BeoWorf - The Restored Klingon Edition
I have a class at uni this year that’s all about conlangs, i.e. constructed languages. We’ve had some presentations on Tengwar, the writing system developed by JRR Tolkien for his Elvish languages, on the dialects and historical development of Valyrian from the Song of Ice and Fire/Game of Thrones universe, and much more. For a final paper, we were told we can write on pretty much anything: the syntax of Sindarin, how language is used in GoT to unite and other characters from each other and the audience, was Esperanto doomed to fail?, we could even invent a writing system or grammar for a made-up language of our own.
I was really unsure what I wanted to do for a long time. I love Tolkien’s languages and can still read the writing fluently, but it’s been a few years since I was really obsessed. I wasn’t sure if I could find any aspect I could focus on enough to devote a whole term paper to. And then one day, inspiration struck me while I was taking a shower (minutes after reading about why it is that inspiration so often strikes us when we are on walks or in the shower):
I can translate a small section of Beowulf into Klingon and write about the process of that! And thus, the idea for BeoWorf was born! (Pun courtesy of the inimitable @regionalpancake)
Now, fan translations of classic works into Klingon have a storied history. In Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, Chancellor Gorkon says that “you have never experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon.” Going off of that, the Klingon Language Institute has created “restored versions” of e.g. the original Tragedy of Khamlet, Son of the Emperor of Qo'nos by famous Klingon playwright Wil'yam Shex'pir.
I’m not nearly this ambitious, of course! My knowledge of Klingon is severely limited and the professor teaching the class couldn’t remember whether Klingon belonged into Star Wars or Star Trek. So, the actual academic work won’t be in the translation itself, but in documenting the process leading up to it.
I expect the Klingon text I come up with in the end won’t meet the standards of the dedicated translators who have devoted a lot of time and passion to this fictional language. But the point of this exercise isn’t to create a flawless translation of (a very small part of) Beowulf. The point is to have a term paper topic so thoroughly entertaining (and close to fandom shitposting) that I will actually sit myself down and write it. And to have fun. I feel like after the year+ we’ve all had, there is a lot of value in making the things you have to do as fun as possible.
So, without further ado: An Outline For A Possible Term Paper!
BeoWorf - It’s better in the Original Klingon
Introduction "You've not experienced Shakespeare until you have read it in the original Klingon." (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
Ch 1: Klingon - A History
who are the Klingons in Star Trek?
origins of the Klingon language
fandom engagement with the language and fannish translation projects
Ch 2: Klingon - Grammar and Challenges
an overview of remarkable features of the Klingon language
including a brief note on how they innovate or fail to innovate on standard conlang fair
Ch 3: Klingon Poetics
Are there rules for writing poetry in Klingon?
How do e.g. the writers of the Klingon Shakespeare projects handle it?
What approach do I want to take, considering my translation is a representation of ancient epic poetry as opposed to not-quite-as-ancient theatre?
Ch 4: Klingon Warriors and Monsters
most translation projects of Klingon don't just translate, they localize (i.e. adapt the text to a target culture), following the premise that they’re recreating a Klingon original text
Klingon was created for a science-fiction warrior culture, therefore Beoworf and his companions travel on spaceships to the head of a neighbouring house and fight the monsters plaguing him with bat'leths and phasers.
depending on how much space I have: go into more or less detail of how aspects of Beowulf (from surface level practicalities to concepts of retainership and loyalty) would map onto the fictional Klingon culture
Ch 5: Beoworf, An Annotated Translation
translation of a very limited section of Beowulf into Klingon-localized modern English, and translation of that into Klingon
detailed annotation of interesting grammatical aspects
(Yes, whatever I end up with will go on AO3, but only after I have handed in the paper and it has been run through the department’s plagiarism check. I’m not 100% certain how those things work and what they would or wouldn’t catch, but I’m not going to run the risk of having to explain to half a dozen people at my university why my term paper (or even parts of my term paper) are posted online next to angsty starship drabbles, rousing tales of maniacal space roombas, and something called “IKEA Intergalactic” XD)
(And now I shall stop procrastinating by making tumblr posts about this thing. Because I need to give a presentation on it this week. And so far, I have nothing 🙈😅)