Support First Things by turning your adblocker off or by making a  donation. Thanks!

Today’s eccentric item: How The Hobbit Learned Yiddish from Jewniverse. Computer programmer Barry Goldstein translated the book for fun, the work being “much less stressful than wrestling with a recalcitrant computer.”

“This translation marks the book’s 61st language,” Jewniverse reports. “ . . .  Tolkien was enamored of mythology (he disdained Esperanto precisely because it lacked legends), and so it is perhaps fitting that a language so rich in stories should spin the tale of The Hobbit.”

Also of interest: Tolkien: Not a Jew and The Jews of the Lord of the Rings.


Comments are visible to subscribers only. Log in or subscribe to join the conversation.

Tags

Loading...

Filter First Thoughts Posts

Related Articles