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26 The Linguist Vol/54 No/2 2015 www.ciol.org.uk FEATURES difference is the order of the half-lines, parts of which are re-arranged to accommodate the rhyme. however, this only enhances the meaning, as in dreper latter, liv utsletter ('kills laughter, ends life'), which is more intuitive than 'ends life, kills laughter'. 6 Both translations of the sixth riddle closely follow the original. the only major change is the addition of glaub es mir! ('believe me!') at the end of the German, which makes it sound more conversational. 7 Interestingly, the english version of riddle 7 does not contain a single verb. however, the German translation has a verb in each clause. the difference is striking: 'Alive without breath' becomes Atemlos lebt es ('It lives without breath'); 'As cold as death' becomes kalt wie der Tod schwebt es ('As cold as death it floats'). the dynamic words give the German a narrative feel in complete contrast to the original, whose language deliberately conveys timelessness. Significant differences with the original are also present in the Norwegian. As well as containing verbs, it changes the order of the lines to create a consistent rhythm, as in: Er i live, puster ikke,/aldri tørst, må alltid drikke ('It lives, but breathes not,/never thirsty, must always drink'). 8 In the eighth riddle, both translations resemble the original inasmuch as they use compound nouns based on the suffix -leg, e.g, 'No-legs' (en), Keinbein (Ger) and ingeben (Nor). 9 the German translation of the last riddle differs from the original both grammatically and lexically. It creates its own rhythmic pattern using alliteration, for example by repeatedly using verbs beginning with zer- (zermalmt, zerbeißt, zerbricht). these verbs were clearly chosen not only for their alliterative value, but also for their inherent meaning of destruction, so 'Grinds hard stones to meal' becomes zerbeißt jedes Schwert, zerbricht jeden Schrein ('crushes every sword, breaks every box'). the Norwegian largely retains the structure of the original, but paraphrases the first two lines as a question: Hva sluker alt som du kan se,/trær og blomster, fugl og fe?; 'What swallows up everything that you can see,/trees and flowers, birds and animals?'. In conclusion, both translations reflect the Anglo-Saxon influence that shaped the original riddles. however, each one achieves this in its own unique way. the German translator is not concerned with replicating the exact structure of the original, which would be impossible due to the considerable syntactic differences between the languages. Instead, he focuses on conveying the essence of the riddles through his own fairytale-inspired style. the Norwegian translation, on the other hand, is remarkably faithful to the original. this can be attributed both to the relative similarities between english and Norwegian syntax, and to the translator's understated, economical style, which is very similar to tolkien's own. The verbs were chosen not only for their alliterative value but also for their inherent meaning of destruction FAIRYTALE: A hobbit house on the set of the Warner Bros film (below and bottom) 'h oBBIt houSe FroMLord oF the rINGS', MIchAeL MAttI, 17/5/12 VIA FLIckr (cc BY-Nc 2.0); treY rAtcLIFF, 19/11/13 VIA FLIckr (cc BY-Nc-SA 2.0)