The person behind the first translation into Welsh of one of the great classic adventure stories is sharing the secrets of how he did it at Morriston Library on Saturday, March 22.
Adam Pearce will be talking about how he translated JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit into Welsh for the first time at two events – one in Welsh, the other in English at 1pm and 2pm, respectively.
Translated as Yr Hobyd, The Hobbit tells of the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Middle Earth, dragons, treasure and a ring of gold and Adam Pearce brings it all to life through the medium of Welsh.
To go along to the event on Saturday, you must book free tickets by calling 01792 516770 or by emailing Morriston.library@swansea.gov.uk
Elliott King, Cabinet Member for Culture and Equalities, said: “Any fan of a book that was already legendary before the amazing films brought it to an even wider audience, will want to find out more about how Adam translated The Hobbit into Welsh.
“The Hobbit has already been translated into many languages, from Dutch and Latin to Esperanto and Faroese, but never into Welsh. So to have Adam at one of our libraries discussing how and why he did it, is quite a coup.”
Adam has previously translated H.G. Wells into Welsh and works by T. Gwynn Jones and Daniel Owen from Welsh into English.
His translation of The Hobbit has been prepared in accordance with J.R.R. Tolkien’s own instructions for translators of his work and officially licenced by the Tolkien Estate.
Included are J.R.R. Tolkien’s original illustrations and new Welsh versions of the two maps featured in the original novel.
