A' Hobat: Professor translates The Hobbit into Gaelic
'Enjoyment of reading is of tremendous importance on many levels when it comes to the esteem and status of a language,' he said.
'Being able to select from a wide range of engaging texts is also extremely important when learning a language or when making the decision to dig in and make that long, sustained extra effort necessary to go from competence in a language to mastery.
'I've read the book in at least nine languages so far. Whenever I learn a new language now, I always check to see if there is a translation of The Hobbit. If there is, I buy it.
"That way, I can read a novel early on in the learning process, because I already know the story very well at this point.
'Every single time I read it, in every single language, I get to experience the deep, rich joy of discovering Tolkien's world.'
Photograph of Prof. J. R. R. Tolkien, author of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings Pictured in Oxford, 1972 (Image: NQ) The Gaelic translation, supported by the Gaelic Books Council, joins a growing list of languages allowing new engagement with the classic story the world over, including Hawaiian, Esperanto, Breton and Yiddish.
Professor Watson is Director of Ionad Eòghainn MhicLachlainn: the National Centre for Gaelic Translation, which exists specifically to support the translation of literature into Gaelic.
He also teaches on the MSc in Translation at the University of Aberdeen, which is currently the only institution worldwide which offers a translation degree in Gaelic to that level.
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The book includes all the drawings by the author and Professor Watson says it was a pleasure and privilege to delve deeply into the maps, runes and illustrations when triple-checking translations before publication.
'It's no wonder people fell in love with this book, and continue to do so nearly 90 years after it was first published,' he added.
'I'm very lucky to have had the chance to work with it and I hope that people enjoy it.'
Professor Watson is also completing a Gaelic translation of H. G. Wells's The Time Machine, which includes an academic essay on how elements of translation theory can help the translator work through some of the trickier parts of a text.
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If you know someone who deserves an obituary, please consider telling us about their lives. Contact
