The 'Narn i Åke Ohlmarks'
Troels Forchhammer
Letters of J.R.R. Tolkien/ and there have been amused (and perhaps a
bit bemused) by the whole exchange regarding the Swedish translator,
Dr. Åke Ohlmarks (letters 204, 228, and 229). Dr. Ohlmarks translations
as reported by Tolkien are at times both original and entertaining
while displaying a severe lack of understanding of Tolkien's work, his
biography of Tolkien that was included in the Swedish translation
contained several errors, but the worst (in particular to Tolkien) was
probably his single-minded insistence on a simplistic (and quite easily
refuted) one-to-one allegorical reading of LotR where Morgoth = Marx
and Sauron = Stalin while Saruman = Hitler etc.
All of this was, entertaining as it is, known to me, and I admit that I
have at times made jokes at Dr. Ohlmarks expense in a way that probably
wasn't entirely free of being facetious, but was still surprised to
learn of one of Dr. Ohlmarks' last contributions to diskussions of
Tolkien's fiction, /Tolkien och den svarta magin/ ('Tolkien and the
Black Magic') from 1982 -- only a couple of years before Ohlmarks'
death in 1984.
According the articles I found on the web-site of the Danish Tolkien
Society (www.imladris.dk) Åke Ohlmarks, in his last book directly
related to Tolkien, makes several outrageous claims, of which the
accusation that Tolkien was a Nazi sympathizer, is perhaps the least:
Och ändå kan vartenda barn, som inte är efterblivitt,
genast se att Sauron betyder Stalin, Morgoth Marx, gamle
kung Théoden marskalk Pétain och Saruman 'den vite' Hitler.
Tolkien var hitlerbeundrare i början, för SA-Ruhm-an har
han snickrat ihop av SA och Rhum, 'ära'. Senare föll ju
Hitler, så det måste han låta sin SA-hedersman göra också;
den vite frälserängeln bryter hans stav och kastar ut honom
ur 'Vita Rådet'. Förstöringen av hans huvudstad Isengård är
också en direkt rent oveder-säglig pastisch på Berlins
sönderbombande, Orthancs fall på hur Hitlers bunker brakade
samman under Reichskanzlei.
Åke Ohlmarks, /Tolkien och den svarte magin/ as quoted by Lars-Terje
Øland Lysemose in 'Fri fantasi og sort magi - fænomenet Ohlmarks' (Free
Fantasizing and Black Magic - the Danish title plays on the phrase "fri
fantasi", which literally is translated as 'Free Fantasy', but is a
common phrase meaning 'pure invention').
And yet every child, who isn't backward[*], can quickly see
that Sauron means Stalin, Morgoth Marx, old Théoden King
Marshal Pétain and Saruman 'the White' Hitler. Tolkien was
a Hitler-admirer at start, for SA-Ruhm-an he has put
together of SA and Rhum, 'honour'. Later Hitler fell, and
so he had to let his SA-man-of-honour fell also; the white
angel of salvation breaks his staff and kasts him out of
'the White Council'. The destruction of his capital
Isengard is also a direct, completely indisputable,
pastiche of the bombing of Berlin, the fall of Orthanc of
the breaking of Hitler's bunker under the Reichskanzlei.
[*] I know that there are nuances in the Swedish text that I don't get,
and I hope that others, more learned, will step in to lend a hand
(Öjevind, perhaps? He asked with a pleading smile).
But this is analysis, however outrageous (or perhaps ludicrous is a
better word) which must ultimately be dismissed as 'applicability' of
the worst kind. Elsewhere Ohlmarks claims that the later books of LotR
(from the third or fourth book) were really written by C.S. Lewis based
on an original by Tolkien, and that Lewis thereby turned the 'trilogy'
(sic.) into '(kind of) literature' -- this should, ostensibly, also
explain how Lewis had been able to read the whole thing fast enough to
praise LotR highly already in October 1955.
Apparently Ohlmarks' main purpose with the book, however, is to make an
attack on the Tolkien Societies in general, and those in Sweden in
particular. Accusations of black rites, kidnappings, and torture
(occasionally confusing Tolkien Societies and Dungeon and Dragons
gaming groups) alternate with descriptions of medieval orgies (hinting
at some kind of abuse and promiscuity). One gets the impression of a
very bitter man -- not, perhaps, very surprising given the reception
his ideas and interpretations got from the author, and presumably the
Swedish Tolkien Societies included some whose understanding of Tolkien
(and probably also of English) surpassed Ohlmarks' and who felt obliged
to inform their fellow fans of the problems in Ohlmarks' work.
Despite having read about Ohlmarks both in Tolkien's letters and here
in on the newsgroups, I'll admit that I was rather surprised when
learning about these attacks both at Tolkien's integrity (there is also
the claim that Tolkien should have claimed that he had received the
story 'directly from God') and at the fan communities. Though the
articles I've read only quote small passages, the overall impression is
nevertheless that these are the final ramblings of a deeply embittered
man, whom one ought probably to pity rather than condemn, but who, by
his own actions, have made such pity nearly impossible.
References:
Lars-Terje Øland Lysemose, 'Fri fantasi og sort magi -- fænomenet
Ohlmarks':
<http://www.imladris.dk/?id=15&show=55>
(Danish and Swedish)
Lars-Terje Øland Lysemose, 'Sagaen om Åke Ohlmarks'
<http://www.imladris.dk/?id=15&show=60>
(Danish and Swedish)
--
Troels Forchhammer
Valid e-mail is <troelsfo(a)gmail.com>
Please put [AFT], [RABT] or 'Tolkien' in subject.
"What're quantum mechanics?"
"I don't know. People who repair quantums, I suppose."
- /Eric/ (Terry Pratchett)
Öjevind Lång
news:Xns9AA2B56F...@130.133.1.4...
[snip]
I can't find any fault with your translation of his statement. I've left
most of your post unsnipped in case someone can't read the original post. My
comments are at the end.
Ohlmarks tried to get even with Tolkien because of Tolkien's opinion of his
translation work and that terrible introduction about Tolkien (which only
appeared in the first edition; it was left out after that on Tolkien's and
Christopher's insistence) had become known. Before that, Ohlmarks praised
Tolkien highy and declared that he deserved the Nobel Prize.
Ohlmarks was a nasty, dishonest and vindictive man. When Christopher
Tolkien ensured that he was not given the task of translating "The
Silmarillion", and Tolkien's opinion of him became widely known through the
publication of his Letters, he struck back. He tried to promote another
fantasy writer (one Jay Williams, who wrote a fantasy story based on Old
Norse mythology which Ohlmarks translated) as "far superior" to Tolkien's
stories about "spiders as big as houses". The mendacious claim that Tolkien
was a Nazi sympathizer is particularly shameless since Ohlmarks himself
truly *was* a Nazi sympathizer. In 1933, after Hitler's Machtübernamhe,
Ohlmarks left the University of Lund to become Reader in Swedish at the
University of Tübingen. His friends published a farewell poem in
"Lundagård", the magazine published by the students' union in Lund. It goes:
Vem är som ej vår broder minns
fast nu i Tübingen han finns
och fast hans smak för gäll fanfar
och schöne Adolf fängslats har."
In English:
"Who does not remember our brother,
though he is now in Tübingen
and though his taste for shrill fanfare
and *schöne Adolf* ("Handsome Adolf") has been captivated.
In 1933, most people in Sweden (and in other countries) were still a bit
clueless about quite how evil Nazism was, which goes some way towards
excusing the levity of this poem. Though Ohlmarks returned to Lund in 1939,
he remained a Nazi sympathizer until 1945. After the war, Ohlmarks had never
been a Nazi. He even published a travel
book from Israel (written in the sixties, I believe) where he celebrated
Israel and the Jews and breathed hatred and contempt on the Germans. He had
no shame at all. And Tolkien wasn't the only one he poured his bile on. He
wrote an autobiography where he made various defamatory claims about
colleagues at the university who were safely dead and couldn't reply.
Öjevind
Derek Broughton
>
> Apparently Ohlmarks' main purpose with the book, however, is to make an
> attack on the Tolkien Societies in general, and those in Sweden in
> particular. Accusations of black rites, kidnappings, and torture
> (occasionally confusing Tolkien Societies and Dungeon and Dragons
> gaming groups)
To be fair (though I'm not sure why I'd want to be!), in my university days
(late 70s) in Canada, there was practically no difference between the
Tolkien Society, the D&D gamers, and the Science Fiction club...
--
derek
Ca...@thehostetters.net
Ohlmarks's behavior I made on another mailing list today:
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elfling-d/message/687>
This was prompted by William Hicklin's reminder of the existence of a
report by Charles Noad on a talk given by Guy Gavriel Kay, in which
Kay reminisced about his work with Christopher Tolkien in compiling
and editing _The Silmarillion_ ("A Tower in Beleriand: A Talk by Guy
Gavriel Kay given at Conspiracy '87", published in _Amon Hen_ 91 in
May 1988). This report contains an anecdote by Kay regarding
Ohlmarks's visit to Christopher Tolkien's home, and the creepy report
that followed.
Unfortunately, Ohlmarksian characters haunt Tolkien's Estate, and
editors, to this day!
Carl Hostetter
Clams Canino
"Öjevind Lång" <bredba...@ojevind.lang> wrote in message
> In 1933, most people in Sweden (and in other countries) were still a bit
> clueless about quite how evil Nazism was, which goes some way towards
> excusing the levity of this poem.
In the early 30's most *all* people were clueless as to how evil Nazism was,
or would become.
All they saw was a revitalized Germany with a quirky leader with a funny
moustache. No one really saw it all coming.
-W
Stan Brown
mar...@earthdink.net>:
Bzzt! Churchill did. Read /Step by Step/ and /While England Slept/.
He may not have predicted the genocide of Jews (or he may; it's a
while since I read the books), but he certainly predicted that
Hitlerine Germany would start another world war.
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
Tolkien FAQs: http://Tolkien.slimy.com (Steuard Jensen's site)
Tolkien letters FAQ:
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Derek Broughton
> Tue, 10 Jun 2008 19:18:25 -0500 from Clams Canino <cc-
> mar...@earthdink.net>:
>>
>> "Öjevind Lång" <bredba...@ojevind.lang> wrote in message
>>
>> > In 1933, most people in Sweden (and in other countries) were still a
>> > bit clueless about quite how evil Nazism was, which goes some way
>> > towards excusing the levity of this poem.
>>
>> In the early 30's most *all* people were clueless as to how evil Nazism
>> was, or would become.
>>
>> All they saw was a revitalized Germany with a quirky leader with a funny
>> moustache. No one really saw it all coming.
>
> Bzzt! Churchill did.
Yes, I was going to say the same, but to be fair to Clams, Churchill was a
voice in the wilderness, and the way he became Prime Minister is enough to
make you believe in fate (essentially, those who the movers and shakers
wanted to take the job, wouldn't do it). On that subject, I just finished
Michael Dobbs' /Winston's War/, /Never Surrender/ and /Churchill's Hour/
(not necessarily in that order). Excellent historical fiction.
--
derek