# Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows



## Beobachter

There are already threads regarding possible translations of this just-announced title in three other forums (General Vocabulary/Vocabulario General, French-English, and Italian-English). There is worldwide interest in possible translations into other languages as well, and so I have put a thread here in case anyone would like to post suggested translations.


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## jester.

Wow,  didn't even know that there was already a title for the new HP. I must say that I can hardly weit to read the last book. 

So, let's see...

The title seems a bit weird to me. I cannot really imagine what a "deathly hallow" is supposed to be. Unfortunately I can't find a dictionary that includes "hallow" as a noun. Neither WR nor MW includes it. They only include a verb "hallow" which means something like venerate, bless, sanctify.

Is "hallow" as a noun supposed to mean "saint"? If so, I could provide you with a literal German translation, although, as I have already said, the title seems a bit strange to me.


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## Beobachter

Here are some excerpts from the Oxford English Dictionary definitions of "hallow":

_[noun, 1]_
*1.* A holy personage, a SAINT. (Little used after 1500...) 
*2.* In _pl._ applied to the shrines or relics of saints; the gods of the heathen or their shrines.

_[verb, 1]_
*1.* _trans._ To make holy; to sanctify, purify. 
*2.* To consecrate, set apart (a person or thing) as sacred to God; to dedicate to some sacred or religious use or office; to bless a thing so that it may be under the particular protection of a deity, or possess divine virtue. _arch._


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## jester.

Ok, then my proposal is:

_Harry Potter und die todbringenden Heiligen

_I think it is very likely that the real German title will be very similar to this. All the other titles were translated quite literally.


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## Beobachter

How about _Heiligtümer_?


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## jester.

Beobachter said:


> How about _Heiligtümer_?



I think that would also be possible.


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## PianoMan

I could be wrong, but I've heard "hallows" used as a small forest or woods, by a neighborhood.  Like the famous literary town Sleepy Hallow.  That's what I think J.K. Rowling's referring to, a location.


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## User1001

For Dutch, I'd say *Harry Potter en de dodelijk heiligen*.


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## jester.

PianoMan said:


> I could be wrong, but I've heard "hallows" used as a small forest or woods, by a neighborhood.  Like the famous literary town Sleepy Hallow.  That's what I think J.K. Rowling's referring to, a location.



But that is not what the definition says.

The literary town is called Sleepy H*o*llow, as far as I know. So maybe you heard that and not h*a*llow.


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## jazyk

My attempt in Portuguese:

Harry Potter e os Santos Mortais/Assassinos (but I'm not sure)


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## Chazzwozzer

Hmmm... Here's my attemp in Turkish:
*
Harry Potter ve Öldürücü Kutsayışlar*


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## Beobachter

Chazzwozzer said:


> Hmmm... Here's my attemp in Turkish:
> 
> *Harry Potter ve Öldürücü Kutsayışlar*


 
Other suggestions that have been made at the HP fan sites include:

*Harry Potter ve Ölümcül Takdisler*

and

*Harry Potter ve Ölümcül Kutsallar*


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## Beobachter

tspier2 said:


> For Dutch, I'd say *Harry Potter en de dodelijk heiligen*.


 

The Dutch publisher is using as a working title *Harry Potter en het Fatale Heiligdom. *I assume that "Heiligdom" is the cognate of the German "Heiligtum," but I don't understand why the singular form is being used.

Would "doodse Heiligdom" work?


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## Beobachter

jazyk said:


> My attempt in Portuguese:
> 
> Harry Potter e os Santos Mortais/Assassinos (but I'm not sure)


 
At the HP fan sites you can find:

*Harry Potter e as Relíquias Mortais*

although it was also suggested that "mortíferos" is preferable to "mortais."


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## Beobachter

For reference, I should give links to related threads on the other forums here:


General Vocabulary/Vocabulario General: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=332771

French-English: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=332725

Italian-English: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=333398


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## elroy

My proposed translation into Arabic: هاري بوتر والقديسون القاتلون


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## Thomas1

In Polish I'd go for:
_Harry Potter i Śmiertelni Święci_

This is a literal translation from English.


Tom


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## Beobachter

Thomas1 said:


> In Polish I'd go for:
> _Harry Potter i Śmiertelni Święci_
> 
> This is a literal translation from English.
> 
> 
> Tom


 
Another proposal on the fan sites was *Harry Potter i Śmiertelni Relikwie*
*Harry Potter i Śmiertelne Relikwie*

_(corrected as per Post #22)_


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## Etcetera

I didn't think how to translate the title myself (and anyway, I'm not going to read the book in Russian, only in English! I've had enough of those awful "translations"!), but the most popular proposal on fan sites is Гарри Поттер и смертельные реликвии.
Almost the same as in Polish.


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## Lillita

The Hungarian title would be:
_*Harry Potter és a halálos szentek*_​


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## ameana7

Chazzwozzer said:


> Hmmm... Here's my attemp in Turkish:
> 
> *Harry Potter ve Öldürücü Kutsayışlar*


 

I think "ölümcül" is better in this case.


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## Thomas1

Beobachter said:


> Another proposal on the fan sites was *Harry Potter i Śmiertelne Relikwie*


With one correction. 
Yes, this is another possibility. It renders the second meaning you gave in your post, I don't know which one would be better as this can be deduced from the book's content. It is also possible that we (as well as other countries) will have completely different title. 


Tom


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## Beobachter

Thomas1 said:


> With one correction.
> 
> 
> Tom


 
Thanks; I have corrected my post.


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## Beobachter

jester. said:


> Ok, then my proposal is:
> 
> _Harry Potter und die todbringenden Heiligen_


 
In English "deathly" can mean "fatal," but also "of, relating to, or suggestive of death." Would "todbringend" be appropriate for the second definition? If not, could one construct a combined form with "Toten-" and "Heiligtum"?


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## Kael

I'm not quite sure how to transalate 'Deathly Hallows' into Latin, but my try is:

Harri potter et Mortuferus Sanctos

Which is someting like, "Harry Potter and the Fatal/Deadly Hallows." 

Note: Sanctos comes from the verb [sancio, sancire, sanxi, sanctum,] meaning to concecrate, hallow, ratify, decree.


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## jester.

Beobachter said:


> In English "deathly" can mean "fatal," but also "of, relating to, or suggestive of death." Would "todbringend" be appropriate for the second definition? If not, could one construct a combined form with "Toten-" and "Heiligtum"?



I think it would be possible to say "Harry Potter und das Heiligutm des Todes" although I have the feeling that this is already a very free translation.


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## jazyk

> Harri potter et Mortuferus Sanctos


Better: Harry Potter et Mortiferi Sancti (I don't know if they have Latinized Harry Potter, though. According to some books, it's Harrius Potter.)


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## Chazzwozzer

ameana7 said:


> I think "ölümcül" is better in this case.


Agreed.

*Kutsayışlar* somehow feels uncomfortable there, though.


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## Wyatt_BCN

In Spanish it could be: Harry Potter y las reliquias/santos mortales.
Catalan: Harry Potter i les relíquies/sants mortals.
Galician: Harry Potter e as/os reliquias/santos mortais. 

Where do you read this title though? :S


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## jaxineau

Chinese
哈利波特與致命神靈
or
哈利波特與奪命聖靈


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## jun

Korean: 해리 포터와 죽음의 성도

해리: Harry 
포터: Potter
와: and
죽음의: deathly
성도: hallows


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## cycloneviv

By the way, there has been discussion about the title in the English Only forum as well. We don't know which meaning of "hallows" is being referred to either!

http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=529055


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## Etcetera

jazyk said:


> Better: Harry Potter et Mortiferi Sancti (I don't know if they have Latinized Harry Potter, though. According to some books, it's Harrius Potter.)


Yes, it's Harrius.


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## deine

Lithuanian:

"Haris Poteris ir pražūtingos relikvijos"

_pražūtingos relikvijos_ means (more or less) ruinous reliquiae


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## suslik

In Estonian it would be: "Harry Potter ja surmapühitsused"


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## noncasper

In Vietnamese:
Harry Potter và những thánh tích (chết chóc/đoạt mệnh)


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## Nizo

In the English version of Wikipedia, there's an interesting note about the difficulty of translating this title, since author J.K. Rowling has declined to explain the meaning prior to the release of the book. Based on what I've read, I'd translate the title into Esperanto as _Hari Poter kaj la Mortigaj Relikvoj_.


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