FARK.com: (6943683) Nerdy: Closely examining a "The Hobbit" movie trailer. Nerdier: Trying to translate the dwarf language contract. Nerdiest: The contract is actually a real contract and not gibberish

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(Some Child of Durin)		Nerdy: Closely examining a "The Hobbit" movie trailer. Nerdier: Trying to translate the dwarf language contract. Nerdiest: The contract is actually a real contract and not gibberish (thorinoakenshield.net)		115
		More: Spiffy, Dead Sea Scrolls, dwarf, magnification, italics, dwarfs

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7724 clicks; posted to Geek » on 15 Feb 2012 at 4:10 PM | Favorite | share:

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Speaker2Animals		2012-02-15 12:47:46 PM

Jesus -- that makes Lewis and Gilbert look like Butch and Sundance!

DamnYankees		2012-02-15 12:54:57 PM

Holy crap.

WhoIsWillo		2012-02-15 12:56:36 PM

DamnYankees: Holy crap.

This is an Art Director's wet dream

Rev.K		2012-02-15 12:59:21 PM

And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

Kazan		2012-02-15 01:01:04 PM

lol, attention to detail WIN

quatchi		2012-02-15 01:58:09 PM

The picture of Bilbo poring over the contract.

A new contestant in the [wtfamireading?] meme category?

/No shoop skillz. D:

give me doughnuts		2012-02-15 02:05:44 PM

Remember, this is the same production team that tooled and carved the leather on the inside of Theoden's armor, because a real king's armor would be tooled and carved on the inside.

steveurkel		2012-02-15 02:10:49 PM

one does not simply translate a dwarf language contr-

well...I guess they do.

carry on then.

DamnYankees		2012-02-15 02:27:26 PM

give me doughnuts: Remember, this is the same production team that tooled and carved the leather on the inside of Theoden's armor, because a real king's armor would be tooled and carved on the inside.

They also elaborately embroidered Gandalf's undergarments, which literally never made an appearance on camera.

brigid_fitch		2012-02-15 03:08:37 PM

DamnYankees: give me doughnuts: Remember, this is the same production team that tooled and carved the leather on the inside of Theoden's armor, because a real king's armor would be tooled and carved on the inside.

They also elaborately embroidered Gandalf's undergarments, which literally never made an appearance on camera.

When the extras on Gone With the Wind wondered why they were being given expensive silk pantaloons & underskirts, even though the stuff would never be seen, they were told it was because it would help them to better feel what it was like to be a privileged lady of the South. Sometimes little details can go a long way towards motivation & character development.

/I still love the fact that Weta Workshop employed 2 SCA re-enactors for 3 years straight to do nothing but make chain mail armor. Awesome.

jayhawk88		2012-02-15 04:16:53 PM

You're all my biatches. By the time I'm done, you'll build a pyramid in my honor.

Treygreen13		2012-02-15 04:17:16 PM

Rev.K: And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

I'd call you a glutton for punishment. The Silmarillion read like an encyclopedia.

Speaker2Animals		2012-02-15 04:22:14 PM

Treygreen13: Rev.K: And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

I'd call you a glutton for punishment. The Silmarillion read like an encyclopedia.

As a child, I used to turn to random pages in the Encyclopedia Britannica and read various entries.

/Have read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales many times

dittybopper		2012-02-15 04:25:26 PM

What would be even funnier is if they threw in a

"If you actually spend the time trying to figure out what this says you need to go spend some time out in the real World. You parent's basement is not the mines of Moria"

in there somewhere.

Treygreen13		2012-02-15 04:25:44 PM

Speaker2Animals: Treygreen13: Rev.K: And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

I'd call you a glutton for punishment. The Silmarillion read like an encyclopedia.

As a child, I used to turn to random pages in the Encyclopedia Britannica and read various entries.

/Have read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales many times

My parents bought me an encyclopedia when I was young, and I enjoyed it. When they got me my first computer, I had one on there with all sorts of really interesting interactive graphics and diagrams. I loved it.

But I found the aforementioned Tolkien book to be too dry compared to the other stuff. Doesn't mean it's bad, and to be fair it has been quite a while since I read it. I could always give it another shot.

dittybopper		2012-02-15 04:26:17 PM

Pelvic Splanchnic Ganglion		2012-02-15 04:29:06 PM

Attention to detail is what separates a good film from a bad one. It doesn't matter if it's a meticulously-crafted shot or a meticulously-crafted prop.

Clash City Farker		2012-02-15 04:30:02 PM

This is a nice touch, but something that is better off left on the cutting room floor. Any comprehensive dwarf contract like that is going to cover any treasures found during the whole period of employment else the dwarf that wrote it isnt worth anything. That will only cause plot holes because it would give the dwarves a claim to a certain piece of treasure that is acquired during the journey.

cgraves67		2012-02-15 04:30:50 PM

I never knew that dwarven warriors could take levels in Lawyer.

/also, Bilbo: WTF am I reading!?!

leviosaurus		2012-02-15 04:33:40 PM

dittybopper: What would be even funnier is if they threw in a

"If you actually spend the time trying to figure out what this says you need to go spend some time out in the real World. You parent's basement is not the mines of Moria"

in there somewhere.

Never happen. These guys know who pays their bills.

pudding7		2012-02-15 04:34:46 PM

Clash City Farker: This is a nice touch, but something that is better off left on the cutting room floor. Any comprehensive dwarf contract like that is going to cover any treasures found during the whole period of employment else the dwarf that wrote it isnt worth anything. That will only cause plot holes because it would give the dwarves a claim to a certain piece of treasure that is acquired during the journey.

SPOILERS!

Gordian Cipher		2012-02-15 04:36:01 PM

Monual		2012-02-15 04:37:42 PM

I don't think the contract was "translated" at all. It appears to be written in plain old English.

Still impressive dedication trying to sort it all out from screen caps. =)

dittybopper		2012-02-15 04:38:17 PM

leviosaurus: dittybopper: What would be even funnier is if they threw in a

"If you actually spend the time trying to figure out what this says you need to go spend some time out in the real World. You parent's basement is not the mines of Moria"

in there somewhere.

Never happen. These guys know who pays their bills.

Well, you could put in *SOMETHING* funny. Like the "SHOW ME THE MONKEY" Morse code easter egg in Jackson's "King Kong".

/To a Morse aficionado like myself, that was farkin' *HILARIOUS*.

Donnchadha		2012-02-15 04:38:23 PM

Funny, it doesn't look Dwarvish.

Cagey B		2012-02-15 04:38:55 PM

The terms of the contract stipulate at least 50 minutes of elf songs per film, and a spinoff featuring Tom Bombadil and a wisecracking cat.

ArcadianRefugee		2012-02-15 04:45:27 PM

BalugaJoe		2012-02-15 04:46:24 PM

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.

EdNortonsTwin		2012-02-15 04:47:44 PM

_{Few things inspire folks to put this much love in to their work. This is a good thing, GOOD!}

Monual		2012-02-15 04:48:02 PM

My biggest problem was I read "The Silmarillion" after "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".

That's like going from watching pron to reading an excruciatingly long-winded anatomy textbook.

Marine1		2012-02-15 04:49:29 PM

You know, I've only seen one of the LOTR movies, but that sort of attention to detail makes me want to see this one.

/yes, I know it's technically not a LOTR movie, but same storyline.

EdNortonsTwin		2012-02-15 04:51:25 PM

Treygreen13: Speaker2Animals: Treygreen13: Rev.K: And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

I'd call you a glutton for punishment. The Silmarillion read like an encyclopedia.

As a child, I used to turn to random pages in the Encyclopedia Britannica and read various entries.

/Have read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales many times

My parents bought me an encyclopedia when I was young, and I enjoyed it. When they got me my first computer, I had one on there with all sorts of really interesting interactive graphics and diagrams. I loved it.

But I found the aforementioned Tolkien book to be too dry compared to the other stuff. Doesn't mean it's bad, and to be fair it has been quite a while since I read it. I could always give it another shot.

You have to skip ahead when Silmarillion starts to read like the family tree of the Hebrews in the book of Genesis. Unfinished tales grabs some of the better stuff. Now, if a good writer were to re write some of the borish descriptive parts well then, maybe we'de have the makings of sumn great.

grinding_journalist		2012-02-15 04:55:28 PM

cgraves67: /also, Bilbo: WTF am I reading!?!

i830.photobucket.com

/FARK friendly for your convenience

Treygreen13		2012-02-15 04:56:13 PM

Monual: My biggest problem was I read "The Silmarillion" after "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".

That's like going from watching pron to reading an excruciatingly long-winded anatomy textbook.

I like to compare them to reading the Bible, if you read The New Testament, finished it up with the apocalypse represented in Revelation, and then delved directly into the Old Testament to read crap like this:

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.
Matthew 1:2 Abraham begat Isaac; and Isaac begat Jacob; and Jacob begat Judas and his brethren;
Matthew 1:3 And Judas begat Phares and Zara of Thamar; and Phares begat Esrom; and Esrom begat Aram;
Matthew 1:4 And Aram begat Aminadab; and Aminadab begat Naasson; and Naasson begat Salmon;
Matthew 1:5 And Salmon begat Booz of Rachab; and Booz begat Obed of Ruth; and Obed begat Jesse;
Matthew 1:6 And Jesse begat David the king; and David the king begat Solomon of her that had been the wife of Urias;
Matthew 1:7 And Solomon begat Roboam; and Roboam begat Abia; and Abia begat Asa;
Matthew 1:8 And Asa begat Josaphat; and Josaphat begat Joram; and Joram begat Ozias;
Matthew 1:9 And Ozias begat Joatham; and Joatham begat Achaz; and Achaz begat Ezekias;
Matthew 1:10 And Ezekias begat Manasses; and Manasses begat Amon; and Amon begat Josias;
Matthew 1:11 And Josias begat Jechonias and his brethren, about the time they were carried away to Babylon:
Matthew 1:12 And after they were brought to Babylon, Jechonias begat Salathiel; and Salathiel begat Zorobabel;
Matthew 1:13 And Zorobabel begat Abiud; and Abiud begat Eliakim; and Eliakim begat Azor;
Matthew 1:14 And Azor begat Sadoc; and Sadoc begat Achim; and Achim begat Eliud;
Matthew 1:15 And Eliud begat Eleazar; and Eleazar begat Matthan; and Matthan begat Jacob;
Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourteen generations; and from David until the carrying away into Babylon are fourteen generations; and from the carrying away into Babylon unto Christ are fourteen generations.

Treygreen13		2012-02-15 04:57:00 PM

EdNortonsTwin: Treygreen13: Speaker2Animals: Treygreen13: Rev.K: And people call me nerdy for reading The Silmarillion three times.

/a day

I'd call you a glutton for punishment. The Silmarillion read like an encyclopedia.

As a child, I used to turn to random pages in the Encyclopedia Britannica and read various entries.

/Have read Silmarillion and Unfinished Tales many times

My parents bought me an encyclopedia when I was young, and I enjoyed it. When they got me my first computer, I had one on there with all sorts of really interesting interactive graphics and diagrams. I loved it.

But I found the aforementioned Tolkien book to be too dry compared to the other stuff. Doesn't mean it's bad, and to be fair it has been quite a while since I read it. I could always give it another shot.

You have to skip ahead when Silmarillion starts to read like the family tree of the Hebrews in the book of Genesis. Unfinished tales grabs some of the better stuff. Now, if a good writer were to re write some of the borish descriptive parts well then, maybe we'de have the makings of sumn great.

Ha, funny we'd bring up those parallels so close together.

NeedlesslyCanadian		2012-02-15 04:59:25 PM

The Dwarf runes around the border of the covers on the green cover publication of The Hobbit translate too.

grinding_journalist		2012-02-15 05:05:57 PM

quatchi: The picture of Bilbo poring over the contract.

A new contestant in the [wtfamireading?] meme category?

/No shoop skillz. D:

Checked your profile to see if you had an email addy listed to send this directly, but people seem to ask this stuff frequently- here's my walkthrough, it's way simpler than people think, and requires ZERO shoop skillz.

1. Grab/DL the image in question

2. Goto Link (new window) (I use this one b/c it's the simplest; there are others for come complex ones.)

3. Follow instructions

4. Instead of "saving/publishing/sharing" your image, do a screen capture of it from the preview screen to avoid the watermark/text on the bottom of the image- also useful for resizing.

5. Get a flickr/photbucket account if you don't have one.

6. Upload the image you've created to your album; I suggest resizing/reformatting PRIOR to uploading, even though most photo sites have online tools for it- some of them get wonky when you have duplicate filenames, etc. (Also, on a mac at least, screencaps (Cmd-Shift-4, select area) are .png files which fark doesn't like because they're too large. Save it as a jpg instead.)

7. Get the "link codes" from the image, click the little mountain button and paste your link over the http part that's already there for you.

8. Bask in the glory of nerdy pop culture references.

/I can also teach you how to make skittles infused vodka/grain alcohol beverages

NeoCortex42		2012-02-15 05:05:59 PM

NeedlesslyCanadian: The Dwarf runes around the border of the covers on the green cover publication of The Hobbit translate too.

I'm pretty sure the runes on all covers of The Hobbit (at least the American and British version) translate accurately.

Just finished reading the annotated version of The Hobbit. I knew Tolkien was into details, but I still didn't realize the extent to which every single "made-up" word in that book had some significance.

NeedlesslyCanadian		2012-02-15 05:08:41 PM

LeroyBourne		2012-02-15 05:10:27 PM

This is tantamount to when in 'bruce almighty' showed God's phone number (non 555), people actually tried calling it.

ArcadianRefugee		2012-02-15 05:33:31 PM

LeroyBourne: This is tantamount to when in 'bruce almighty' showed God's phone number (non 555), people actually tried calling it.

Or would have been if the company 'owned' that phone number and had God's Answering Machine attached to it. Since they didn't, that was just weapons-grade stupid on their part.

ChubbyTiger		2012-02-15 05:37:06 PM

Treygreen13: Monual: My biggest problem was I read "The Silmarillion" after "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".

That's like going from watching pron to reading an excruciatingly long-winded anatomy textbook.

I like to compare them to reading the Bible, if you read The New Testament, finished it up with the apocalypse represented in Revelation, and then delved directly into the Old Testament to read crap like this:

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourt ...

This is badly off topic, but you do realize that the Gospel of Matthew is in fact the New Testament? Right? The Old Testament is where all the raping, slaughtering, etc happen. Regardless, avoid the King James and any translation based on it: bad and inaccurate.

chuggernaught		2012-02-15 05:37:15 PM

I'd be more surprised if the contract was just gibberish. The attention to detail they have in these movies is what gets me to watch them.

NeoCortex42		2012-02-15 05:38:26 PM

ArcadianRefugee: LeroyBourne: This is tantamount to when in 'bruce almighty' showed God's phone number (non 555), people actually tried calling it.

Or would have been if the company 'owned' that phone number and had God's Answering Machine attached to it. Since they didn't, that was just weapons-grade stupid on their part.

A bunch of random people calling a number just because it showed up in a piece of entertainment. Who could have possibly foreseen those consequences?

/867-5309

Treygreen13		2012-02-15 05:43:45 PM

ChubbyTiger: Treygreen13: Monual: My biggest problem was I read "The Silmarillion" after "The Hobbit" and "The Lord of the Rings".

That's like going from watching pron to reading an excruciatingly long-winded anatomy textbook.

I like to compare them to reading the Bible, if you read The New Testament, finished it up with the apocalypse represented in Revelation, and then delved directly into the Old Testament to read crap like this:

Matthew 1:1 The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.

Matthew 1:16 And Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus, who is called Christ.
Matthew 1:17 So all the generations from Abraham to David are fourt ...

This is badly off topic, but you do realize that the Gospel of Matthew is in fact the New Testament? Right? The Old Testament is where all the raping, slaughtering, etc happen. Regardless, avoid the King James and any translation based on it: bad and inaccurate.

I do. I just grabbed the first passage I could find based on the rambling genealogy of the bible.

There is plenty of stuff in the Old Testament like that particular passage from Matthew, like the entire book of Numbers, or pretty much the snooze-inducing book of Psalms that will. just. not. end.

Which is where the book we were mentioning fails in several ways.

I must confess not to know much about the translation errors of the KJV.

TravisBickle62		2012-02-15 05:48:01 PM

But are there naked dwarf women?

Surool		2012-02-15 05:49:01 PM

What do you mean that dwarfish contract isn't gibberish? Why would they have translated a real contract unless... unless they knew we were coming!

Break off the early criticisms! Peter Jackson knows were here!

Heron		2012-02-15 05:52:07 PM

cgraves67: I never knew that dwarven warriors could take levels in Lawyer.

/also, Bilbo: WTF am I reading!?!

These are dwarves; when it comes to treasure and labor contracts, they're all legal experts. I believe Dave Chapel did a routine on this.

Mugato		2012-02-15 06:07:56 PM

Oye vay! This is meshuggana! Why do you never call? On my worst enemy I wouldn't wish--- are these blintzes kosher?

media2.onsugar.com

Heron		2012-02-15 06:09:05 PM

NeoCortex42: NeedlesslyCanadian: The Dwarf runes around the border of the covers on the green cover publication of The Hobbit translate too.

I'm pretty sure the runes on all covers of The Hobbit (at least the American and British version) translate accurately.

Just finished reading the annotated version of The Hobbit. I knew Tolkien was into details, but I still didn't realize the extent to which every single "made-up" word in that book had some significance.

The thing about Tolkien was he didn't just make up words; he made up languages. And then imagined the form natural linguistic drift might give them by the "modern" era when The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings were taking place.

It really stands out with the dwarves in particular. In The Silmarillion, the dwarves all have Semitic-inspired names; stuff that sounds Sumerian or Babylonian. By the time of The Hobbit, their names sound much more Indo-European (Elvish being heavily inspired by Welsh-Gaelic), though still a little odd to I-E speakers' ears. To be blunt, he had built thousands of years of Elvish influence into the "modern" Dwarvish tongue. Who the hell does that? A Classics scholar, Beowulf expert, and philologist; that's who.

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