with the release of the
film. The movie helped the translator and readers visualize and realize the mythology
setup and characters. At the same time, this Oscar wining movie also turned many
enlightened viewers into readers and even fans of the books. Besides, the movie also
helps influence readers’ perception of translation, as illustrated by the following
example:

Translation example:

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Linking 聯經 邁大步 / 阿拉岡 阿爾溫

（1998）
張建平等譯
Linking 聯經 神行客 / 亞拉岡 亞玟
(2001）
朱學恆譯
Yilin 譯林（2001） 大步 / 阿拉貢 阿爾溫
丁棣等譯

Those who have admired the awesome performance of Viggo Mortensen (as Aragorn, or
Strider, the king disguised as a ranger) and Liv Tyler (as Arwen, the elf princess) would
undoubtedly find Chu’s translation of their names much more acceptable and matching to
the characters in the movie than the other versions. The same applies to the translation of
Elf, Dwarf and Nazgul as mentioned above in the discussion of internal success factors.

H. The Changing Role of the Translator

The success story of Lucifer Chu will surely inspire fellow translators, and perhaps also would-
be-translators who consider themselves capable of translating, to follow suit. The ever changing
role of the translator has taken on some new elements which have never come into play before.
Apart from the lexical aspect of the job and matters related to the contents of the translation, for
instance, religious doctrines, literature, trading or other practical topics, the postmodern translator in
the new millennium may need to pay attention to additional areas.

In essence, all businesses, publishing of translated works being no exception, are best described
by two buzz words of today: market-oriented and knowledge-based. Future translators, as
exemplified by Lucifer Chu today, are bound to get more involved in these aspects as well: planning
and/or taking part in marketing and promotional events, keeping abreast of the topic of interest
through the almighty internet, and more desirably, setting up one’s own web site to fully capitalize
on the power of media and the information age.

While translators start diversifying their skills and broadening their exposure to engage
themselves in a wider scope and to take up non-lexical roles, the reverse also holds true. Every now

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and then some celebrities, or people with a name in whatever field they are in, would cross the
boundary and do some translation. Although it is often not clear if these people are equipped with
adequate language skills of the source and target languages, let alone the know-how and craft of
translation, it is quite sure that they do possess an important element of success in today’s world:
ninki, （人氣）, popularity, or a well-known name adored by the media. Thus they can earn
themselves opportunities to work on translation projects which trained, qualified and competent
translators can hardly reach or partake. For example, the world famous Moomin series of stories,
written by Finnish writer Tove Jansson, has been re-translated and published by 張小嫻, who is
famous for writing modern love stories and is also the founder of a women’s magazine. To cite
another recent example, top Japanese singer Hikaru Utada （宇多田光）translated into Japanese a
popular children's picture book in the U.S. called "Emily the Strange", and it soon sped to the top of
the bestseller charts, although her translation skills were openly questioned.

I. Conclusion

After the above study and comparison between the translation of new and old Chinese versions
of The Lord of the Rings, we have found that Lucifer Chu’s translation has considerable
improvements over the previous versions, especially in the overall understanding and presentation
of Tolkien’s mythology. From a rhetoric perspective, certain parts (e.g. the translation of the Ring
Verse) are well translated and more refined than some other parts of the translation, which might
have been better rendered had there been more time for the translator. The great success of the book
is disproportionate to its enhancements in translation. The critical factors of success lied in the local
marketing effort exerted by the publisher and the translator himself, coupled with the international
hype resulted from the movie. It might have out-weighted the importance of lexical work, command
of languages and translation skills. Lucifer Chu spent nine months on translating and perhaps an
equal amount of time doing marketing research and sales promotion. This may foretell the trend in
which future translators may need to take.

Since the general public’s perception and reception of translated works may largely be affected
by factors other than the language itself, efforts spent in enhancing translation and language skills
will be overshadowed by publicity gimmicks and marketing strategies. Until the day when the
overall level of language appreciation of the general public is uplifted and readerships with
legitimate taste and critical assessment are formed, it is up to us translators to jump out of the
lexical well to broaden up and equip ourselves with other skills (social, communication, marketing,
project management, internet etc), if we want our work to be appreciated, or at least be read. Then
perhaps one day we may establish ourselves as celebrities in the field of translation, and enjoy the
built up ninki and credibility which will help us further our career.

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J. Reference

Thesis:
 Van der Peet, D. (2000). The Lord of the Rings: Critique of the Two Chinese Translations. A
Thesis Submitted to The Graduate Institute of Translation and Interpretation Studies of Fu
Jen Catholic University, Taiwan.

Web sites:
 Alberge D. and Wagner E. (1997). Lord(s) of the Books
http://orwell.ru/a_life/lords100/e/e_lbk.htm
 Chu, L. (2003) Lucifer's Hell 《路西法的地獄》 http://www.lucifer.hoolan.org/
 Lin, L. (2002). New translation rings true
http://taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2002/01/20/120777
 呂曼文(2002)。《戴上「魔戒」的二十七歲千萬小富
翁》http://magazine.pchome.com.tw/businessweekly/739/businessweekly_12-1.html
 朱錦華 (2001) 編譯自法新社特稿。《魔戒新聞集錦：托爾金的魔戒三部曲風雲再
起》http://www.udngroup.com.tw/linkingp/promote/promote87012news.asp?newsid=99
 楊照(2002)。《兩個文學天才的故
事》http://archive.udn.com/2002/8/8/NEWS/CULTURE/UDN-
SUPPLEMENT/938691.shtml

Publications:
 Newmark, P. (1993). Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Adelaide:
Multilingual Matters Ltd.
 Newmark, P. (1998). More Paragraphs on Translation. Clevedon, Philadelphia, Sydney:
Multilingual Matters Ltd.
 Pearce, J. (1998). Tolkien: Man and Myth. San Francisco: Ignatius Press.
 Tolkien, J.R.R. (1954, 1955, 1965, 1966). The Lord of the Rings, One Volume Edition.
Boston, New York: Houghton Mifflin Company
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。
《魔戒首部曲－魔戒再現》。台北：聯經出
版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。
《魔戒二部曲－雙城奇謀》。台北：聯經出
版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，朱學恆譯(2001)。
《魔戒三部曲－王者再臨》。台北：聯經出
版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，張儷、鄭大民、張建平合譯(1998)。
《魔戒 I 第一部－魔戒團

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(上)》。台北：聯經出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，張儷、鄭大民、張建平合譯張儷、鄭大民、張建平(1998)。
《魔
戒 II 第一部－魔戒團(下)》。台北：聯經出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，吳洪譯(1998)。
《魔戒 III 第二部－雙塔記(上)》。台北：聯經
出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，吳洪譯(1998)。
《魔戒 IV 第二部－雙塔記(下) 》。台北：聯經
出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，楊心意譯(1998)。
《魔戒 V 第三部－國王歸來(上)》。台北：
聯經出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，楊心意譯(1998)。
《魔戒 VI 第三部－國王歸來(下)》。台北：
聯經出版事業公司。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，丁棣譯(2001)。
《魔戒（第一部）：魔戒再現》。南京：譯林
出版社。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，姚錦鎔譯(2001)。
《魔戒（第二部）：雙塔奇兵》。南京：譯
林出版社。
 托爾金 (J.R.R. Tolkien) 原著，湯定九譯(2001)。
《魔戒（第三部）：王者無敵》。南京：譯
林出版社。
 彭鏡禧(1997)。《摸象：文學翻譯評論集》。台北：書林出版有限公司。

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