Østen for Solen...

English translation: East of the sun

18:54 Dec 3, 2012
Danish to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary - Linguistics / fairy tale
Danish term or phrase: Østen for Solen...
"Østen for Solen..." is a header and the name of a new book about the adventures of knitting. I wish to explain, briefly, what it means in English. How would you explain it using as few words as possible?

Obviously, I am not going to translate the header.

In Danish, we usually say: østen for solen og vesten for månen, som er
"ufattelig langt væk SPROGBRUG især i eventyr"
http://ordnet.dk/ddo/ordbog?query=sol

There was a time, and there was not a time… the opening line of the fairy tale "The Riddles", which signify a time and a place far, far away.
farmor
Local time: 13:54
English translation:East of the sun
Explanation:
Den direkte oversættelse er kendt i den engelsksprogede verden. Bl.a. Diana Krall har en sang med titlen East of the sun west of the moon.
Selected response from:

bodilvendele (X)
Denmark
Local time: 13:54
Grading comment
Thank you, so much. I apologise for being so late, but in my rush to finish the translation, I forgot.
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
5To the horizon and back
Peter Smedskjaer-Stenland
5East of the sun
bodilvendele (X)
3 +1in a realm far, far away
Sven Petersson
3Coming Full Circle
Alexander C. Thomson
Summary of reference entries provided
English speaking people are not unfamiliar with fairytales
Lene Johansen

Discussion entries: 2





  

Answers


50 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
To the horizon and back


Explanation:
A literal translation would be 'east of the sun and west of the moon', but there is an old joke a comic strip titled Homer depicted wonderfully.
Homer was made a supervisor for slaves in Roman times, given the task of building a road to the horizon. A slave suggested Homer run to the horizon to find out how long the road would need to be. The joke is, the horizon is always at the horizon, and Homer was being tricked.
I wouldn't use 'Riding into the sunset', because that has another meaning; to ride away in a conclusion to a story or chapter.
To the Horizon and Back implies you just keep going for a very, very long time, and is ironic in saying you will be coming back.

Peter Smedskjaer-Stenland
Faroe Islands
Local time: 12:54
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish
Notes to answerer
Asker: To the Horizon and Back. That's quite good! At one point I considered "East of the Rising Sun", but it doesn't have the fairy tale feeling I am after.

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1 hr   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
in a realm far, far away


Explanation:
:o)

Sven Petersson
Sweden
Local time: 13:54
Native speaker of: Native in SwedishSwedish, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in category: 4
Notes to answerer
Asker: Plain and simple also works, sometimes better than the fancy stuff. Thank you, I like that too.

Asker: Thank you, Sven.


Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  564354352 (X): Sounds like the opening to Star Wars, though, doesn't it? "In a galaxy far, far away"...
13 hrs

agree  Charlesp: This really is the best suggestion !
22 hrs
  -> Thank you very much!
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2 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5
Coming Full Circle


Explanation:
You might like this option. "East of the Sun" is used in English, by the way: it's the title of a history of Siberia, for instance (although in that instance there is of course no element of finishing back where one began).

Alexander C. Thomson
Netherlands
Local time: 13:54
Specializes in field
Native speaker of: Native in EnglishEnglish, Native in ScotsScots
Notes to answerer
Asker: Such good and varied answers. Now it's difficult to select the best one ;-)

Asker: Thank you, Alexander.

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15 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5
East of the sun


Explanation:
Den direkte oversættelse er kendt i den engelsksprogede verden. Bl.a. Diana Krall har en sang med titlen East of the sun west of the moon.


    Reference: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jkk2mMq2x8E
bodilvendele (X)
Denmark
Local time: 13:54
Native speaker of: Danish
PRO pts in category: 3
Grading comment
Thank you, so much. I apologise for being so late, but in my rush to finish the translation, I forgot.
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Reference comments


3 hrs
Reference: English speaking people are not unfamiliar with fairytales

Reference information:
However, Wikipedia has a nice introduction that might inspire your explanation.


    Reference: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_of_the_Sun_and_West_of_the...
Lene Johansen
Native speaker of: Norwegian (Bokmal)
Note to reference poster
Asker: Thank you, Lene. A nice link.

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