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

Translator: Emily Ngai Reviewer: Thomas Tam

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

眾神之王 Óðinn 正係同佢嘅朋友 Hœnir

Hœnir, and the notoriously mischievous Loki.

及愛攪惡作劇臭名遠播嘅 Loki 一齊探索九界

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

佢哋經過漫長旅程後 到達咗係侏儒住處嘅黑暗原野

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

喺座瀑布前停下來飲水

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

Óðinn 同 Hœnir 都好期待 同侏儒王 Hreiðmarr 見面

but Loki was bored and hungry.

但 Loki 無聊又餓

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

眼見附近有隻水獺 Loki 向佢個頭掟一塊石頭

killing the animal.

殺死咗佢

He kept its pelt and slouched after the others.

Loki 拎住水獺皮 懒洋洋咁跟著後面

When they greeted Hreiðmarr, the king paled,

當佢哋拜訪 Hreiðmarr 國王面色變得蒼白

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

因為 Loki 拎住嘅正係侏儒王兒子 化身成水獺時身體嗰層皮

Hreiðmarr summoned his two surviving sons, Fáfnir and Regin,

Hreiðmarr 叫佢另外兩個仔 Fáfnir 同 Regin

and bound the gods.

一齊將眾神捆綁

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

國王決定如果佢哋要離開 就按慣例用黃金交換

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

但前提係，佢哋要用 最好嘅黃金填滿水獺皮

until not even a hair was visible.

直至連一根毛都睇唔到為止

Because of how the otter skin stretched,

由於水獺嘅皮可以無限撐大

this meant procuring a nearly impossible amount—

意味著要取得幾乎不可能達到 數量嘅黃金——

but Loki had an idea.

但 Loki 有個想法

The dwarves were master craftspeople.

侏儒係大師級嘅工匠

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

侏儒之一 Andvari 據說創造咗一啲奇蹟嘅作品

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

Andvari 通常會化身成魚嘅型態

然後有一日佢潛得 比以往任何時候都更深——

he dove deeper than ever before—

so deep he reached the land of the water nymphs,

深到水仙女居住嘅地方

who guarded mounds of gold.

仙女正喺度守護著無數嘅金堆

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

開始時 Andvari 只係想 睇下佢哋嘅寶藏

But when the nymphs laughed at his awkward appearance,

但當啲仙女嘲笑佢笨拙嘅外表

Andvari grew infuriated and seized their gold.

激嬲咗 Andvari 佢就去搶走仙女嘅黃金

With it, he crafted himself a special ring.

Andvari 用仙女嘅黃金 製造咗一隻特別嘅戒指

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

只要佢戴上隻戒指 佢嘅財富就會越來越多

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

Loki 認為 Andvari 嘅財富 就係解決佢哋被囚禁問題嘅絕佳辦法

He returned to the waterfall, conjured a huge net,

他回到瀑布用法術製造咗一張巨網

and extracted a wriggling fish.

撈出一條向前游嘅魚 就係 Andvari

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

佢喺度扭動身體 Loki 奚落佢同要佢把寶藏交出來

unless he handed over his treasure.

如果唔係就會殺咗佢

Andvari directed Loki to his lair.

Andvari 帶 Loki 返回巢穴

Satisfied with the heaps of gold he saw there,

因爲 Loki 滿意睇到一堆堆嘅黃金

Loki freed Andvari—

就放咗 Andvari ——

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

但喺侏儒嘅手指突然間閃亮

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

提醒咗 Loki 漏咗 其中最巨大嘅寶藏

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

儘管 Andvari 求饒 Loki 重係剝咗佢隻戒指

Seething, Andvari cursed the ring,

Andvari 好嬲，詛咒嗰隻戒指

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

聲稱未來所有人擁有啲隻戒指 都會大禍臨頭

Back at the palace,

Loki 返到皇宮

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

Andvari 嘅黃金似乎成功 把水獺皮裝滿

But as Hreiðmarr inspected the pelt,

但當 Hreiðmarr 檢查水獺皮

he saw a single, bare whisker peeking out.

佢發現咗一條光禿禿嘅鬍鬚露咗出來

So, the gods relinquished the ring.

所以，眾神要交出戒指

As Hreiðmarr slipped it onto his finger,

當 Hreiðmarr 戴上戒指

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

Regin 因為睇到父親眼中嘅貪婪 就忍不住顫抖

while his brother, Fáfnir, looked on in envy.

而佢嘅哥哥 Fáfnir 好妒忌咁望著佢父親

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

之後 Fáfnir 要求 Hreiðmarr 分享佢嘅財富

Hreiðmarr refused.

Hreiðmarr 拒絕咗

So, Fáfnir killed his father,

所以，Fáfnir 殺咗佢父親

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

除咗父親手指上令人眼紅嘅戒指 帶著寶藏逃離城堡

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

佢去到一座山洞 緊緊將自己蜷縮喺寶藏嘅周圍

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

但指環輕而易舉就操控著佢

Fáfnir morphed into a gruesome dragon.

隨著時間過去 Fáfnir 變咗一條好得人驚嘅龍

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

與此同時，Regin 喺腦海浮現 Fáfnir 嘅背叛同佢守護著嘅寶藏

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

Regin 終於請咗忠誠又勇敢嘅 養子 Sigurd 來幫佢

to slay the monster his brother had become.

屠殺曾經係佢哥哥嘅怪獸

Sigurd did as instructed.

Sigurd 聽從指示殺咗 Fáfnir

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

喺之後， Regin 吩咐 Sigurd 去烤巨龍嘅心畀佢食

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

Sigurd 準備好龍嘅心臟畀 Regin 喺之前，佢嘗咗嘗啲血

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

當 Sigurd 舌頭碰到啲血液嘅一刻

he understood the chatter of the surrounding birds.

佢聽明白周圍啲雀仔 喺度吱吱喳喳唱乜嘢

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

雀仔唱著只有一件事： Regin 將會殺死佢

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

因此，Sigurd 殺咗 Regin 並奪取佢啲財富

This was only the beginning.

呢個只係開始

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

喺後來嘅幾年，嗰隻戒指會撕裂家庭 同為相愛嘅人帶來厄運

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

開始時畀主人擁有權力 但到最後摧毀佢嘅一切

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

Andvari 嘅詛咒發動咗一個 將會吞噬許多生命嘅惡性循環

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

以及啟發咗十九同二十世紀 當中一些最有影響力嘅作品