The Norse myth that inspired “The Lord of the Rings” - Iseult Gillespie

翻译人员: Zizhuo Liang 校对人员: Helen Chang

The supreme god, Óðinn, was exploring the nine realms with his travel companions

至高无上的神奥丁 正和他的旅伴

Hœnir, and the notoriously mischievous Loki.

赫尼尔和臭名昭著的 爱恶作剧的洛基一起探索九界。

After a long journey, the three reached a waterfall in Niðavellir,

经过长途旅行， 三人到达了矮人的地下土地，

the subterranean land of the dwarves, and stopped for water.

尼亚维尔的瀑布来取水。

Óðinn and Hœnir were eager to meet Hreiðmarr, the king of the dwarves,

奥丁和赫尼尔渴望 见到矮人之王赫雷马尔，

but Loki was bored and hungry.

但是洛基又无聊又饿。

Spotting an otter nearby, Loki tossed a stone at its head,

洛基发现附近有一只水獭， 便向它头上扔了块石头，

killing the animal.

将其杀死。

He kept its pelt and slouched after the others.

他下了它的毛皮， 跟在其他人后面没精打采地走着。

When they greeted Hreiðmarr, the king paled,

当他们向赫雷马尔致意时， 国王脸色瞬间变得苍白

for the pelt belonged to none other than his shapeshifting son.

因为毛皮不是别人的， 是他变形的儿子。

Hreiðmarr summoned his two surviving sons, Fáfnir and Regin,

赫雷马尔召见了他的 两个幸存的儿子法夫尼尔和雷金，

and bound the gods.

并囚禁了众神。

He decided he would let them go in exchange for gold, as was the custom,

他答应放了众神，但按照惯例， 他们要用金子作为交换，

but only if they could fill the otter pelt with the finest gold

他要求众神用最好的 金子填满水獭皮，

until not even a hair was visible.

直到连一根头发都看不见为止。

Because of how the otter skin stretched,

因为水獭皮肤具有伸展性，

this meant procuring a nearly impossible amount—

这意味着众神需要设法获得 一笔根本无法获得的黄金——

but Loki had an idea.

但洛基有个主意。

The dwarves were master craftspeople.

矮人是手工艺大师。

One of them, Andvari, was said to forge marvelous creations.

他们中的一个叫安德瓦里的 矮人能创造出奇妙的作品。

Andvari often took the form of a fish and, one day,

安德瓦里经常以 鱼的形式出现，有一天，

he dove deeper than ever before—

他潜得比以往任何时候都深——

so deep he reached the land of the water nymphs,

深得可以到达 水仙女的土地，

who guarded mounds of gold.

她们守护着成堆的黄金。

At first, Andvari merely wanted to see their treasures for himself.

起初，安德瓦里只是想 亲自看看她们的宝藏。

But when the nymphs laughed at his awkward appearance,

但是当仙女们 嘲笑他笨拙的外表时，

Andvari grew infuriated and seized their gold.

安德瓦里怒不可遏， 抢走了她们的黄金。

With it, he crafted himself a special ring.

他用这些黄金为自己 制作了一枚特殊的戒指。

As long as he wore it, Andvari’s wealth would grow and grow.

只要他戴着它， 安德瓦里的财富就会不断增加。

Loki saw Andvari’s riches as the perfect solution to their problem.

洛基将安德瓦里的财富视为 他们决绝问题的完美方案。

He returned to the waterfall, conjured a huge net,

洛基回到瀑布边， 变出一张巨大的网，

and extracted a wriggling fish.

捉住了一条蠕动的鱼。

As Andvari squirmed, Loki jeered that he’d kill him

安德瓦里蠕动着， 洛基嘲笑说他会杀了他

unless he handed over his treasure.

除非他交出他的宝物。

Andvari directed Loki to his lair.

安德瓦里指引洛基去他的巢穴。

Satisfied with the heaps of gold he saw there,

洛基看到成堆的黄金十分满足，

Loki freed Andvari—

洛基于是放了安德瓦里—

but a sudden glint off of one of the dwarf’s fingers

但是矮人指间发出的闪光

alerted Loki that he’d missed the most powerful treasure of all.

提醒洛基他错过了 最强大的宝藏。

Despite Andvari’s pleas, Loki tore the ring away.

尽管安德瓦里一再恳求， 洛基还是把戒指抢走了。

Seething, Andvari cursed the ring,

怒不可遏的安德瓦里 诅咒了那枚戒指，

declaring that it would be the doom of all its subsequent owners.

宣布这将是其所有 后续拥有者的末日。

Back at the palace,

回到宫殿，

Andvari’s gold appeared to completely cover the otter skin.

安德瓦里的黄金 似乎完全覆盖了水獭的皮肤。

But as Hreiðmarr inspected the pelt,

但当赫雷马尔检查毛皮时，

he saw a single, bare whisker peeking out.

他看见一根光秃秃毛露了出来。

So, the gods relinquished the ring.

于是，众神放弃了戒指 并把它给了赫雷马尔。

As Hreiðmarr slipped it onto his finger,

当赫雷马尔把它放在手指上时，

Regin shuddered at the greed in his father’s eyes,

雷金对他父亲眼中的 贪婪感到不寒而栗，

while his brother, Fáfnir, looked on in envy.

而他的兄弟法夫尼则嫉妒地看着他。

Later, when Fáfnir demanded that the king share the wealth,

后来，当法夫尼要求 国王分享财富时，

Hreiðmarr refused.

赫雷马尔拒绝了。

So, Fáfnir killed his father,

所以法夫尼杀了他的父亲，

pried the coveted ring from his finger, and fled the palace with the treasure.

从父亲的手指上撬下那枚令人垂涎的 戒指，带着宝藏逃离了宫殿。

He came to rest in a cave where he curled around his new possessions.

他来到一个山洞里休息， 在那里他蜷缩在他的新财产周围。

The ring warped him inside and out, and over time,

魔戒使他内外扭曲， 随着时间的推移，

Fáfnir morphed into a gruesome dragon.

法夫尼变成了一条可怕的龙。

Meanwhile, Fáfnir’s betrayal and guarded treasure bore into Regin’s mind.

与此同时，法夫尼的背叛 和守卫的宝藏在雷金的脑海中浮现。

He finally enlisted the help of his loyal foster son, a warrior named Sigurd,

他最终得到了他忠诚的养子， 一个名叫西格德的战士的帮助，

to slay the monster his brother had become.

杀死了他哥哥变成的怪物。

Sigurd did as instructed.

西格德按照指示做了。

Afterwards, Regin asked Sigurd to roast the beast’s heart so he could consume it.

之后，雷金让西格德烤了野兽的心， 这样他就可以吃掉它了。

Sigurd obeyed and tasted the heart’s blood before serving him.

西格德服从命令， 但在这之前他先尝了尝心脏的血。

But as soon as the liquid met Sigurd’s tongue,

但当液体一接触到西格德的舌头，

he understood the chatter of the surrounding birds.

他便听懂了周围鸟儿 叽叽喳喳的叫声。

They were singing of but one thing: Regin was going to kill him.

他们唱的只有一件事： 雷金要杀了他。

So, Sigurd slayed Regin and seized the wealth for himself.

所以，西格德杀了雷金 并为自己攫取了财富。

This was only the beginning.

这只是开始。

Over the coming years, the ring would tear families apart, doom lovers,

在未来的几年里，这枚魔戒 将使家庭四分五裂，毁灭相恋中的人

and empower, then ultimately destroy, any who had it in their possession.

并赋予它所有者力量， 然后最终摧毁他们。

Andvari’s curse set a vicious cycle in motion that would consume many lives—

安德瓦里的诅咒引发了一场 恶性循环，它将吞噬许多生命，

and inspire some of the most influential works of the 19th and 20th centuries.

并激发19世纪和20世纪 一些最有影响力的作品的创作。