It's weird, I know. I've now translated the entire epistle to the Ephesians from Greek, to… Quenya. Elvish. That would seem to serve no purpose, since there are in fact no High-Elves who might benefit from this translation. And it is of course uncertain whether they would be able to puzzle through the modern "Neo-Quenya" anyway. (I think even the Ñoldor loremasters would have difficulty.) |
I tend to excuse myself by saying that I am after all translating from Greek, and thus am learning more of the New Testamental tongue. Then too, I don't know any modern languages that lack a good Bible translation. If I did, they would be first in line.
Because of the translation, I have most definitely come to a better understanding of the Greek text than I before had, though much of what I learned could likely also have been learned by reading an English version like Young's Literal Translation. (Which, viewed in parallel with the Greek and my translation, has been quite helpful.)
Other than that, I can't say I have gained much beyond a very thorough knowledge of Quenya, which will not prove very useful, I fear. What can I say? I love language. And the Professor was a linguistic genius, in my opinion.
My identity is defined by how boring my blog posts are, and I believe I have already reached my goal. So I'll just hurry up and post the links, though it is probable that no one will ever read any of this.
I'll also admit this: it's just cool to be able to say that I've translated a book of the Bible.
I probably should have a section for "acknowledgments," and such.
Without the website great treasures ([sic], for uncapitalization⁇), I would probably never have started this translation. Simply providing an organized framework for translation was nice, but parsing and defining every Greek word was simply wonderful!
Above all, I must thank God for his inerrant, sufficient, and uncopyrighted Word, particularly for leading and guiding Paul as he wrote to the Ephesians, and also for giving me the ability to understand and translate it. And what gift can compare to the salvation he has given to men through the death of his son?
It was from Helge Fauskanger's Quenya course (mainly) that I learned Quenya grammar, and it was his dictionary that was my main reference through the translation process. On one occasion, I am also glad to have received his direct advice.
(As an aside: he is also translating the New Testament into Quenya, though I think he respects the text less than I do on account of the fact that he doesn't even believe it.)
Thanks to myself for being insane enough to decide to embark upon this project at all. I do wonder what book I ought next to translate…