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THE WITCHER ADVENTURE GAME

Who the hell is this Dandelion?

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Shmelekrabe

Rookie
#1
Who the hell is this Dandelion?

There is something that I can't figure out in The Witcher. There is a guy named Лютик (Lyutik) in Russian version of the game. In Polish version he is called Jaskier. Both of this names are translated into english as Buttercup, but in English version his name sounds like Dandelion. Can anyone explain me what the hell is going on with this translations?

 
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dragonbird

Ex-moderator
#2
In English, the name "Buttercup" is fairly frivolous and exclusively female, with associations such as the Powerpuff Girls, Princess Buttercup in the Princess Bride, and the kind of fairy that looks like this...


It's also a name often given to female animals such as cows.

I believe that CDPR thought that it might not really work for Jaskier.
 
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Jimbob_2.1

Rookie
#3
Yeah, Dandelion fits better I think. Even that makes him sound feminine, (but he was never supposed to be an alpha male I guess) but buttercup? You don't call a male character buttercup. If I read that I would think it was a dodgy translation. To most people who speak English as a first language (or know it very well) it sounds completely absurd for the reasons @Dragonbird gave.
 
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GuyNwah

Ex-moderator
#7
I suppose they were determined to do a translation, and "Dandelion" is a good, though not literal, choice. Remember that in translation you are attempting to convey the experience bound up in the language, not the language itself. And in English, "Dandelion" is right on more than one count. A dandelion is a vagrant weed, its seeds blow wherever the wind takes them; a Dandy Lion is a finely dressed adventurer, all roar and no bite. And finally, "golden lad" is its name in Warwickshire dialect [Shakespeare]


["Dandelion Music", Piano Central Studios, Greenville, S.C.]
 
wichat

wichat

Mentor
#8
Then Dandelion has the same or similar meaning that Jaskier has in Polish?

I can understand the translation of a proper name when its meaning is linked to the story or the author's intentions.. e,g. Margarita = Daisy if this type of flowers has a kind of role in the story.
 
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TemerianGirl

TemerianGirl

Mentor
#11
Jeromen said:
Why did russian interpreters renamed Ves as Bianca? :crazy:

Click to expand...

Because Ves in russian means "Weight". It would be rude to call woman a Weight. Interesting why they call her Bianca instead. Probably because of Bianca from Dragon Age 2. To make a reference. But I'm not 100% sure.

And let's get back to Dandy now.
 
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DonSwingKing

Rookie
#15
In the german version he is named "Rittersporn", which is the name of the Delphinium flower. But "Ritter" also means Knight and "Sporn" means spur in context of riding horses. To give a horse spurs in german means to drive the horse or spur the horse.

 
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Sephira

Sephira

Mentor
#16
Guy N'wah said:
Remember that in translation you are attempting to convey the experience bound up in the language, not the language itself.
Click to expand...
:yes I agree, that's the difference between a rough translation and a proper one. Experience + accuracy.

By the way it's translated as Ranuncolo in italian, which is the literal translation from Jaskier. On a side note, Ranunculus is the "original" name of the flower (following Linnaeus classification system).
 
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GuyNwah

Ex-moderator
#17
Good question. Ves, Vesna is a South Slavic name; I don't know whether it's current in Russian, but its literal meaning, "spring", is the same. Maybe it didn't resonate with anything in the translator's thinking.

---------- Updated at 11:14 AM ----------

SephiraV said:
:yes I agree, that's the difference between a rough translation and a proper one. Experience + accuracy.

By the way it's translated as Ranuncolo in italian, which is the literal translation from Jaskier. On a side note, Ranunculus is the "original" name of the flower (following Linnaeus classification system).
Click to expand...

Also "ranunculus" to English-speaking gardeners; "buttercup" is used mostly for the wildflower.
Buttercup


Ranunculus

(Carlsbad Flower Fields: The Frazee family of Carlsbad, California grows 50 acres (20 ha) of garden ranunculus. Quite a show in March and April.)
 
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Sephira

Sephira

Mentor
#19
About changing/translating names, now I remember another thing from the italian translation, I noticed that our translator, Raffaella Belletti, translated Iskra as Scintilla (Spark in italian) in Time of Contempt, then she went back to Iskra in Baptism of Fire and Tower of the Swallow.

Anyway, back to Dandelion, there's no italian translation in the games, he is still called Dandelion, I understand that since the first game came out before the books were published in Italy, and then it is always been "Dandelion" and "witcher" in the games, to follow the game continuity.
I wonder if it's the same case in other languages, out of curiosity.
 

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