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The Lord of the Rings in Translation
©2026, John E. McLaughlin. Last updated 4 April 2026nuwitaivottsi@yahoo.com
4 April 2026: This update represents a rearrangement of pages to make reference simpler. Instead of pages labelled by the title of LOTR in the language represented on the page, which resulted in multiple pages for some languages, the pages are labelled by language name. A new alphabetic listing of languages and thumbnails of all the volumes represented in those languages can be found on the pages in the Language Index section. The languages are ordered by language family and the language families are ordered (roughly) from west to east from the Germanic languages of the Indo-European family across the Eurasian continent to the languages of the Austronesian family and ending with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Over the next few months, I'll be updating all the other pages (Cover Art, etc.). If you can't find a page that you are familiar with, send me an email at nuwitaivottsi@yahoo.com and I'll either point you to the new page or fix the problem.
4 April 2026: This update represents a rearrangement of pages to make reference simpler. Instead of pages labelled by the title of LOTR in the language represented on the page, which resulted in multiple pages for some languages, the pages are labelled by language name. A new alphabetic listing of languages and thumbnails of all the volumes represented in those languages can be found on the pages in the Language Index section. The languages are ordered by language family and the language families are ordered (roughly) from west to east from the Germanic languages of the Indo-European family across the Eurasian continent to the languages of the Austronesian family and ending with Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Over the next few months, I'll be updating all the other pages (Cover Art, etc.). If you can't find a page that you are familiar with, send me an email at nuwitaivottsi@yahoo.com and I'll either point you to the new page or fix the problem.
In the fall of 1967, as I was starting the 7th grade, I was on a Boy Scout campout as my scout master began telling the story of a book he had read about a strange folk called hobbits and a magic ring. There were dwarves, trolls, wizards, and a dragon woven into a tale that seemed more realistic than any fantasy novel I had ever read or even heard about to that time. On the following Monday I went to the local drug store to buy a copy with my allowance. (In the dark ages before Amazon, in small towns you bought books on a wire rack or small book shelf display at the local drug store. You only got what was there.) With four paperbacks in my bag, the journey of a lifetime had begun. Those four paperbacks fell apart after multiple readings before the turn of the millennium. (Many of you who first encountered LOTR in those years will recognize the distinctive Barbara Remington covers of the first US paperbacks from Ballantine above.) I replaced them with a good one-volume hardback in L.A. in 1992 (English A), but I didn't imagine collecting them at that time. It was simply a good reliable friend sitting in a place of honor on my bookshelf.
In the fall of 1967, as I was starting the 7th grade, I was on a Boy Scout campout as my scout master began telling the story of a book he had read about a strange folk called hobbits and a magic ring. There were dwarves, trolls, wizards, and a dragon woven into a tale that seemed more realistic than any fantasy novel I had ever read or even heard about to that time. On the following Monday I went to the local drug store to buy a copy with my allowance. (In the dark ages before Amazon, in small towns you bought books on a wire rack or small book shelf display at the local drug store. You only got what was there.) With four paperbacks in my bag, the journey of a lifetime had begun. Those four paperbacks fell apart after multiple readings before the turn of the millennium. (Many of you who first encountered LOTR in those years will recognize the distinctive Barbara Remington covers of the first US paperbacks from Ballantine above.) I replaced them with a good one-volume hardback in L.A. in 1992 (English A), but I didn't imagine collecting them at that time. It was simply a good reliable friend sitting in a place of honor on my bookshelf.
My collection of LOTR in translation began inadvertently in 2005 in Kecskemét, Hungary at a bookstore where I saw a one-volume copy of A Gyűrűk Ura for sale and decided that it would be a great souvenir of my trip. Later, on another leg of the trip in Poznań, Poland, I picked up my first copy of Władca Pierścieni at a small bookstore on the old city square. That was how it began, thinking that I would collect translations into the local languages from the places I had visited.
My collection of LOTR in translation began inadvertently in 2005 in Kecskemét, Hungary at a bookstore where I saw a one-volume copy of A Gyűrűk Ura for sale and decided that it would be a great souvenir of my trip. Later, on another leg of the trip in Poznań, Poland, I picked up my first copy of Władca Pierścieni at a small bookstore on the old city square. That was how it began, thinking that I would collect translations into the local languages from the places I had visited.
In the spring of 2008, I was in the last months of a Fulbright Fellowship in Ukraine and bought a copy of Володар Перстенів in a large bookstore south of Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv. In the fall of that year I returned to Ukraine to accompany my wife back to the U.S. and she had purchased a copy of the Russian Властелин Колец. Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно in Dnipro as a gift. My collection had grown from three to five.
In the spring of 2008, I was in the last months of a Fulbright Fellowship in Ukraine and bought a copy of Володар Перстенів in a large bookstore south of Maidan Nezalezhnosti in Kyiv. In the fall of that year I returned to Ukraine to accompany my wife back to the U.S. and she had purchased a copy of the Russian Властелин Колец. Хоббит, или Туда и Обратно in Dnipro as a gift. My collection had grown from three to five.
Three years later in the summer of 2011 I was in Prague for a conference and added Pán Prstenů to the collection in Palác knih Luxor, a large bookstore on the Václavské náměstí. That was followed in 2013, when my wife was on an overnight layover in Vienna and found a copy of Der Herr der Ringe. (Not being a speaker of German, she had memorized the phrase "Der Herr der Ringe" just for that purpose.) In 2015, my sister-in-law in Antwerp got in on the act and sent me In de Ban van de Ring as a gift. I justified adding this and the German translation as "countries I had visited" because of brief layovers at the airports in Munich and Amsterdam in 2005 and 2008. Five had become eight.
Three years later in the summer of 2011 I was in Prague for a conference and added Pán Prstenů to the collection in Palác knih Luxor, a large bookstore on the Václavské náměstí. That was followed in 2013, when my wife was on an overnight layover in Vienna and found a copy of Der Herr der Ringe. (Not being a speaker of German, she had memorized the phrase "Der Herr der Ringe" just for that purpose.) In 2015, my sister-in-law in Antwerp got in on the act and sent me In de Ban van de Ring as a gift. I justified adding this and the German translation as "countries I had visited" because of brief layovers at the airports in Munich and Amsterdam in 2005 and 2008. Five had become eight.
About this time I discovered the website Elrond's Library (which is no longer active but is archived at the Tolkien Collector's Guide as of April 2023). That's when the spark of collecting turned into a serious flame for collecting translations of LOTR whether I had actually visited the countries or not. The world became my target and not just my limited international travel.
About this time I discovered the website Elrond's Library (which is no longer active but is archived at the Tolkien Collector's Guide as of April 2023). That's when the spark of collecting turned into a serious flame for collecting translations of LOTR whether I had actually visited the countries or not. The world became my target and not just my limited international travel.
John McLaughlin
John McLaughlin
If you're ever in northern Utah and would like to see the collection face-to-face and chat about Tolkien, collecting, or the Indigenous languages of the Great Basin, drop me an email (nuwitaivottsi@yahoo.com) and we'll get together.
If you're ever in northern Utah and would like to see the collection face-to-face and chat about Tolkien, collecting, or the Indigenous languages of the Great Basin, drop me an email (nuwitaivottsi@yahoo.com) and we'll get together.
Before sending you off to explore my site, I must give a note of appreciation to The Tolkien Shop in Leiden, Netherlands. This was the very first international shop that I dealt with on-line, finding the Frisian translation there almost by accident. Rene van Rossenberg, the proprietor, has provided me outstanding service since then including special orders. If you love Tolkien and his life's work, give Rene's website a visit. He has much more than just books in his shop.
Before sending you off to explore my site, I must give a note of appreciation to The Tolkien Shop in Leiden, Netherlands. This was the very first international shop that I dealt with on-line, finding the Frisian translation there almost by accident. Rene van Rossenberg, the proprietor, has provided me outstanding service since then including special orders. If you love Tolkien and his life's work, give Rene's website a visit. He has much more than just books in his shop.
There is one translation of LOTR into a language that I don't own a hard copy of. That is the Esperanto translation, La Mastro de l’ Ringoj, by William Auld. I don't count it because Esperanto is not a natural human language. Hard copies are not often available on the market and when they are they are quite expensive. There's a digital copy of the Esperanto translation (as well as an Esperanto translation of The Hobbit) on the Internet Archive website if you are interested in reading it.
There is one translation of LOTR into a language that I don't own a hard copy of. That is the Esperanto translation, La Mastro de l’ Ringoj, by William Auld. I don't count it because Esperanto is not a natural human language. Hard copies are not often available on the market and when they are they are quite expensive. There's a digital copy of the Esperanto translation (as well as an Esperanto translation of The Hobbit) on the Internet Archive website if you are interested in reading it.
If, however, an edition of LOTR "in the original Klingon" were to appear...*
If, however, an edition of LOTR "in the original Klingon" were to appear...*
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