Vladimir Sergeyevich Muravyov (russian: Влади́мир Серге́евич Муравьёв; February 12, 1939 in Vitebsk – June 10, 2001 in

Moscow Moscow ( , US chiefly ; rus, links=no, Москва, r=Moskva, p=mɐskˈva, a=Москва.ogg) is the capital and largest city of Russia. The city stands on the Moskva River in Central Russia, with a population estimated at 13.0 million ...

) was a Russian

translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

and

literary critic Literary criticism (or literary studies) is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...

. He was awarded the Inolit Prize for Best Translation in 1987 (''

The Great Pursuit ''The Great Pursuit'' is a 1977 comic novel by Tom Sharpe. It is a satire encompassing commercialism in publishing and literary criticism. Plot introduction The story is a farce about greed in the publishing world, and the struggle between li ...

'' by Tom Sharpe). In 1976 Muravyov published a pioneering Russian article in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

titled "

Tolkien John Ronald Reuel Tolkien (, ; 3 January 1892 – 2 September 1973) was an English writer and philologist. He was the author of the high fantasy works ''The Hobbit'' and ''The Lord of the Rings''. From 1925 to 1945, Tolkien was the Rawlins ...

and Critics". Together with

Andrey Kistyakovsky Andrey Andreyevich Kistyakovsky (russian: Андрей Андреевич Кистяковский, 11 October 1936, Moscow–30 June 1987) was a Russian translator and political activist. He translated belles-lettres and poetry from English to Ru ...

, he made the first official, though partial, Russian translation of ''

The Lord of the Rings ''The Lord of the Rings'' is an epic high-fantasy novel by English author and scholar J. R. R. Tolkien. Set in Middle-earth, intended to be Earth at some time in the distant past, the story began as a sequel to Tolkien's 1937 children's boo ...

'', published in 1982 with an introductory foreword. Muravyov continued the work after Kistyakovsky's death.

Life

Muravyov graduated from the philological faculty of the Moscow State University. He wrote two monographs on

Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...

(1968, 1972) and several articles on modern English-American

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

. He was working in the Soviet Library of Foreign Literature when he started the search for Western reviews of ''The Lord of the Rings''. Muravyov noted the furor the book was causing and began discussing it with a few people.

Translations

The Kistyakovsky-Muravyov translation of '' The Fellowship of the Ring'', which was the sole Russian version until 1990, reached second place in a poll on the best Russian translation of ''The Lord of the Rings'', conducted by Russian

fan site A fansite, fan site, fan blog or fan page is a website created and maintained by a fan (person), fan or devotee about a celebrity, thing, or particular cultural phenomenon. Fansites may offer specialized information on the subject (e.g., episode ...

Tolkien.su. In 1991 Muravyov translated '' The Two Towers'' and a year later '' The Return of the King''. His transliteration was adapted for locations in '' The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar''. Muravyov's ''The Two Towers'' was criticised for deviations and redundant

Russification Russification (russian: русификация, rusifikatsiya), or Russianization, is a form of cultural assimilation in which non-Russians, whether involuntarily or voluntarily, give up their culture and language in favor of the Russian cultur ...

. Théoden was referred to as

konung Germanic kingship is a thesis regarding the role of kings among the pre-Christianized Germanic tribes of the Migration period (c. 300–700 AD) and Early Middle Ages (c. 700–1,000 AD). The thesis holds that the institution of feudal mo ...

while marshal Éomer was titled the Third

Seneschal The word ''seneschal'' () can have several different meanings, all of which reflect certain types of supervising or administering in a historic context. Most commonly, a seneschal was a senior position filled by a court appointment within a royal, ...

of Mustangrim. Other examples include Tobold Hornblower translated as Tobold Thunderer (Громобой) and the river Entwash, transliterated as Ontawa (Онтава). However it was outlined that Muravyov, avoiding similarities to the Russian word 'fool' (''duren''), transliterated Durin as Darin and Anduril as Andril. Many

tolkienist Tolkien fandom is an international, informal community of fans of the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, especially of the Middle-earth legendarium which includes ''The Hobbit'', ''The Lord of the Rings'', and ''The Silmarillion''. The concept of Tolkien ...

s do not share Muravyov's views on the etymology of hobbits, which he derives from the words homo and rabbit. Muravyov also translated the works of

Washington Irving Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American short-story writer, essayist, biographer, historian, and diplomat of the early 19th century. He is best known for his short stories "Rip Van Winkle" (1819) and " The Legen ...

O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer known primarily for his short stories, though he also wrote poetry and non-fiction. His works include "The Gift of the M ...

, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Muriel Spark, Evelyn Waugh and Colin Thiele.

Other information

Muravyov is the son of

and translator Irina Muravyova (translator) and the stepson of Russian philosopher Grigory Pomerants. Muravyov's son Alexey is a renowned scholar of Syriac Christian writers. He is also a scholar on other Oriental Christian cultures and literatures.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Muravyov, Vladimir English–Russian translators 1939 births 2001 deaths Writers from Vitebsk Russian librarians 20th-century Russian translators Soviet literary historians Soviet male writers 20th-century Russian male writers

Life

Translations

Other information

See also

Notes