The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt: How Localizers Translated Names

Today we again have a gaming theme. Let's talk about the game "The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt." The game itself is great, one of the best in its genre. She has collected many awards and millions of enthusiastic fans.



But let's talk not about the game itself, but about its localizations. More specifically, how the names of heroes and various names in the game world were translated in different localizations. Ready? Then stir, Roach!

So what's up with the localization of The Witcher?

The adaptation of names and names is an important part of the localization of the game world. Especially as huge as The Witcher. The difficulty is that some names can be “speaking” and reveal the character’s character more deeply, and the names of monsters, for example, can be very different in the mythologies of different countries.

It is interesting that the world of the third “The Witcher” is many times wider than even in the original works of Andrzej Sapkowski.

In total, the game has more than 1200 names, names of monsters, elements of equipment and the surrounding world. And many of them have no direct analogues in different languages, so the localizers had to be quite tight.

Noteworthy is even the origin of the word "witcher".

The author took it from Slavic mythology. But the meaning of this word was somewhat different. The Witchers were called a person associated with the devil, who is capable of harming people with his thoughts and actions, sending diseases, spoiling livestock and so on. By the way, the hidden references to the original meaning of the word are often given by the villagers who speak with the main character.

But in Western mythology there was not even an equivalent to the word "witcher". “Witcher” is an artificially created name that in the Western market is associated only with the game series, without mythological implications.

That is why when releasing the first game, the publishers had to further explain who this witcher is, because a series of books by Sapkowski did not yet gain worldwide popularity.

The Russian and English versions of the game are quite different. The original is English localization. But the localizers of the Russian version widely used Polish as the source - the original language of books and creators of the game, so in some places the translation more accurately conveys the meaning of names and titles.

Now a little more tediousness - and immediately move on to the most interesting.

When localizing names and titles, two groups of translation techniques are used:

• Direct translation. It includes transcription, transliteration, tracing, Pomorphic translation and the search for the full dictionary equivalent. That is, the translation without any re-duplication.
• Transforming translation. If the direct translation did not work, then the name is localized using various lexical and semantic substitutions: they specify, generalize, change the components, remove them or add them. And all that sort of thing.

The first way is simpler, but the second is more interesting. We will disassemble both.

Analysis of the translation of names in the world of The Witcher 3

We will compare the English and Russian localizations with references to the Polish book original (if any). In a couple of cases we mention German versions of words.

Heroes and heroines

Let's start with the names of the main characters. According to the unwritten rules of localizers, the names of the main characters are translated directly, with rare exceptions, if they contain a special subtext.





All these names were found in books, so the developers essentially copied the book correspondences, and the translators themselves used a direct translation. Directly boring or something.



But the name of the bard of Buttercup is worth dwelling in more detail. Indeed, in the English version it is Dandelion (English dandelion), and in the German version it is Rittersporn (German liveliness). All these transformations are also taken from books, so the creators of the game did not have any special options.

It is worth mentioning that in the Polish original book the bard was called Jaskier (pl. Buttercup). So the Russian version is the most accurate.

It is difficult to imagine what the translators were guided by, adapting the name in this way, but, in our opinion, all options more or less accurately reflect the character of the bard.

Most names are translated by transcription, transliteration, or tracing. And this is understandable - there is no need to invent a bicycle.

But there are exceptions. As examples, we will choose three minor characters.

Bianca, a warrior of the Blue stripes and a pretty girl with whom in the second part the Witcher Geralt had the opportunity to get to know each other better. But here is a surprise - in all other localizations it bears the name Ves. It is clear that in the third part of the franchise it was too late to change the character’s name, but why exactly “Bianca” remains a mystery.

Ivasik, the leggings guarding the swamps. In the Polish original, his name was Janek, which is the equivalent of Russian Ivan or English John. Localizers made a good decision to adapt the name - and Ivasik suits the creature perfectly, if we take into account that it looks like a child.

Vitold von Eveerek, a nobleman. In English, it bears the name Vlodimir, but when translating into Russian, the localizers decided not to translate it directly. “Vladimir” sounds too simple and in Russian - still a very common name. Not to match a nobleman. Therefore, Vladimir became Vitold.

If everything is clear with human names, then with the names of monsters everything is complicated.

Monsters and creatures

For mythological creatures, which for the most part are monsters from The Witcher, you need to find a match. Or, if it is not, convey the name with the same meaning.

Authentic characters and creatures from Slavic mythology seemed especially difficult for English localization. In some cases, there are almost complete correspondences that convey most of the meanings.

For example, boletus and spriggan. Borovik is a character of Slavic mythology, the younger spirit and guardian of the forest, subordinate to the devil. He is portrayed as a humanoid whose limbs are covered with bark and moss, and tenacious branches instead of fingers.

Spriggans, in turn, have a completely similar description. Unless they also add wood horns. But this character is already authentic Cornish mythology (a region in the southwest of England). That is, we have two almost identical mythological creatures from different mythologies. What a luck!

But so lucky only in rare cases. Most often, with the transfer of unique creatures you have to suffer.

In the line of quests with the Blood Baron is Igosha - a monster from Slavic mythology, the spirit of a stillborn baby or a child who died before baptism.

A roughly similar creature is in Scandinavian mythology - Utbourd. But in a specific case, no selection of an analogue was suitable, because in the framework of a series of quests, the origin of igoshi and the ways to remove the curse were explained in detail.

English locators had to get out. “Igosha” was replaced by “Botchling,” which in Russian means “physically or mentally underdeveloped child.” The word is quite rare and pretty good conveys the meaning, albeit not completely. Localizers got out - and with dignity.

However, punctures also occurred in adaptations. For example, kurolisk and cocatrix are two equivalent names for the same mythological monster. It was only in the first part of the saga that he bore the name "Cocatrix" - the hunt for him was a quest from the main chain, so it was impossible to miss - and in the third part of The Witcher, he suddenly became a "kurolisk", which also needed to be cut the quest. Obviously, kurolisk developers do not like.

There was a discrepancy due to the characteristics of different localizations. Names of creatures from the first "The Witcher" adapted into Russian from English, and there he is "Cockatrices". The third part was translated from Polish - there the creature is called "Kuroliszek".

The most interesting thing was the name of the monsters that were invented by Andrzej Sapkowski or the creators of the game.



There is such a creature - the carapace of the big-eyed. In mythology, he does not occur, lives only in the universe of The Witcher. They translated it, apparently looking back at the appearance. Indeed, in English, he became Arachasae (spider), and in German he completely turned into Krabbspinnen (crabopauk).

In our opinion, the Russian version, although it does not refer to the appearance of the monster, but it is more harmonious than the English and German localizations.

Books and assignments

Translation of the names of books and quests does not require high accuracy in the wording. The main thing is that it conveys the meaning and style of the phrase.

For localizers, this task is simpler than Igosha, but here there are some peculiarities, because in quests and books there are many references to cross-connections with the world of The Witcher and beyond.

For example, the job title “Veni Vidi Vigo” was left without translation, because this is an obvious reference to Julius Caesar’s phrase “Veni Vidi Vici” (He came, saw, won) with the last word changed. Vigo in this context is the name of the character Fringilla Vigo.

Another example in the title of the quest "Something ends, something begins." Sapkowski has a story with exactly the same name. I am glad that both Russian and English localizers understood this and used the book version of the translation of the phrase.

And another example: the quest "Tristian and Isidore", which very clearly hints at the medieval work "Tristan and Isolde." All localizers also coped with this “task”.

Inaccuracies also occur. This time in the German version. For the Little Red Riding Hood mission, for some reason they were unable to trace the reference to the famous fairy tale. The joke is that the Grimm brothers, who recorded one of the most famous versions of the tale, were Germans.

In German localization, the quest was given the neutral name "Kleinrot".



Sometimes localizers allowed in the names of quests too loose translation. The mission "Dead Man's Party" in Russian suddenly became "And I was there, drank honey beer." Although both names are colorful in their own way.

But it is worth mentioning that after all, most quests and book titles are translated directly, without using any transformations.

For example, books in Elven unexpectedly remained in Elven. Is that to the name in different localizations changed articles. You can compare:

• Russian - “Aen Seidhe and Aen Elle”
• English - “The Aen Seidhe and the Aen Elle”
• German - "Die Aen Seidhe und die Aen Elle"

In some cases, localizers had to use a translation that was close in meaning, which did not fully reflect the subtext. “Contract: Loosey this Goosey!” Was translated as “Order: An excited goose.”

Loosey-goosey is a phraseology that means “cheeky; one that does not meet social standards. ” Apparently, it was simply not possible to save the full meaning of the wordplay in the context of a short phrase.

Also, the names of books often use the technique of lexical imitation, when localizers try to convey the local flavor through the name. For example, “The Merry Adventures of Muriel, the Beautiful Beast, equipped with funny engravings” or “Letter to Kozma Kirill”. This is already a solution to support atmospheric atmospheres - and it works great.

***



In general, localizers did a great job. Dialogues alone for 200 hours of voice acting. And how many texts had to be translated in total, it’s even scary to imagine.

And the result can be called magnificent. The world of The Witcher turned out to be bright, unusual, authentic, with its secrets and jokes.

Play and enjoy whichever language you choose.

And finally, here’s another masterpiece from Russian localizers - the monologue of the Blood Baron:

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