I See...

[sigune]

Last night I dreamt that I had somehow already obtained a copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows*. Since in my dream I read the book at work, I am able to share two rather spectacular spoilers! Let's see if I possess the Sight, shall we?



- Snape doesn't appear in the book at all;
and
- Harry doesn't have it out with Voldemort.

Hah! I bet nobody foresaw these developments...

Needless to say, I found the book a tad disappointing. Don't say I didn't warn you!




*For those who are interested, the official Dutch title has just been released (the translation won't be published till November); it's "Harry Potter en de Relieken des Doods" ("the Relics of Death").

Comments

[ellecain.livejournal.com]

LOL, if that turns out to be true fandom's going to be in an uproar! Heh, all those fics that even mention the Final Face Off will become AU...

And seeing the amount of money I spent on the book, Snape better show up! *grumbles*

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*g*

Yes, I know... Still, I will feel cheated out of my money if he does appear in it, but only to die! :P

I'm going to be unreasonably mad at Rowling. It's embarrassing *^_^*...

[purpleygirl.livejournal.com]

Snape doesn't appear in the book at all

So it was a nightmare, then? ;P

[sigune.livejournal.com]

No, in fact it wasn't - as veradee points out, at least it meant that Snape didn't die. The book would be boring, but it would provide plenty of fanfic opportunities... ;D

[purpleygirl.livejournal.com]

Good point. And, you know, I once did have (last year) a particularly nasty dream where I was at Snape's funeral! Ugh. I remember feeling quite emotional when the coffin was brought in. :/

I was thinking the other week that, while it would be horrible if she did kill him off, it might be just as bad if she brought him to a conclusion in some other way, such as providing a summary of how he lives the rest of his life. I think I'd much prefer an open-ended fate for Snape. Especially for fanfic purposes. ;) But then again, mightn't this be frustrating? Argh! I get the feeling I'm going to be disappointed re Snape come what may.... :/

[veradee.livejournal.com]

Snape doesn't appear in the book at all;

Which would mean that he can't die... That's not so bad, is it? ;)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Indeed it isn't! :D It just made the book a bit boring, and I noticed that I forgot its particulars at once... *g*

[veradee.livejournal.com]

I wonder what the German title is going to be. "... und die Reliquien des Todes"? I don't know whether the past translations have been identical.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

The other titles were just more straightforward, and the Dutch translations at any rate have been pretty literal so far: "HP en de Steen der Wijzen", "HP en de Gevangene van Azkaban", "HP en de Vuurbeker", "HP en de Orde van de Feniks", "... en de Halfbloed Prins". Only Chamber of Secrets wasn't entirely accurate - it was translated as "Secret Chamber" ("HP en de Geheime Kamer"). In German that seems to have become "Kammer des Schreckens"... - hm. Apart from that, they have been very similar so far (well, there's "Feuerkelch" rather than "Feuerbecher", but my German isn't subtle enough to venture a guess as to why "Kelch" might have been preferable).

[veradee.livejournal.com]

Yes, apart from the "Chamber of Secrets" they are identical, indeed. I don't know why they chose to translate it with "Kammer des Schreckens". It's not as if we didn't have the word "Geheimnis".

"Becher" sounds too mundane to me. A "Kelch" should be slightly bigger. When I hear the word "Kelch", I think of the goblets people used at banquets in past centuries - made from (noble) metal and possibly studded with diamonds. [The goblet used during the sacrement also is a "Kelch" and not a "Becher".] In contrast, a "Becher" sounds like a mug made out of clay or porcelain to me.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Ah, I see. In Dutch we have the work "kelk" as well; it's also the term for the cup used in Mass - actually, I can't immediately think of another use than the religious one. I suppose it is a more accurate translation of "goblet" than Becher/beker. My dictionary offers "goblet" for "kelk", but in the other direction it translates "goblet" as beker/Becher, kelk/Kelch and bokaal/Pokal :D. And yes, beker is definitely more commonplace than kelk (though apart from the possibility of its being a mug, in Dutch it can also be a Pokal in the sense of a prize). Hm.

Heh. I like criticising literary translations, but I tend to freak out at the thought of having to do my own ;-). I'm never satisfied!

[veradee.livejournal.com]

The cup as a prize would be a "Pokal", not a "Kelch" or a "Becher".

At uni we once translated a short story by Paul Auster. It was very interesting but also very difficult. We never could agree on an expression, although we were only four people. ;)

[shield-wolf.livejournal.com]

The Goblet of Fire was a roughly-hewn wooden cup, not unlike the Holy Grail in the "Indiana Jones" movies -- and probably stemming from descriptions in older sources, but I'm not really up on my Grail legends. So it sounds as though "Becher" may be the most appropriate translation to me.

[veradee.livejournal.com]

I admit that I had forgotten that it is made of wood, but since it's both called goblet and cup in English, I still think that "Kelch" is much more fitting than "Becher".

[safakus.livejournal.com]

I had a similar dream before the release of HBP, but in the dream HBP had turned into some weird HP movie where Buffy, Conan and some people I know in RL made unexpected cameos.

- Harry doesn't have it out with Voldemort.

I like the sound of that one.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Yes, it could have been worse... Only, nothing much happened in the book at all *g*.

Hee hee! Were you much relieved when the cameos didn't turn up in the real book? Mind you, while I was reading it crossed my mind that some fanfics made cameos in it -_-...

[todayiamadaisy]

Wow! Professor Trelawney is an amateur compared to you. :-)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

;P

[lewlinx.livejournal.com]

*dies laughing*

I have to admit these are the best spoilers! (and the only ones I have and will click to read! ;))

You are definitelly the best, sigune!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

*g*

I thought there would be no harm in divulging them ;-)... I hope I didn't shock anyone XD!

[redvelvetcanopy.livejournal.com]

Brilliant! Who would have thought it!?

Out of all the spoilers I've heard, you get the prize for Most Unique!

I like the Dutch title. It sounds a bit spoilerish itself, you know?

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Yes... It does seem to reinforce the theory that the Deathly Hallows are the Horcruxes, doesn't it? Or that's what it sounds like to me.

I still wonder what Jo was thinking when she cooked up that title. "Deathly Hallows" - geez. And I already thought "Half-Blood Prince" was bad :P.

[severity-softly.livejournal.com]

Crap. The book is totally spoiled for me now. ;)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Awww, I am so sorry! ;P
(What a very fitting icon, LOL!)

[sophierom.livejournal.com]

Okay, I can understand if Harry doesn't appear ... but Snape? He's the center of the whole series, right? ;-D

It's always interesting to learn about the titles in other languages. I rather like Relics of Death, perhaps more than Deathly Hallows. Will you read the Dutch translation? (I suppose that depends on whether or not you like the English version?)

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Isn't it just crazy that I dream of no Snape? Duh. There was my chance to dream the version I would like to see, and instead I end up with no Snape. That's why I came to think of it as prophetic rather than a real dream ;P.

Heh. "Deathly Hallows" is a bit of a horror, isn't it? "Relics of Death" does seem nicer... I do dislike the old-fashioned Dutch genetive though ("des").

I have never read any of the books in translation so far, because 1) when I can read something in the original, I will; and 2) what I have seen of the Dutch translations is simply horrible X/. They are very Dutch, as in, from the Netherlands, and that grates upon my eyes and ears something awful. I looked up Snape's Potions speech once for Snapecast, and I ended up making my own translation. It would have been perfectly possible to make a more 'neutral' Dutch text, one that wouldn't sound so odd to a Flemish reader, but they chose instead to use plenty of words and expressions that make me imagine the characters as speaking with a typical Holland accent. I am very sorry, but Hogwarts in Holland...? NO WAY! - Also, what the translator does to the characters' names just makes me cry ;_;.

[atlantel.livejournal.com]

I didn't imagine for a second there could be no Snape at all... could be a possibility. I'm now worried about DH.... ;) I will be very pissed off if you're right, though.

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Life is full of surprises... I just might be psychic ;P... But if I were you I wouldn't worry too much *g*.

[valis2.livejournal.com]

hahah! I bet you had a good laugh when you woke up...

PS: I have received the sekrit things in the mail today!! squee! Will make yours and send it as soon as I am able. *hugs* Thank you so very much!

[sigune.livejournal.com]

Squee! Squee! SQUEE! XD *hugs back*

...Yes, I did laugh. I mean, I thought that the dream in which I met JKR as she was shopping for stockings was really the limit, but apparently I could manage an even sillier and less exciting one :P.

[mrs-muggle.livejournal.com]

'Harry Potter and the Deadly Boredom'? Best spoilers ever :D

[sigune.livejournal.com]

My Inner Eye aims to please ;P...