The issue of translating English-language names of LR was a subject on which Tolkien reacted very sensitive. In June 1956, Allen & Unwin sent him a list of names which Max Schuchart had tried to translate into Dutch, asking for authorization. Fervently, he wrote back in July 1956:
"it has disturbed and annoyed me
greatly, and given me a good deal of unnecessary work at a most
awkward season..... In principle I object as strongly as is
possible to the 'translation' of the nomenclature at all (even
by a competent person). ... if we drop the 'fiction' of long ago,
'The Shire' is based on rural England and not any other country on
the world... After all the book is English, and by an Englishman, and
presumably even those who wish its narrative and dialogue turned into
an idiom that they understand, will not ask a translator that he
should deliberately attempt to destroy the local colour. ... I would
not wish, in a book starting from an imaginary mirror of Holland, to
meet Hedge, Duke'sbush, Eaglehome, or Applethorn
even if these were 'translations' of 'sGravenhage, Hertogenbosch,
Arnhem, or Apeldoorn! ... Actually the Shire Map plays a very small
part in the narrative, and most of its purpose is a descriptive
build-up. ... The proper way to treat the first map is to change its
title to Een Deel von 'The Shire' and no more; though I
suppose naar for 'to' in such directions as 'To Little
Delving' wd. do no harm.
... Anyway lots of them are nonsense
anyway or wholly erroneous, which I can only equal by supposing that
you met Blooming, Newtown, Lake How, Documents, Baconbury, Blushing
and then discovered the author had written Florence, Naples, (Lake or
Lago di) Como, Chartres, Hamburg, and Flushing = Vlissingen!"(L190)
This statement was as emphatic as it was without thought. Certainly, if Tolkien objected so fervently against Duke'sbush and Baconbury he was also careful to write Den Haag and München rather than The Hague and Munich? By any means, the Dutch LR appeared with translated town names. And when in December 1957 Tolkien received a similar list of proposed translations for the Swedish version of Aake Ohlmarks, he apparently began to change his mind at last about the nomenclature:
"I see now that the lack of an 'index of names' is a serious handicap in dealing with these matters. If I had an index of names ... it would be a comparatively easy matter to indicate at once all names suitable for translation (as being themselves according to the fiction 'translated' into English), and to add a few notes on points where (I know now) translators are likely to trip." (L204).
Eventually, Tolkien started to compose such a list which became a "great but dilatory and unmethodical plan", so CT described it (GN). Tolkien wrote in the Foreword "All names not in the following list should be left entirely unchanged in any language used in translation". Unfortunately, the list was much less than complete, indeed dropping many names that the Shire Map holds. But it was evidently made available to Margaret Carroux who translated LR into German. A version edited by CT was published in 1974 by Jared Lobdell with the title Guide to the Names in the Lord of the Rings; unfortunately, it was not collected in the HoMe volumes and by foreign readers is hard to access.
Note: Two very useful sources in this discussion were „Etymology of British Place-names“ (in the following referred to as BP) in „Bartholomew's Gazetteer of the British Isle, dated c. 1900, available on-line, and "A Survey of the History of English Place-names" by one Dame Cateline de la Mor la souriete who otherwise claims copyright as Kristine Elliott(http://www.sca.org/heraldry/laurel/names/engplnam.html), in the following referred to as SH. Thanks to Bill Eatock who brought this latter essay to my attention.
The following discussion compares the German translation of the names found on the Shire Map, beginning with the overall expressions and then sorting according to the Farthings. References are to the LR translation by Margaret Carroux and the first edition of H as translated by Walter Scherf; the terrible more recent H and LR translations by Wolfgang Krege will be ignored.
See also my attempt to translate the Shire Map into Latin :-).
This name is supposed to translate Westron sûza: "An organized region with a 'county town' ... 'district'. ... Gau seems to me suitable in German, unless its recent use in regional reorganisation under Hitler has spoilt this very old word." (GN) In the time of translation, it was apparently "politically correct" to adopt this position, though without historical or linguistic foundation. For example, the ancient region of the Rheingau a few kilometers from my home town, not named by Hitler, kept its name till today (incidentally, the Rheingau was protected from the outside by a huge hay; hence by some German readers it was not unreasonably compared to the Shire and its High Hay). Carroux very arbitrarily used Auenland, "land of meadows", which does not at all reflect the intended meaning. But see Bridgefields.
Farthings: "the same word as English farthing ..., quarter of a penny ... related words could perhaps be used: ... German Viertal (which is applied to 'regions, districts')." (GN) The translation has properly Viertel, avoiding the typo that was probably not Tolkien's. Farthing is further supposed to mimic the English Thrithings.
Three-farthing stone: "Translate, using whatever word is adopted to represent farthing." (GN) Carroux has Dreiviertelstein, a proper literal translation assuming a double meaning: It could be a stone of three farthings as well as three quarters of a stone!
Bindbale Wood: That unexplained name would vaguely translate as Bundballenwald. Carroux has Schiefertonwald, "slate clay wood", for no evident reason.
Oatbarton: Another unexplained name. The "barton" element in English town-names derives from Old English bere-tun, "barley farm; outlying part of an estate", including tun "enclosure, farmstead, village, manor, estate" (SH). The translation Hafergut, "oatstead", corresponds well to it.
Bywater: "As being beside the
wide pool ... Translate by sense." (GN) Carroux
was evidently in love with meadows: Wasserau does not signify
"by the pool" but "water-meadow". Moreover, since
the Water was translated as Die Wässer (see below),
should we not expect the same component here? Amwässer
would have been quite suitable.
Scherf translated Wassernach.
The second element is cognate with nach, "after",
but could be accepted as an obscured variation on -nah,
"nearby".
The Hill: Instead of the modern word Hügel, Carroux used the archaic form Bühl (while Scherf simply had der Berg, actually "The Mountain") which looks ancient and plausible. Correspondingly, the village of Overhill becomes Oberbühl. But alas, Carroux failed to see the significance of Frodo's cover name Underhill, translating it not Unterbühl but Unterberg which may remind a German of the highly alcoholic Underberg bottles - suitable for the Prancing Pony, but...
Hobbiton: "should be translated by 'hobbit' and an element meaning 'village'." (GN) The -ton element derives from Old English tun, see Oatbarton. Scherf's (and hence Carroux') solution Hobbingen thus is not fully satisfying for the suffix -ing, -ingen is the same element as in Beornings; Eorlingas, though it often appears in place-names and has a good ring here. But the loss of the final -t in Hobbit(t)on is very debatable. What would have been wrong about Hobbitingen?
Needlehole: The literal translation would have been Nadelöhr. But Carroux chose Nadelhohl, "Needle hollow", sounding credible enough. To German readers, it implies a location at a Hohlweg, a narrow passage between hillsides.
Nobottle: "-bottle is an
English place-name element ... meaning '(large) dwelling'; it is not
connected with bottle (glass container). ... Nobottle
... is an actual place-name in England (Northumberland). ... The
equivalent and related element in German place-names is -büttel."
(GN) CT however attributes the name to Northamptonshire (TR),
adding that "my father allowed me to add
to my map of the Shire..., although at that time I was under the
impression that the name meant that the village was so poor and
remote that it did not even possess an inn."
The
English place-name element in question is Anglo-Saxon boil, „a
dwelling“ (BP), thus Nobottle is probably a corruption
of Newbottle, „new dwelling“. Carroux has
Ohnbüttel, the first element being a compound variant of
ohne, "without". Thus "Without a dwelling"?
This translation assumes a very hobbitish secondary meaning: since a
homophonous but unrelated Büttel was used to translate
Shirriff (ignoring Tolkien's request that the translation of
Shire should be retained here, see GN), Ohnbüttel
is now a place without a policeman...
Rushock Bog: With Binse, "rush", the translation resulted in Binsenmoor. However, the suffix –ock is lost. See also Rushey.
Tookbank: since the surname Took was germanized as Tuk, we have here Tukhang of similar meaning.
Tuckborough: perhaps a decayed Tookborough? Alas, I cannot shed light on this name, though the second part is derived from Anglo-Saxon beorh "hill". The translation Buckelstadt, "hunch town", seems without any foundation.
The Water: the modernized English name was genuinely translated as Die Wässer, which is not the common collective noun (Wasser) but an extinct plural preserved in geographical names and compounds (Gewässer, "body of water", Abwässer, "waste waters", etc.). It feels plausible; but see Bywater.
Waymeet: "On the map ... this appears as Waymoot, but in the text modernised as Waymeet, a village at the meeting of three ways. Translate by sense, as convenient." (GN) Presumably Tolkien "changed his mind about the form but neglected the map." (SD) Wegscheid is a plausible literal translation which indeed occurs as a place-name.
Green-Hill Country: becomes Grünbergland – not as literal as Grünhügelland would have been, but of smoother sound. (It is true that English often uses hill for elevations which a German does not call Hügel any more but already Berg, "mountain"; perhaps because England has no Alps?)
Longbottom: "Probably lay in a river bottom (though none was shown in that area other than the Brandywine)" (TAMe) Apparently, Karen Fonstad has not read GN where "the second element retains its original sense ... of 'valley' (especially the head or inner end of a valley); ... also German Boden, but this does not agree closely in sense.". German Langgrund solves the problem conveniently, though Grund implies at least a brook running through the valley.
Pincup: A funny, unfortunately unexplained name. "It could be a hybrid like the English name Pinhoe, from *penn British root meaning a hill and copp Old English word for top, summit (as in the English name Sidcup)". (Contribution to the Tolkien list) SH gives the British word as pen; BP also mentions Saxon cop „a hollow, cup“. The German translation Felsmulde, "rocky dell", bears no connection to this. A proper equivalent could be Pinzkoppe whose elements you actually find in German nomenclature.
Bridgefields: most surprisingly, this did not become Brückenfelde as one might have expected but Brückengau! Why here now the ominous Gau appeared which Carroux refused to use in translating Shire will stay her secret.
Brockenbores: "Not (I think) a genuine English place-name; but intended to have the recognized sense: 'badgers' borings, badgers' tunnellings." (GN) The origin is Old English broc, „badger“ (BP). Dachsbauten is a literal translation with -bauten, "buildings", being a well-conceived pun on the actual plural -baue!
Budgeford: "the crossing of the Water by the road ... to Scary." (TR) "Budge- was an obscured element, having at the time no clear meaning. Since it was the main residence of the Bolger family (a hobbit-name not to be translated) it may be regarded as a corruption of the element bolge, bulge." (GN) Balgfurt is close enough to Bolger, though Balg is in fact a word meaning "a hide".
Deephallow: apparently, Tiefenhain was chosen due to its proximity in sound, not as a translation. It sounds plausible, though.
Dwaling: as unexplainable as its German counterpart Nachtschatten. It does look like a foundation by Dwarves (Dwalin-ings?), or „it might represent a variant of 'dwelling'." (Contribution to the Tolklang list) Carroux connected the name to English dwale, "deadly nightshade, belladonna" (cf. Belladonna Took!), of which Nachtschatten (actually Nachtschattengewächs) was found as the literal translation. Dwaling, the refuge of Shire dopes? But maybe the answer is much more straightforward. In Dutch, a language that Tolkien had some familiarity with, dwaling means „error“.
Frogmorton: "This is not an actual English place-name; but it has the same element as in Frogmore (Buckinghamshire): frog + moor + town. ... It may be translated." (GN) Froschmoorstetten is plausible; -stetten is an extinct variant on Stätte, "place", which survived only in place-names.
Girdley Island: apparently, Tolkien assumes that the element –ey in Girdley became obscured (see Rushey) and was redoubled with Island. German Gürtelinsel does not reflect this history. A conceivable alternative might have been something like Insel Gürtlau, imitating real place-names such as Insel Mainau.
the Marish: "An old form of English marsh. Translate (using if possible a word or form that is understood but local or out of date)." (GN) Der Bruch obeys this advise.
Overbourn Marshes: Literally as Oberbronnmarschen. Convincing and credible.
Rushey "'Rush-isle'; in origin a
'hard' among the fens of the Marish. The element -ey, y in the
sense 'small island' ... is very frequent in English place names. The
German equivalent is Aue 'river-side land, water-meadow',
which would not be unsuitable in this case." (GN)
This may the origin of the obscure Auenland. But Carroux'
choice Rohrholm is even better: it uses a local Low
German/Scandinavian element –holm, "low island",
found for example in Bornholm, Rungholm. The possible
alternative Binsenholm sounds less well, hence maybe the two
different translations of rush: see Rushock Bog for
which Rohrmoor would have been inappropriate.
"The
spelling Rushy on the published map of the Shire is an error."
(RS)
Scary: "Since it was in a region of caves and rock-holes ... and of a stone-quarry ... it may be supposed to contain English dialectal scar 'rocky cliff'. Leave unchanged except as required by the spelling of the language of translation." (GN) Carroux' Schären germanizes the name successfully. But unfortunately, this is already occupied by the meaning "small island off-shore from Scandinavia" and thus gives an aberrant impression.
Shirebourn: the literal translation should have been Gaubronn; but oriented on the obscure Auenland for Shire the brook became Auenbronn – not bad as a name, but of doubtful support.
Stock: another name not explained by Tolkien. The origin is evidently Old English stoc, "place, outlying farmstead or hamlet, secondary or dependent settlement" which in modern English place-names commonly became Stoke. Carroux retained the name because it looks meaningful. However, in German it means "pole; heap of logs" and thus suggests a place of wood-cutters. This is not so implausible as we are near the Woody End. But it is not what Tolkien had in mind.
Stockbrook: semi-translated as Stockbach, see Stock.
Thistlebrook: translated by its compounds as Distelbach.
Whitfurrows: "whit- being the usual shortening of white ... Similarly Whitwell in the Shire (an actual English place-name). The reference ... is usually to the colour of the soil." (GN) Weißfurchen translates literally.
Willowbottom: following the example of Longbottom, the element -grund was adopted. Hence Weidengrund.
Woodhall: Translated as Waldhof, literally woodstead. Appropriate enough.
Woody End: literally translated as Waldende.
the Yale: Only referenced in LR as "the lowlands of the Yale" (FR): "a region, like 'The Marish', not a particular place of settlement. ..." (RS). On the map, it is written next to an obscure dot which looks like a house, "this must have been a misunderstanding" (RS), perhaps due a spot on the hand-made map. CT felt himself unable to "explain the meaning of The Yale". It occurs as a surname (cf. Yale University), and this "comes from obsolete Welsh *iâl, which means hill-country. Thus a very hobbitish word!" (from private correspondence with me). But Carroux surprisingly translated it as das Luch, like der Bruch (see Marish) signifying "swamp, marsh", so using it not only as a regional name, but one which signifies a territory similar to the Marish - though its location next to the dot was retained. It seems Carroux had informations not accessible to CT?!?
"The element 'buck' should be translated." (GN). Carroux obeyed and produced Bockland.
Brandy Hall: "The whole word in the language of translation, for example Branntwein ... could be used, since the Hall was on the east bank of the river." (GN) Thus Villa Branntwein? Unfortunately, it is more difficult to translate the Hall, burdened with an inflection on English society that has no exact counterpart in German history. Carroux' solution Brandyschloß is terrible. Schloß is a palace - what are we talking about? The Louvre? For the first element, see Brandywine.
Brandywine: "Since this is meant to have been intelligible at that time it should be translated by sense; but a difficulty arises, since it would be desirable that the translation should also be a possible corruption of Baránduin. ... German Branntwein would also do." (GN) As indeed it would! Why Carroux produced the awkward hybrid Brandywein is not rationally explainable: To modern readers drowned in such "fashionable" double-speak, it feels foul.
Bucklebury: "Translate with a name containing the 'buck' element ... + some equivalent of English -bury (Old English burg, a place occupying a defensive position, walled or enclosed; a town. ...)." (GN) When did the Hobbits ever build towns with walls, I wonder? Bockenburg is a doubtful translation because the element -burg implies the presence of a romantic feudal castle.
Crickhollow: "An obsolete element + the known word hollow. The -hollow (a small depression in the ground) can be translated by sense, the crick- retained (in the spelling of the language of translation)." (GN) Carroux obeyed and plausibly produced Krickloch. The obsolete element derives from Gaelic carraig „crag“ (BP), probably translating a word that the early Bucklanders adopted from the Dunlendings.
Hay: also High Hay. "'Hay' is the old word meaning 'hedge'" (TR), it was translated as die Hecke. But see Haysend.
Haysend "Translate as 'hedge's end." (GN) Hagsend with Hag being an ancient word for "hedge" (modern German Hecke) is well enough, though many readers would want to separate it Hag-send. But why then the Hay was not appropriately translated as der Hag remains Carroux' secret.
Newbury: literally as Neuburg, though for the element -burg see Bucklebury.
Standelf: What is this? A "standing Elf"? No – "Standelf means 'stone-quarry' (Old English stan-(ge)delf, surviving in the place-name Stonydelph in Warwickshire)." (RS) One may add Stanfield in Norfolk here (SH). Its translation Steingrube is literal but inconsistent: See Little Delving.
"Translate. March means 'borderland'." (GN) Westmark is proper.
Little Delving: given as Lützelbinge. Lützel- is an extinct counterpart of little that survived only in surnames and place-names while –binge is found as an as ancient expression for "mine, quarry". The translation indeed feels ancient and plausible to the reader. Appropriately, Dwarrowdelf was translated as Zwergenbinge – but why Standelf became Steingrube remains a mystery.
Michel Delving on the White Downs: This was translated as Michelbinge auf den Weißen Höhen. The element Michel- is common to Middle English and Middle High German and therefore was plausibly retained. But the stupefying expression Downs for a feature rising upwards has no equivalent in the German language: Höhen is linguistically (though not geologically) appropriate enough.