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Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta

Katedra anglistiky a amerikanistiky

Bakalářská diplomová práce

2017 Pavlína Tajnerová

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Pavlína Tajnerová

Selected Creatures in Harry Potter Series and Their Equivalents in Czech Translation

Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. 2017

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I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Pavlína Tajnerová

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Acknowledgement

I would like to thank my supervisor, prof. Mgr. Milada Franková, CSc., M.A. for her assistance, guidance, insightful comments, and for the time she dedicated to my work.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction ...... 7

2. Mythology, Folklore and Tales in Contemporary World ...... 9

3. The Czech Translation of the Harry Potter Series ...... 12

4. Veela ...... 15

5. ...... 21

6. Kappa ...... 27

7. Erkling ...... 31

8. Conclusion ...... 36

9. Bibliography ...... 39

10. Summary ...... 44

11. Resumé ...... 45

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List of Abbreviations

The following abbreviations are used in the in-text citations; listed alphabetically:

FB – Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

FZ – Fantastická zvířata a kde je najít

HPaOP – Harry Potter a Ohnivý pohár

HpaTK – Harry Potter a Tajemná komnata

HPaVA – Harry Potter a vězeň z Azkabanu

HPCS – Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

HPGF – Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

HPHBP – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

HPPA – Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

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1. Introduction

Literature has a place in the history of mankind ever since its beginnings. It is a way of conveying ideas and imagery, as well as it can be used to promote a certain way of thinking in a society. With the coming of the Internet, many have thought that literature would lose its influence and impact. However, that has not happened, as literature found a way to intertwine itself with the Internet. It could even be said that the Internet has strengthened the impact of literature in some cases.

This can be seen especially on best-sellers that were published in the last few decades.

One of them would be the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, a British author who has created a phenomenon. Although the book series was published between the years 1997 and

2007, with the exception of a play adaption published in 2016, they still attract many new readers. Not only that, the Harry Potter fans created many websites that follow the idea of studying at a school of witchcraft. Most of them are in English, but there are also a few Czech and Slovak ones. Although the final instalment of the book series was published 10 years ago, these websites are still attractive to people of various ages.

Such an influential work is sure to have impact on its readers, not only in regard to its main ideas, but many others. It basically shapes the new generation and their perception of various facts and imagery presented in the series. One of the subtler, yet very strong in its presence would be the mythological world intertwined into the universe of Harry Potter.

The Harry Potter universe draws from various folklores and myths to create its own.

While some of the creatures and legends used do not differ from the actual myths that much, some are quite innovative. This and the fact that many of them focus on beings from the

British, Irish, Scottish, and Welsh folklore, make the series difficult to translate. Many of the

7 beings do not have equivalents in other mythologies, or if they do, they might possess significant differences.

Mythologies and folklore are an important part of national heritage as they often play role in the old legends and in fairy tales. But for many, the only way to come across them is to read about them in literary works in which they are often misinterpreted to fit their purpose.

As the Harry Potter series impacts young readership and shapes its view on such creatures according to the descriptions in the series, the translation should be done with utmost care.

The thesis will focus on a few of these creatures, compare them with their original myth and then compare the English and Czech equivalents in the series. It hopes to prove that some of Rowling’s beings have suitable counterparts in Czech and/or Slavic mythology and folklore that have not been used in the translation.

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2. Mythology, Folklore and Fairy Tales in Contemporary World

The contemporary world has become globalized over the last century, mostly due to the influence of the Internet. That does not, however, mean that various nations and societies would have the same mind set. On the contrary, they have various cultures. The OED defines culture as “[t]he arts and other manifestations of human intellectual achievement regarded collectively” (“Culture” 1), meaning the products of intellectual endeavours. Nevertheless, these come from the second definition of the word; that is “[t]he ideas, customs, and social behaviour of a particular people or society” (“Culture” 2). Marina Warner highlights the researches of Freud and Jung, which connected myths and culture: “[b]oth Freud and Jung adapted the long classical tradition of allegorical interpretations, reading the mythical corpus of narratives, learned and popular, in order to unlock symbolic, psychic explanations of human consciousness and behaviour” (13).

Myths, folk and contain the set of beliefs and cultural norms passed from one generation to the next. Myths can explain the way a culture perceives the world around itself, being an indispensable tool for academics trying to learn about any culture. Not only do myths show the religious beliefs, but also they explain everyday events and phenomena that the culture experienced. As Warner notes, myths are ever-changing: “myths aren't writ in stone, they're not fixed, but often, telling the story of the same figures … change dramatically both in content and meaning” (13—14). Although myths are often perceived as a thing of past, as the most well-known ones are Greco-Roman, Norse, Slavic and Japanese mythologies, they still exist to this day in various forms. Not only they survive in tribes in

Amazonia, Africa, Australia, among the Native Americans and elsewhere, they also transformed to fit the contemporary societies. New myths were created, such as the myth of the cowboy on American Frontier. The Internet allowed for myths to spread in the form of

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“urban legends”. Tree and Weldon define urban legends as “stories that have reached a wide audience, generally passed on by word of mouth or by email. They contain surprising information… and they change over time to fit current mores” (459). Later, they note that listener / reader of an urban legend should be questioning their truthfulness (459), since they lack obviously unrealistic elements and pose as truthful stories.

Such a modern version of a myth could be compared to folk tales. As OED states, folk tales are also usually told in oral form (“Folk tale”). Unlike myths, which are more universal and apply to a specific culture with possible slight variations depending on geographical location, folk tales are rather region-specific, explaining one particular event or a phenomenon.

In contrast to myths and folk tales, fairy tales provide the audience with more universal stories, passed nowadays in written rather than oral form. Fairy tales pass down the generations moral view of the world, as well as they explain roles of people in society, being a great tool in teaching children about the real world through an imaginary one. In the last few decades, there are efforts to rewrite them, mostly by feminist writers, such as Angela Carter.

However, it is not only the new retellings that are still alive in the contemporary

Western cultures. Old mythologies are lately attractive for various writers, screenwriters and film-makers, as well as comics’ authors and game creators. Thanks to them, mythologies get new interpretations and variations. These books usually fall into the category of fantasy literature, although not all of them. The most popular book series using mythology would be

Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien with 150 million copies (Grabianowski), Harry Potter by

J. K. Rowling, having sold over 100 million copies (Grabianowski) of the first book of the series, followed by Discworld series by Terry Pratchett with over 70 million copies (Lea and

Davies), A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin with 60 million copies (Alter), and many more. As for the film and TV shows productions, the most popular ones, according to

10 the IMDB, are Game of Thrones, The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural, The Originals,

Stranger Things or Once Upon a Time. The most popular, Game of Thrones, is fifth in the list of the most popular TV shows on IMDB, showing that mythology has become a part of contemporary popular culture.

The variations these works bring make them difficult for the audience, as they often do not correspond with one another. The audience with a different language and cultural background than the one of the original language of the work might be inconvenienced even more, as it needs to rely on the translation. Logically, mythologies should have coherent term translations; however, that is not always the case. As the original works often twist mythological stories, so must the translators twist the translation to suit not only the meaning, but also the connotations. This will be further discussed in chapter 3.

Countries like the Czech Republic heavily depend on the translated materials in this area. Although there are some Czech and Slovak authors and film-makers focusing on the mythological and supernatural, they have not become the mainstream for the particular genre.

It is the translators who affect the scene of myths and folklores the most, as they create certain precedents in their translations. Later translators sometimes tend to draw from the already existing translations, as some of the mythological and folkloric creatures appear repeatedly in various works with only slight variations. Using the already existing translations helps avoiding confusion among the readers. The Harry Potter series is one of the works that has a potential to be influential, as it has a wide readership. On the other hand, many of its creatures are alternated to such lengths that they might not be relevant in the context of other works, as will be shown in this thesis.

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3. The Czech Translation of the Harry Potter Series

The Czech translation of the Harry Potter series was done by the brothers Pavel and

Vladimír Medek, published by the publishing house Albatros, except for the eighth book,

Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which came out as a script and was translated by Peter

Eliáš. The first book, Harry Potter a Kámen mudrců (Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s

Stone) came out in 2000, three years after the original was published. By 2000, two more books from the series had already been published and the fourth book of the series was well on the way. The second and third books got their translation in the same year as the first, after that, the tempo slowed down, although the books were still translated within months after their publication in English.

In an interview in 2003 for the Czech Radio (Český rozhlas), the public service radio broadcaster, Pavel Medek, one of the translators, stated that he and his brother did not translate the books together but they took turns translating the books. Vladimír Medek translated the first, the second and the fourth book, creating thus most of the terminology that regularly re-appeared thorough the series. Pavel Medek has translated the rest of the seven books (Faltýnek). The word “terminology” is the key word, since the Czech translation is creative in translating various place and proper names, as well as other items and terms related to the magical world.

As the brothers have repeatedly stated, they tried to translate the neologisms and the names in the book to make the readers with the content, especially when these names carried certain connotations in English. Pavel Medek had explained that they did that because

Harry Potter is “literature aimed mainly at children, and that is why children should understand it” (Horáčková)1. That is why the Czech translation offers Czech equivalents for

1 Original Czech text: literatura určená hlavně dětem a měla by jim být i srozumitelná 12 the name of the school, its houses, the surname of its principal, some of the spells that have

English chanting, and so on, while many other languages often only have alterations of those names and / or terms, or do not have any translation at all (Bradley).

While translating these terms, the brothers Medeks always tried to look up the meaning, as is the case with the school’s name, Hogwarts (Bradavice in Czech). That is why the Czech translation provides quite a literal translation, having more or less the same connotations for the Czech readers as the English original for the English-speaking readers.

Slovak translation uses the Slovak name of a French cheese Roquefort; other versions mostly keep the name Hogwarts as it is. Similarly, the surname of the school’s principal,

Dumbledore, is translated as Brumbál. Both of the versions refer to a dialectical name for a bumblebee. Almost any other version kept the name in its original English variation. As for the neologisms that Rowling used in her books, the brothers Medeks mostly tried to explain them. For example, the occlumency, that is the ability to protect one’s mind from being read by another person, is translated as nitrobrana, literally “the defence of one’s inner self”, although the original term comes from Latin, and is therefore not understandable to most

English readers. In the case of various nonsensical words, such as quidditch, the translators chose famfrpál which was similarly difficult to pronounce and also did not carry any meaning, while some other languages chose to explain this term (Horáčková).

All of these examples show that there were various attitudes in translating something as rich in neologisms and names with connotations, as Harry Potter is. While there are many options for translating neologisms, there are less for the already existing terms, such as the various beings and creatures in the series that have their origins in actual mythologies, folklore and fairy tales. These, and their Czech equivalents, are the focus of this thesis.

As those beings and creatures are translated in a similar way as the already mentioned examples of creative translation in the Harry Potter series, the thesis will focus on the origins

13 of the beings and it will try to connect them to their Czech equivalents. This approach follows

Peter Newmark’s theory of types of translations, as well as the theory introduced by Levý.

Newmark distinguishes three language functions: the expressive, informative, and vocative function (Newmark 20). The expressive and vocative functions are closely connected with both the author and the reader, as they are expressing one’s ideas and feelings, and evoking thoughts and reactions, respectively. The informative function is rather an educational tool, as it reflects “external situation, the facts of a topic, reality outside language, including reported ideas or theories” (Newmark 40) and it does not concern personal feelings, of either the author or the reader, but objective truth. Beings and creatures in the Harry Potter series could be classified as having mostly informative function in regard to their informative value and the connotations they evoke in the readers, although they are mythical or fairy-tale.

Levý illustrates the importance of connotations on his scheme of variable and invariable elements in various types of translations. For fiction, the connotative meaning is invariable, as is the denotative meaning (Levý 27). Applied on the supernatural creatures in

Harry Potter series, this means that those beings should in translation create connotations as similar to the English original as possible, as well as they should be equal to the original in their literal meaning. According to Levý, a translator should re-create functions of the original in the translation, not to create new ones (29). The already mentioned examples of Medeks’ translations comply to Levý’s theory, as they re-create the connotative meanings of the original terms. However, in the case of neologisms that do not have any connotations in

English, as is the example of occlumency, the brothers are being excessively explanatory – and so is the case in some of the mythological beings and creatures that will be discussed in the following chapters of this thesis.

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4. Veela

4.1 In Harry Potter

Veelas first appear in the fourth book of Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the

Goblet of Fire. One of the main characters of the book, Fleur Delacour, is partly a veela.

Veelas are a humanoid race, not merely magical creatures as, for example, ghouls or basilisks.

They are described as “women… the most beautiful women Harry had ever seen… except that they weren’t – they couldn’t be – human” (Rowling, HPGF 103). They have “white-gold hair [fanning] out behind them without wind” (103) and as they dance, they mesmerize the male part of audience: “The veela had started to dance, and Harry’s mind had gone completely and blissfully blank. All that mattered in the world was that he kept watching the veela, because if they stopped dancing, terrible things would happen.” (103)

Veelas are mascots of the Bulgarian quidditch team during the 1994 Quidditch World

Cup. That suggests that veelas originate in Eastern Europe, as the other team, Irish, has as their mascots. During the world cup, veelas and leprechauns get into a fight with each other. They “began throwing … handfuls of fire at the leprechauns” (Rowling,

HPGF 111). During the fight, their faces transformed into “sharp, cruelbeaked bird heads, and long, scaly wings were bursting from their shoulders” (111). This transformation is reminiscent of harpies, creatures from Greco-Roman mythology that are partly birds and partly humans.

Other mentions in the series are mostly connected to Fleur Delacour, one of the contestants in the Twiwizard Tournament. Fleur is a witch from France whose maternal grandmother was a veela, as she admits while having her wand inspected: “An ‘air from ze

‘ead of a veela … [o]ne of my grandmuzzer’s” (Rowling, HPGF 308), making Fleur a

15 quarter-veela, inheriting the race’s beauty and silvery hair. However, it is unknown whether she also inherited the magical abilities and transformation mentioned earlier.

4.2 The Original Myth

Although there is no such creature in mythology as a “veela” per se, it is possible to find beings called vila (sg. vile; also spelled wiła, víla, the spelling varies in particular countries; Slovenian, Polish and Czech spelling respectively) in Slavic mythology, more specifically in South-Slavic mythology, prominently in Slovene mythology. However, it is possible to find mentions of such a being in mythologies of other Slavic countries as well, including Bohemian mythology.

Vila are most likely the model for Harry Potter veelas, not only by name and place of origin, but also other characteristics. One of them would be the humanoid form, as they are often called “White Ladies” (Copeland, “Some Aspects of Slovene Folklore” 283). They are believed to be remains of the souls of humans, as Copeland states: “They, too, originate in the belief that the soul continues an independent life after death” (“Slovene Folklore” 429).

Another term for vila supports this claim: “The term Zavdane deklice (Enchanted maidens) reflects the popular belief that these beings are the spirits of maidens under a spell”

(Copeland, “Slovene Folklore” 431). Furthermore, they play an important role in the life of humans, such as “assist[ing] women in childbirth, prepar[ing] national heroes for they vocation and befriend[ing] them in moments of peril” (Copeland, “Some Aspects of Slovene

Folklore” 283). This shows that they are indeed close to human kind and are, as in the Harry

Potter series, more than mere supernatural and/or magical beings.

Their connection to humans could also explain the fact that mating is possible between veelas and humans in Harry Potter. Such a phenomenon is also found in real-world fairy and folk tales, such as the Bohemian fairy tale . As Hartland observes, the fairy tale

16 revolves around “[a víla] in the shape of a large bird [that] robs a pear-tree by night … [and later] reveals herself—a maiden with shining hair” (Harland 218). Víla’s powers are in her hair—when it is cut off, she disappears—and so is the magical power of the veela in Harry

Potter in the veela’s hair, as can be seen in the passage in which Fleur admits that her wand contains a hair of her grandmother, a veela. By the end of the fairy tale, the víla saves the hero and marries him so they can live happily ever after. The theme of supernatural women, either ones with the ability to shapeshift into animals, or ones connected to nature, appears in other fairy and folk tales as well, for example Erben’s ballad Vrba (Willow), in which the female protagonist has clear connection with a willow that contains her soul, and upon the cutting down of the willow, she dies.

Another connection to Harry Potter’s veela is through dance. In the eighth chapter of

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, there is a scene in which veelas dance, mesmerizing the male part of the audience. Slovene vila have a similar ability. According to Kropej, vila

“[dance] their round dances in remote places” (147). Such dances are dangerous: “If a young man enters the circle he may disappear” (Kropej 147). Furthermore, vila’s “enchanting voice is so sweet, a man might listen to it for days without eating or sleeping” (Zimmerman 169), which enhances the idea of vile as seductresses, as it was also suggested in the Harry Potter dance scene.

Vila are repeatedly described as beautiful, Roller considers them to be “the ideal of feminine perfection” (Roller 37) and Erben specifies that they are “beautiful, young, slender, having long hair, dressed in white” (428)2. Zimmerman states in more detail: “The vila is always beautiful, eternally young, with long fair or golden hair” (169). Copeland notes that

“[a] peculiar characteristic of [vila] is the brightness of their bodies” (“Slovene

Folklore” 429). The physical description matches the one in Harry Potter.

2 Original Czech text: “pěkné, mladé, štíhlé, dlouhých vlasů, bíle oděné” 17

However, traditional vila are different from veelas. Vila are “superhuman beings of the mountain, forest or water” (Copeland, “Some Aspects of Slovene Folklore” 283) and are usually connected to fertility (Kropej 147), while veelas control fire. Furthermore, there are no mentions of vila transforming in the same way veelas do, that is to a harpy-like creatures.

This ability to transform could possibly be an enhancement of their dangerous side, or a combination of Slavic and Greko-Roman mythologies.

4.3 The Czech Translation

Into Czech, the being veela is translated as víla (Medek V., HPaOP 85). As has been shown above, it is the corresponding being, as Harry Potter’s veelas are taken from Slavic mythology, including Bohemian, which names the being víla. However, the translation might not fit in the work as intended.

The first reason for that would be the fact that a veela is supposed to be an unknown being for both the protagonist and the readers. The regular English-reading audience would not know what a veela could be upon the first reading of the book. That also explains Harry’s question “What are veel-?” (Rowling, HPGF 103). The Czech “Co jsou to [Víly]…” (Medek

V., HPaOP 85) does not fulfil the same function. It is highly improbable that fourteen years old boy, a wizard, would have never heard of , which is the usual English equivalent to the Czech víla.

The second reason is that the word víla could mean two different beings in the series.

One would be the English veela, the other is called a fairy in the English version of Harry

Potter. They are first mentioned in the third book of the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban: “Professor Flitwick … had already decorated his classroom with shimmering lights that turned out to be real, fluttering fairies” (Rowling 182). Fairies are used for decoration in the fifth book as well, together with the mention of fairy eggs; and are again

18 mentioned in the sixth book, also following the description of them as miniature creatures having the form of “a brilliant speck of light” (Rowling, HPHBP 315). In all of these instances, the Czech translation provides the name “víla”.

The Harry Potter series does not provide much information on fairies, however, a detailed description can be found in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, an accompanying publication to the main series. The publication is a copy of a textbook from the series. The textbook describes fairies (víly in Czech) as “small and decorative beast[s] of little intelligence” (Rowling 16), with height of “one to five inches” (16) and “large insectlike [sic] wings, which may be transparent or multi-coloured” (17). The textbook also mentions their weak magic powers.

As the mentions of víly-fairies are scarce and of not much importance in the main series, it is understandable that the translation uses the same term for two various creatures.

However, the publication Fantastic Beasts dedicates several mentions to fairies—although not to veelas—and it can confuse the Czech readers who are suddenly presented with two different beings with the same name. Furthermore, the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them films could bring only more confusion to Harry Potter fans as víly-fairies could figure in them as well as víly-veelas.

Although the usage of víla for the English veela is not incorrect mythology-wise, it does create various problems. Aside from those already mentioned, a víla is a being with different connotations than a veela and/or a vile, as the modern media changed its perception in young audience. Various TV shows, films and also books describe víla in similar way as

Scamander in the fictional textbook on magical creatures. The original mythological depiction is more likely to be imagined by the adult readers than the targeted audience, which would be children above the age of 9, as the Czech editorial page states. To be able to convey various meanings and nuances in the text, another name should be used for veela. The simplest

19 solution would be to alter the spelling, such as using vela instead of víla. Another solution would be substitution of víla by , although rusalka is more commonly connected to water than to fire, and does not undergo the harpy-like transformation.

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5. Kelpie

5.1 In Harry Potter

Kelpies are creatures of the Harry Potter lore, although not directly appearing in the books. They are first mentioned in the second book, Harry Potter and the Chamber of

Secrets, by Gilderoy Lockhart, one of the Hogwarts teachers. He advices one of the other characters “on getting’ out of the well” (Rowling 120), although it is not mentioned how. Later, in the sixth book, kelpies are mentioned to be water monsters (Rowling, HPHBP

562), possibly protecting one of the horcruxes. However, that does not happen and kelpies do not appear there.

Fortunately, the textbook Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them offers a detailed description of kelpies. It is a shapeshifter “though it most often appears as a horse with bulrushes for a mane” (Rowling and Scamander 23). It lures people into its habitat, which is a river or a lake, by letting them ride on its back. According to Scamander, it is possible to subjugate a kelpie with a bridle and a charm (23). Further, it is said that kelpies are able to take on other shapes as well, such as the shape of a sea serpent. That is taken on by a kelpie in the Loch Ness in Scotland, explaining thus the Loch Ness monster (Rowling and Scamander

24). Kelpies are supposed to be native to the British Isles (23).

5.2 The Original Myth

Kelpies are part of Scottish and British myths and folk tales, although appearing in other countries as well, most notably in Iceland and Sweden. They are water spirits, sometimes also described as fairies or demons, usually in the form of a horse. Other than that, they also appear as water bulls or calves (MacLagan 89), or they can take on human form.

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In the animal shape, the kelpie is “commonly spoken of as a black horse” (Gregor 293) but it can also appear as a white horse. Otherwise, the “[k]elpie sometimes takes the form of a grey wrinkled old man” (Gregor 293). According to Banks, it can also take on a form of a young man, in order to seduce its victim (Banks 83). It dwells in water, usually in a lake or a river, and tries to drown those who go near its dwelling or try to cross the river.

The kelpie is usually described as a malevolent spirit, one that harms people and drowns them. However, kelpies can be overcome by using a bridle, and then used to do various work. Such is the case of a man who recognized a horse to be a kelpie and made it

“[carry] stones to build the bridge over the Ugie at Inverugie” (Gregor 292). After the work was done, the kelpie was set free and never to be seen again. In other stories, kelpies are outwitted by riddles or defeated by sheer strength, especially in their human form.

Kelpies in Harry Potter are very similar to those from mainly Scottish folk tales. It is clear that Rowling tried to use a creature that would be well-known to her English-speaking audience, especially in the United Kingdom, since they are, as well as in the Harry Potter books, sometimes thought of as the infamous monster of Loch Ness. Their appearance and abilities do not differ much, except for the shape-shifting part, which is more restricted in the original tales. However, a kelpie is still a creature that is not something to be explained for most of the readers, which also explains why there are such scarce mentions of kelpies in the book series, excluding the Fantastic Beasts textbook.

5.3 The Czech Translation

The Czech translation of Harry Potter books offers the two possible translations. One is a vodní skřítek (Medek V., HPaTK 100), the other a hastrmanec (Medek P., FZ 40). A vodní skřítek could be literally translated as a “water ” or a “water ”. While it is a

22 fact that kelpies reside in water, as would presumable water , the term is rather misleading as it offers different imagery to that of a kelpie.

While kelpie usually appears as a horse in both Scottish folklore and the Harry Potter universe, a skřítek, although a water one, evokes a humanoid creature. In fact, another creature in the Harry Potter series is called a skřítek. That would be the English house-, a creature that works in homes of wizards. A skřítek is a folklore being originating in the

Western Slavic mythology, being often mentioned in Bohemian and Moravian folktales

(Polívka 74). It is further expanded into several sub-species. Most of those are, however, house spirits that either help or harm (74—5).

In Czech TV fairy tales, there are several depictions of a skřítek. One of the oldest would be the animated television series Pohádky z mechu a kapradí (Fairy Tales From the

Moss and Fern) from 1968. The two main characters are called skřítci (plural of a skřítek).

They have a humanoid form, having legs and arms, as well as faces similar to humans, with pink skin and long noses. Each of them has a distinct personality. They are nowhere as tall as humans; their height is similar to that of a strawberry plant.

While the name vodní skřítek does grasp some of the characteristics of a kelpie, it is not very suitable for the creature, as it represents a different being altogether. A kelpie is, as has been described in the previous sub-chapters, a water spirit that takes the appearance of either a horse, or an old man. In some cases, it can also appear as other animals. However, the name vodní skřítek does not evoke any shape-shifting ability. Furthermore, a skřítek is traditionally seen as a humanoid creature, which does not correspond with the usual appearance of a kelpie.

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The Czech translation of the Fantastic Beasts provides the readers with an alternative translation for a kelpie, a hastrmanec. Unlike the English equivalent, the Czech one does not describe an actual being from mythology, it is a newly conceived term used by the translator.

However, it is possible to trace it to a water spirit from Slavic mythology and folk tales, a vodník. A vodník is in various parts of the Czech Republic also called hastrman, from its

German variation wasserman. The name hastrmanec would then indicate a being similar to vodník, only with a slight alteration.

A vodník seems to be a universal water spirit for most Slavic nations, bearing various names that usually contain the words “water” or “to drown”. They are described as “bald- headed old [men]” (Eiichirô 73) who “[live] mostly at the bottom of the water near a mill, where [they keep] numerous herds of oxen, horses, sheep and pigs which [they drive] up to land every night to graze” (73). Furthermore, they can be seen “seated on the mill-wheel, combing [their] long green hair” (73). In Czech fairy tales, they are often presented as having green skin as well, sometimes even having webbed hands and feet. Their attire usually consists of a long green coat and a red top hat. Sometimes, they are also depicted smoking a pipe.

Unlike kelpies, a vodník does not have strength outside of water, and some tales even say that he would die if his coat would dry up completely. They are not shape-shifters like kelpies, nor are they considered necessarily evil or demonic. They control water and they can harm, but also help a miller near whom they live, or overturn boats. To get a vodník’s help, the miller “must bury some living thing like a cow, sheep, or even a man in the foundations of

[his mill]” (Eiichirô 73). Fairy tales lessen the sacrifice to, for example, baked pastries. Some tales say that a vodník likes to collect souls of those who drown in the water in which he lives.

He keeps the soul in a cup. If he manages to drown a young girl, he may marry her, as can be seen in Erben’s ballad Vodník.

24

A kelpie and a vodník share similarities, but they are also quite different, as a vodník is connected to horses, but rather than taking their form, he keeps them and takes them as a sacrifice. The connection to horses comes from the idea that horses carry the souls of the dead into the next world (Eiichirô 62). This idea developed into seeing horses and water interconnected, as can be seen in Greek mythology, in which the god of the seas, Poseidon, is also the god of horses. In the European context, that idea spread into the existing cultures, later creating beings connected to both water and horses, such as a kelpie and a vodník.

However, that only indicates the common origin, not the interchangeability of the two.

That is further strengthened by their different characters and abilities. Kelpies are always seen as malevolent spirits who must be tamed in order not to harm or to help. In contrast, a vodník does not clearly fall under the evil or good categories, as he can both help and harm on a whim. Also, a vodník seems to be more powerful than a kelpie, being able to control water entirely. A kelpie does not seem to have such powers. On the other hand, kelpies are able to shapeshift into both horses and humans. What the two have in common is that they both deceive humans to make them drown.

For all of the reasons listed above, it is clear that a kelpie is not the same as a vodník, they do not have the same connotations in readers’ mind. However, since the Czech translation in Harry Potter is a hastrmanec rather than a vodník or a hastrman, it could be said that this linguistic change implicates the kinship of a hastmanec to a vodník, but not the sameness of the creature.

The hastrmanec works well as a translation for the kelpie in a standalone work, since it does have similar effects on readers as the English version. It can be easily connected to water and drowning, although the connection to horses is not as visible. It also feels very familiar to the readers, since it is a variety of sort on a hastrman. Another reason for not leaving the kelpie as it is could be the fact that a Czech reader might associate the term with

25 the Australian Kelpie, a sheep dog. While the English word has much clearer connotation to both the dog and the mythological being, in Czech, a kelpie would not be associated with the water spirit in most cases.

Although it could be argued that a hastrmanec does not entirely cover the associations of a kelpie, as was shown above, it is a very suitable translation for the being. In recent Czech translations of fantasy literature, a kelpie is often being translated as a , which is close to its nature, but it does not cover the kelpie’s ability to shapeshift, nor does it sound familiar. In some cases, the translation is a vodník, which does not describe a kelpie either.

Although the Harry Potter translation seems to be close, it unfortunately did not become a precedent for other translators of fantasy literature into Czech.

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6. Kappa

6.1 In Harry Potter

Kappas are another water creature in the Harry Potter series. They first appear in the third book, being a part of the Defence Against the Dark Arts class. They are described as

“creepy water-dwellers that [look] like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds” (Rowling, HPPA 141). Later in the book, it is said that they are “commonly found in Mongolia” (172). However, the Fantastic Beasts textbook claims that they are Japanese (Rowling and Scamander 23), rather than Mongolian monsters. The textbook further comments on their appearance, saying that a kappa has “a hollow in the top of its head in which it carries water” (23).

The rest of the text talks about kappa’s nature and it describes how to defeat it, if encountered. A kappa apparently “feeds on human blood but may be persuaded not to harm a person if it is thrown a cucumber with that person’s name carved into it” (23). Wizards should also try making it bow, spilling the water in its head. If that happens, the kappa loses its strength (23).

6.2 The Original Myth

Kappas are Japanese water demons, close to the description in Harry Potter. It is believed, to this day, to dwell in “slow-moving freshwater rivers and pools, but occasionally

[in] salt water” (Foster 3), making it widely distributed through Japan, which resulted in variations of both its name and appearance.

According to Dorson, a kappa is a “boyish Japanese goblin carrying water in his saucer-shaped head” (409). Foster notes that its name variations “[reflect] the creature’s

27 physical resemblance to a child … others its resemblance to a monkey … a soft-shelled turtle

… or an otter” (3). However, the descriptions usually agree on the kappa being small as a child, ranging from three-to-four-year old up to a ten-year-old (Foster 4). As for the skin colour, a kappa “is often blue-yellow, with a blue-black face” (4). Foster further notes that a

“kappa has a carapace on its back, and its face is sharp with a beak-like mouth” (4). The most important element of its appearance is, however, the cavity on its head, already described above. Water in it “represents the life force of [a] kappa; if it dries up or spills, the kappa loses its power, and—in some accounts—dies” (Foster 4). The parallel to the Czech vodník, who must keep its coat wet, described in the previous chapter is uncanny.

Although kappas are usually seen as mischievous spirits, dangerous and harmful, they have various human traits. Aside from the physical appearance, which can resemble a human child to a certain degree, they have an interest in sumo, the Japanese form of wrestling. It is sumo which can be used to defeat them, by bowing politely before the start of the match. A kappa should feel similarly obligated to bow, spilling the water on its head (Foster 4). This form of its defeat is therefore the same as described in Harry Potter. Other methods of defeating it include a cucumber, as it is also mentioned in the Fantastic Beasts textbook.

However, the usual method is not carving one’s name into the cucumber, but eating it before going to swim, although in some regions, doing so might result in a kappa attacking the swimmer (Foster 5).

Similar to a kelpie and a vodník that have been already described, a kappa also kills humans. However, unlike a kelpie, it does not simply drown them, nor does it keep their soul like a vodník. A kappa steals the liver of its victim, whether it is a human, horse or a cow

(Foster 5). It is worth noting that most stories about kappas are not about them actually killing people, but kappas playing tricks on people or trying to lure horses in water. In such cases,

“the kappa is described as failing in the attempt … and being made to apologize in one way or

28 another, sometimes formally in writing” (Eiichirô 1). Rowling’s kappa seems to be more bloodthirsty than the one from Japanese mythology and folklore, although overall, the two seem to be very close in their nature.

6.3 The Czech Translation

In the Czech translation, a kappa is named a tůňodav (Medek P., HPaVA 127). The name means “one who strangles someone in a pool / pond”, referring to the fact that a kappa sometimes lures its victims into water to kill them.

Such an action would not be unthinkable since kappas are dangerous creatures in both

Harry Potter and Japanese mythology. Moreover, a kappa is supposed to have a great strength in its arms, making the strangling possible and the Harry Potter description of a kappa speaks of kappas feeding only on human blood, not on any other animal as depicted in the Japanese folklore. However, the very fact that a kappa lures someone to water suggests death by drowning rather than by strangling.

That being said, the Czech name tůňodav might be unsuitable for other reasons than technicalities of a kappa’s feeding habits. Although the word tůňodav does fit in the overall fairy-tale-like tone of Harry Potter’s translations, it does not fulfil the same function as its

English equivalent. For the English readers, a kappa would be something unknown. While it is true that a tůňodav, being a new word, is not known to the Czech reader either, it is much easier for a Czech reader to imagine what the creature might be.

The Fantastic Beasts textbook states that kappas are Japanese. It can be therefore assumed that the wizard community in England would not have known about it since quite recently, considering the isolation that took place until the second half of the 19th century, during which only China and the Netherlands had scarce contact with the Japanese. As there are no contradicting statements in the Harry Potter universe, it can be presumed that the

29 contact was established only in the beginning of the 20th century (“Edo Period (1603 –

1867)”). Various magical creatures, herbs or potions unique to Japan would be known to the

English by that time. It is highly improbable that they would give them an English name, as

English tends to borrow loanwords (Durkin).

It is therefore clear why the English original uses the term kappa for the water spirit, although there could be various translations for it, such as a water monkey. The Czech translation does not, however, follow that example, as it translates the name of the creature.

Using the original name, that is kappa, would have similar effect on Czech readers as it has on English readers, although it would not introduce the nature of the creature as tůňodav does.

The translation for kappa did not, however, set an example for other creatures with a non-English origin. A hippocampus, a water horse-fish originating in Greek mythology, does only have a transcription instead of a translation like a kappa; that is a hipokampus. While that might be explained by the fact that hippocampus is also the name of a part of the brain and its Czech equivalent is hipokampus, meaning “seahorse” in Greek, it still does not fully fit into a book for 10 years old children.

On the other hand, a hippocampus was mentioned only in the Fantastic Beasts accompanying textbook, therefore it is understandable that it might not have a proper translation as a kappa does. However, it could still be argued that the translations should be either for all of such creatures, that is for creatures with non-English origin, creatures unknown to the young English readers of Harry Potter, or none of these creatures should be translated and they should be left their original name, so that they would not have an extra connotative meaning for the Czech readers.

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7. Erkling

7.1 In Harry Potter

The erkling is a creature with a rather scarce appearance in the book series, as it only figures in the Fantastic Beasts guide and in an official Harry Potter video game. However, it is of interest to this thesis as its translation by Medeks shows yet another attitude to translating beings and creatures in the Harry Potter series.

In the Fantastic Beasts, an erkling is described as an “elfish creature which originated in the Black Forest in Germany” (Rowling and Scamander 15) with the average height of 3 feet. It is a malevolent being, as it tries to “lure away [children] from their guardians and eat

[them]” (15). It has a “pointed face and a high-pitched cackle” (15) with which it lures children as they find it “particularly entrancing” (15).

The only kind of a creature described as an “elf” in the Harry Potter series are house- , rather small beings that are often made to help in the homes of wizards, either as slaves or as free house-elves. They are often shortly called “elves”. They have “large bat-like ears and bulging … eyes the size of tennis balls” (Rowling, HPCS 12) with “long, thin nose[s]”

(12) and they are capable of speaking human language. It can be therefore assumed that erklings share their outward appearance to some degree, possibly also the ability to speak the human language.

7.2 The Original Myth

The erkling seems to be an alternative spelling of an “”, from the erlkönig. An erlking is a German folktale being that has several adaptations, most notably by

J. G. Herder (Erlkönings Tochter) and J. W. Goethe (ballad Der Erlkönig). Goethe’s ballad was later musically adapted by F. Schubert.

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According to Jason Fisher, “[t]he history of the Erlking legend can be traced from its shadowy origins in the Germanic Middle Ages, to retellings in Scandinavian folklore, and finally to its more modern setting in European lyrical poetry and music of the late eighteen and nineteenth centuries” (164). He highlights the above-mentioned works of Herder and

Goethe and several others. He also notes that the word erlkönig can be translated as “elf-king” or “alder-king” (164).

In Goethe’s ballad, the erlking tries to lure away a boy from his father, with whom the boy travels through a forest. The child seems to hallucinate as it sees the erlking and hears its voice, while the father does not. The erlking tempts the boy to come play with his daughters.

The boy warns his father that the erlking has hurt him. By the time they ride out of the forest, the boy is dead. Similarly to the erkling in the Harry Potter universe, the erlking lures a child away from its parent while they are in a forest. While it does not eat the child, it dies after the encounter. In the ballad, the erlking speaks to the child. While the Fantastic Beasts textbook does not affirm the erkling’s ability to speak a human language, its mythological counterpart in Goethe’s ballad affirms it.

The outward characteristics of the erlking are not described in the ballad, except for the mention of him wearing a crown. However, Angela Carter’s fairy tale variation of this folklore being, The Erl-King, provides the readers with a description. In her story, the erlking lures not children, but young women to his forest dwelling. The protagonist of Carter’s story is romantically involved with the erlking and comes to him when he calls her with his birdcall. One day she realizes that the birds the erlking keeps in cages are other girls which he entrapped. She kills the erlking and frees the birds. In the story, the erlking is described as having green eyes (Carter 86) and “hair that is the colour of dead leaves” (87), while his skin has “the tint and texture of sour cream” (88). His teeth are sharp (88). According to the

32 protagonist, he is also capable of speaking the human language. In overall, the erlking is often likened to trees and to nature in general.

Carter’s erlking bears resemblance to the erkling in Harry Potter, although there are significant differences between the two. One of the most striking would be the height of the two, as Carter’s erlking is likely about the same height as the protagonist, who is a human girl. Rowling’s erkling is, however, much smaller. Another would be the victims, children and young girls, although that can be easily explained by the fact that Carter’s feminist rewriting of fairy tales often revolves around young girls that mature during her stories. In overall,

Carter’s erlking has more human-like features than Rowling’s.

Neither Goethe nor Carter provided their readers with full description of the outward appearance and abilities of an erlking. That might be due to its presumably mysterious impression on the readers. However, there might be other works that might uncover the veil of eeriness. As has already been said, the meaning of the word erlking is an elf-king. As

Jacqueline Simpson notes, elves come primarily from Germanic background. An elf, according to her, is a term for “minor supernatural [being], as opposed to gods” (77). In

English, the word “elf” was gradually replaced by the word “fairy” from the thirteenth century onwards, with the growing influence of French (Simpson 77). Elves appeared in the Norse mythology, in which they were “considered very powerful beings” (78). According to

Simpson, they were ascribed both positive characteristics, such as beauty, wisdom and power, and negative characteristics, such as destructive behaviour towards humankind (78—9).

Elves had a place in the lives of humans, although they were often viewed as evil, malevolent beings. According to Wilfrid Bonser, they were often seen as the cause of various diseases or sudden deaths: “[t]he evil was most usually attributed to the elfkind (who attacked with their arrows) or to “flying venom”; these may be taken as the equivalents of sudden indisposition and of infection respectively” (350). Similarly to the erlking in Goethe’s ballad,

33 elves are seen as almost synonymous with death, which they bring. Also, the idea of being allusive is present in both of the creatures; as elves are often described as beautiful, while the erlking’s voice mesmerizes the boy in the Goethe’s ballad. Although assuming that an elf and an erlking are the same being would be an exaggeration as there is no clear evidence for that, they have a lot in common, which will be taken into consideration in the next sub-chapter of this thesis.

7.3 The Czech Translation

The Czech translation uses the term lesní mužíček (Medek P., FZ 46) for the erkling.

In literal translation to English, it would mean “a little forest man”. While it evokes the connection to a forest that both an erlking and an erkling have, the Czech equivalent does have other connotations than the English original.

Although the erkling is not a being that would be known to the target audience of

Harry Potter, which is young children, its name evokes certain feelings in the target audience.

The “erk” part is very close to “irk”, a verb that would evoke the feeling that the creature is harmful to a certain degree. On the other hand, lesní mužíček sounds quite unharmfully.

Furthermore, the Czech equivalent evokes the imagery of a being similar to a human in appearance, except for its small height. The image might even match the one from Carter’s story.

Be that as it may, it is understandable why Medek did not use the traditional Czech translation for the word erlking as used in both translations of Goethe’s adaptation and

Carter’s fairy tale retelling. The Czech translation is, in both of those cases, Král duchů, literally the “King of spirits”. The name indicates certain uniqueness that the being definitely has. However, Rowling’s erkling can be presumed to be a rather widespread creature, at least from its description in the Fantastic Beasts. Another reason is that the usual Czech translation

34 is too majestic to fit the erkling in Rowling’s universe—a small creature with big ears and bulging eyes. The resemblance to the house elves is, however, obscured in the Czech translation, as the Czech version of the Fantastic Beasts keeps the term “elf” rather than using the translation for the creature that is used thorough the series, a “skřítek”.

Technically, the term lesní mužíček is not non-functioning, although it does not entirely fit the context. As has already been explained above, this Czech translation does not evoke fear in the reader, rather the opposite. The negative feelings could be preserved by keeping the English term erkling. However, an erkling does not feel especially threatening either and it is quite hard to pronounce for a Czech reader, therefore it feels unsuitable as well, although useable. A substitute might work much better in this case. There is a range of similar small, malevolent spirits and beings, which have not been used in the translation. One of those would be a goblin, originally a being from Anglo-Saxon and Scandinavian folklores. There are various types of , often then include such beings as and gnomes (Jackson

130). They appear in many fantasy works, for example in The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien. In the Czech translation of The Hobbit, the equivalent for a goblin is a goblin in Czech. If a goblin was used for an erkling, most children would probably know that the being is not as friendly as a lesní mužíček might seem. However, there already are goblins in the English original of Harry Potter. These are translated as skřetové in the Czech translation. That might create confusion for those who would read the books in both English and Czech.

35

8. Conclusion

Translated literature has been dominant in the Czech Republic for many years now.

The titles often get a more distinct advertising in various media, as well as they more commonly get film adaptions. Even children literature is frequently translated, especially literature for school-age children. One such an example would be the Harry Potter series that overwhelmed the entire world at the time of its publishing. Even to this day, the series is still popular among young audience, as well as adults. The new accompanying film series

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them has earned its creators over $800 million worldwide according to Forbes (Mendelson), although its first part aired only in November

2016.

It is especially literature for children that in many cases contains terms that might not have a proper counterpart in other languages, making it difficult to translate. Mythological, folkloric, and fairy-tale beings that this thesis focused on are one such example. As discussed in the second chapter of this thesis, myths, folklore, and fairy tales gained popularity over the last century, as they were adapted into various works of fiction, especially fantasy literature.

Many of the beings in them re-occur in various works, often with only slight variations in their appearances, abilities or characters. For that reason, it is important to follow certain conventions in their translations, so that they would be recognizable across works, and would not be confused one with another.

However, there are no set rules for those conventions. It depends on a translator whether they will go through previously translated literature and find appropriate translation that fits the context of the book that is being translated, or whether they will use their own translational solution. While it is understandable that not every translated literary work has to become a model for translations to-be, some did have such an influence in the area of

36 mythological, folkloric, and fairy-tale beings. These would be the translations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings trilogy by J. R. R. Tolkien, translated by František Vrba and

Stanislava Pošustová respectively, and the Harry Potter series, translated by brothers Pavel and Vladimír Medek. The translation by Medeks and their attitudes to various translation problems are discussed in the third chapter of this thesis.

Some of their translations of the beings from mythology, folklore and fairy tales were discussed in the four chapters focused on one creature each. In each of those chapters, the first sub-chapter focused on the creature’s appearance, abilities, and other relevant information, as provided in the Harry Potter books. The second sub-chapter looked at the origins of the creature in real-world mythologies, folklores and fairy tales. It studied their appearances and abilities, as well as the place of origin. The third sub-chapter then compared the Czech equivalent in the Harry Potter books with the English original, and the creature as described in the second sub-chapter. It explained various problems regarding the Czech translation, referred to translations in other literary works, and offered different solutions to those that were used in the translation of the book series.

The work on the thesis enabled the familiarization with various myths and supernatural creatures, as well as theoretical works regarding mythology and translation. On the other hand, it also showed the complexity and the interlacement of those myths and of folkloric beings. While the offered solutions to translations used in the Harry Potter series drew upon various scholarly works, they did not take into consideration reception from the readers. That could be an objective of further research.

For the conclusions of this thesis research to be applicable in literary translation, a general comparative study of various myths across cultures and languages would have to be conducted. This thesis only focused on myths and folk and fairy tales relevant to its topic.

However, while on one hand, there might seem to be the need to create a uniform dictionary

37 for “the supernatural”, on the other hand, it would not be a definite factor in literary translation, but would rather serve for the purposes of academic research. Literary works tend to transform mythological beings, sometimes to such lengths that they might not correspond to their originals at all. That is why there will always be the need to have creative translations for the purpose of delivering a genuine and precise image to the audience.

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10. Summary

Mythological, folkloric, and fairy-tale beings have been more frequently appearing in literature in the last few decades. They have been adapted with variations to their original myths and tales, sometimes to such lengths that they seem to be new beings altogether. That causes a problem with the translation of those works into other languages.

In the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling, there is a number of creatures that are originating in real-world myths, legends, and folk and fairy tales, as well as those that are created by the author. While the latter might provide the translator with the freedom to creatively translate the creature, the former needs to be translated with more care and attention to the details.

The Czech literary translations have a tendency to draw upon the already-existing ones and use them, if possible and suitable. That is because if those terms were used interchangeably, they would create confusion among the readers. There are several attitudes to the translation of mythological beings, most notably substitution that would use a similar creature known in the target cultural background. Another attitude, among others, would be inventing a new term or a descriptive phrase for the being, resulting thus in a more explanatory way of presenting it.

The Czech translation of the Harry Potter series uses both of these attitudes with various successes. The Czech equivalent of a veela shares the name with a fairy, which also appears in the series on a few occasions. The kelpie has two different translations, making it impossible to connect them in the readers’ minds. The kappa uses a descriptive creative translation that might be too descriptive; and the erkling has a misleading descriptive phrase for its translation.

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11. Resumé

Bytosti z mytologie, folklóru a pohádek se několik posledních desítek let stále častěji objevují v literatuře. V mnohých knihách jsou převzaty s různými změnami oproti původním mýtům a příběhům, ze kterých autoři čerpali. Někdy jsou tyto bytosti pozměněny natolik, že jsou spíše bytostmi novými. To může způsobit problém při překladu těchto děl do jiných jazyků.

V sérii Harry Potter od J. K. Rowlingové se vyskytuje velké množství bytostí, jež jsou inspirovány skutečnými mýty, legendami, pověstmi a pohádkami. Jiné jsou naopak vytvořené

Rowlingovou. Tato poskytují překladatelovi velký prostor k tvůrčímu překladu jména bytosti.

Ta, které jsou inspirována skutečnými mýty, ale musí být překládána s větší péčí a pozorností k detailu.

Český literární překlad často využívá již existujících překladů, pokud je to možné a vhodné v kontextu. To proto, že kdyby se tyto termíny volně zaměňovaly, čtenáři by se v nich napříč literárními pracemi nevyznali. Překlad takových názvů může být zpracováván různě.

Jedním ze způsobů je substituce bytosti jinou, takovou, která je známa v dané kultuře. Dalším příkladem způsobů je pak užití zcela nového názvu či popisného slovního spojení, které by bytost popisně představilo čtenáři.

Český překlad Harryho Pottera využívá obou těchto způsobů s různým úspěchem.

Český ekvivalent pro stvoření veela je stejný jako ten pro bytost fairy, jež se v knihách také několikrát objevuje. Kelpie má dva různé překlady, kvůli čemuž čtenář nepozná, že se jedná o stejnou bytost. Kappa má popisný kreativní překlad, který je možná až příliš popisný, a bytost erkling je přeložena za pomoci zavádějícího popisného slovního spojení.

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