The Tolkien Translation Game!

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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Hint:
Hidden text.
No hobbits were present when this was spoken, but specific hobbits were very much in the thoughts of the speaker and the addressees.
edit to bring the quote to the new page:
If you don't get it right away, you will have to sit next to you and starve to death.
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Anyone?
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Frelga
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Frelga »

From Hobbit?
If there was anything that depressed him more than his own cynicism, it was that quite often it still wasn't as cynical as real life.

Terry Pratchett, Guards! Guards!
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

No, later.

(that narrows it down significantly)
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Alatar »

Is it the quote about Frodo having to be locked in a room to finish the Red Book?
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Hmmm, I don't remember that quote. Where did it happen? Just so I can tell you whether it's before or after...
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Alatar »

Eh, this is the quote I was thinking of, but that's obviously not it:

‘And then Frodo will have to be locked up in a tower in Minas Tirith and write it all down. Otherwise he will forget half of it, and poor old Bilbo will be dreadfully disappointed.’
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Ah, ok. My quote happens before that.
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elengil
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by elengil »

Never mind, I reconsidered...
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Another hint: it is spoken after the breaking of the Fellowship. But not long after.
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by elengil »

I haven't really tried my hand at this game because I am always baffled by the quotes, but this one felt so tantalizingly familiar like it was just on the tip of my tongue, but really Jude's last clue is what sent me to the right book at the right place to find the right quote!
Hidden text.
Gimli speaking as he, Aragorn, and Legolas enter Fangorn in search of Merry and Pippin "If we do not find them soon we shall be of no use to them, except to sit down beside them and show our friendship by starving together."
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

That's the right one! Your turn!
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elengil
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by elengil »

:D So ... I just... keep running a sentence through translate until sufficiently mangled? Any tips?
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Translationparty has been down recently, so we've been using Google Translate to alter the quotes lately.

For Google Tranlsate, you just run your quote through various languages and back to English again until you feel it's a sufficient challenge but still solveable.

If you're lucky enough to get Translationparty to work, you just plug your quote in, and take what comes out when it reaches equilibrium.
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elengil
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by elengil »

Okay, here's my try:
If the curtains could fly over the mountains, the sun would bring them back to life
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Inanna
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Inanna »

That’s.... almost profound?
'You just said "your getting shorter": you've obviously been drinking too much ent-draught and not enough Prim's.' - Jude
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

‘If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us."

Gandalf, responding to Legolas' pithy comment that Gandalf should melt a path for the fellowship in the snow on Caradhras.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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elengil
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by elengil »

Voronwë the Faithful wrote:‘If Elves could fly over mountains, they might fetch the Sun to save us."

Gandalf, responding to Legolas' pithy comment that Gandalf should melt a path for the fellowship in the snow on Caradhras.

That's it. :D
The dumbest thing I've ever bought
was a 2020 planner.

"Does anyone ever think about Denethor, the guy driven to madness by staying up late into the night alone in the dark staring at a flickering device he believed revealed unvarnished truth about the outside word, but which in fact showed mostly manipulated media created by a hostile power committed to portraying nothing but bad news framed in the worst possible way in order to sap hope, courage, and the will to go on? Seems like he's someone we should think about." - Dave_LF
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Voronwë the Faithful
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I found an alternative to translationparty, though it remains to be seen whether it will serve our purposes. It is https://www.funnytranslator.com/ It has an 80 character limit, which may or may not be a problem. It translates through a bunch of languages and then back to English. I did one quote and it barely changed. I did another and it change so much that it was completely unrecognizable. But I'll try this one.

"'Ah! This fragrance! It's getting stronger."
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Jude
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Re: The Tolkien Translation Game!

Post by Jude »

Is this the one that's barely recognizable, or a different one?
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