The Harry Potter series has been translated into dozens of different languages since the first novel was published back in 1997.
From French to Arabic to Chinese, the translations have ensured that children all over the world can enjoy reading the iconic books. One language that you may be surprised to learn has had a translation is Scots.
In 2017, the language officially became the 80th in the world to get its own edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, titled Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stane. The book was translated by Scots poet and novelist Matthew Fitt.
One TikTok user recently posted about the rarely discussed translation, in a video that has since been viewed over two million times. User lucybethharris shared some of the "hilarious" differences between the two versions.
In the clip, which has received nearly 300,000 likes, she states: "In the Scots version of Harry Potter, there are some hilarious differences in the way that things are named."
Considering much of the series is set in Scotland, with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry located in an unidentified area of the Highlands, it makes sense that there would be a Scots edition.
That's not to say there aren't significant changes between the translation and the original English, however, starting with the name of the famous wizard school itself. In Fitt's translation, it is instead called Hogwats Schuil O Carlinecraft and Warlockery.
The famous school houses—Gryffindor, Slytherin, Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff—are called Gryffindor, Slydderin, Hechlepech, and Corbieclook respectively. Additionally, the sport of Quidditch is instead named Bizzumbaw.
To give an idea of the changes, the opening paragraph of the novel reads: "Mr and Mrs Dursley, o nummer fower, Privet Loan, were prood tae say that they were gey normal, thank ye verra much. They were the lest fowk ye wid jalouse wid be taigled up wi onythin unco or weird, because they jist didnae haud wi havers like yon."
Since being posted, the video has received dozens of comments from fellow Harry Potter fans sharing their thoughts on the unique translation.
"As an English speaker I now want to only read books in Scots to see if I can decode them," one wrote, while a second echoed: "I need Scots version of Harry Potter right now."
A third joked: "Now listen…who translated this? Because they’re the author now. This is a new book."
Unfortunately, only the first novel has thus far been translated into Scots. Hopefully someday we get to experience the magic of the full series in the language.
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