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Starswirl's Gambit
(Official Site)
Cover

Prologue - "Echoes"

Chapter 1 - "Murmurs and Machinations"

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

…and we’re back! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus.

A brief note on the ponies’ manner of speech: One would tend to expect, given Luna’s portrayal in the English version of Luna Eclipsed, that ponies of this time period would speak in a dialect reminiscent of Middle English, with plenty of “thee”s, “thine”s and “thou”s. In this comic, I have elected, after much deliberation, not to use such a dialect.

The primary reason is simple readability. I fear that, while the base meaning of the words might be clear enough in such a dialect, the subtler nuances of emotional tone and individual personality might be lost.

For example, to the ear of the modern English speaker, the sentence “Thou dost have a stave lodged in thine posterior,” sounds rather formal and flowery despite being rather the opposite in intent.

I am, therefore, taking a cue from my favourite author, Tolkien, and “translating” the words of Ancient Equestrian into Modern English for the benefit of my readers. (And, for that matter, one could view the English television show as a “dubbed” version from the “original” Modern Equestrian…)

By this convention, if these characters encounter a text that sounds archaic to them, I will render it in Middle English. To a pony of Twilight Sparkles’ generation, such a text would be nearly unrecognisable as Equestrian, just as the Old English text of Beowulf defies interpretation by the untrained modern reader.

Place names, on the other hoof, I have elected to render into their more archaic counterparts. With names, there is less danger of misunderstanding and I do wish to preserve something of the feeling of an older setting. “Frendfier Keep”, for example, would more accurately be translated as “Friend Fire” or even “Fire of Friendship Keep” in Modern English.

Description

<- Previous Next ->

Starswirl's Gambit
(Official Site)
Cover

Prologue - "Echoes"

Chapter 1 - "Murmurs and Machinations"

Page 1

Page 2

Page 3

Page 4

…and we’re back! Sorry for the unexpected hiatus.

A brief note on the ponies’ manner of speech: One would tend to expect, given Luna’s portrayal in the English version of Luna Eclipsed, that ponies of this time period would speak in a dialect reminiscent of Middle English, with plenty of “thee”s, “thine”s and “thou”s. In this comic, I have elected, after much deliberation, not to use such a dialect.

The primary reason is simple readability. I fear that, while the base meaning of the words might be clear enough in such a dialect, the subtler nuances of emotional tone and individual personality might be lost.

For example, to the ear of the modern English speaker, the sentence “Thou dost have a stave lodged in thine posterior,” sounds rather formal and flowery despite being rather the opposite in intent.

I am, therefore, taking a cue from my favourite author, Tolkien, and “translating” the words of Ancient Equestrian into Modern English for the benefit of my readers. (And, for that matter, one could view the English television show as a “dubbed” version from the “original” Modern Equestrian…)

By this convention, if these characters encounter a text that sounds archaic to them, I will render it in Middle English. To a pony of Twilight Sparkles’ generation, such a text would be nearly unrecognisable as Equestrian, just as the Old English text of Beowulf defies interpretation by the untrained modern reader.

Place names, on the other hoof, I have elected to render into their more archaic counterparts. With names, there is less danger of misunderstanding and I do wish to preserve something of the feeling of an older setting. “Frendfier Keep”, for example, would more accurately be translated as “Friend Fire” or even “Fire of Friendship Keep” in Modern English.