Are faulty translations text errors?
Moddi
Member Posts: 2
Hi,
my question is, what the title says. For me it depends, especially if the translation completely misses the point of the original text, which is especially true for names.
E.g. in Beregost there is the "Jovial Juggler", which from the name and the interior promise some kind of grandeur. Yet the German translation for it is "Windiger Schwindler", which means something close to "slimy fraud", which is a name I would associate with a shady quayside bar.
A better translation would be "Jovialer Jongleur" if you want to go a direct route (jovial is also a German word), or "Jovialer Gaukler" or "Gemütlicher Gaukler" if you want to go with the meaning (as in there is no real juggler there, but a general entertainment vibe).
my question is, what the title says. For me it depends, especially if the translation completely misses the point of the original text, which is especially true for names.
E.g. in Beregost there is the "Jovial Juggler", which from the name and the interior promise some kind of grandeur. Yet the German translation for it is "Windiger Schwindler", which means something close to "slimy fraud", which is a name I would associate with a shady quayside bar.
A better translation would be "Jovialer Jongleur" if you want to go a direct route (jovial is also a German word), or "Jovialer Gaukler" or "Gemütlicher Gaukler" if you want to go with the meaning (as in there is no real juggler there, but a general entertainment vibe).
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Does anyone have translated lore books? Is the Jovial Juggler lore material and has a fixed translation?
Problem with the names is that they were already in the original game and all mods etc use them.
Apparently, the old 2E book "Volo's Guide to the Sword Coast" (from which most of the base material for Baldur's Gate comes from) wasn't translated. So Baldur's Gate is the only source for the name. And even if I would argue that the translation is so misleading either way, that I would opt for a change.