Talk:Überwald

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I've never seen it spelt with an umlaut. Is that really correct? [maestro] 13:22, 3 October 2005 (UTC)

In German, "Über" is spelt with an umlaut. See: Über, Übermensch. bogdan | Talk 13:28, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
This spelling is used in The Discworld Mapp too. I ahven't bothered to check any of the other books though. Jeltz talk 15:46, 3 October 2005 (UTC)
I'm only a casual reader, but I've been re-reading The Fifth Elephant, and it's spelt without an umlaut there. — [maestro] 08:42, 7 October 2005 (UTC)
The umlat briefly gets mentioned in Carpe Jugulum:
On the rare maps of the Ramtops that existed, it was spelled Überwald. But Lancre people had never got the hang of accents and certainly didn't agree with trying to balance two dots on another letter, where they'd only roll off and cause unnecessary punctuation.
And it's Uberwald from then on. --Daibhid C 21:15, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
Pratchett seems quite definite about his intentions. The page should be renamed, and a note added about the umlaut. For reference, Carpe Jugulum and The Fifth Elephant consistently omit the umlaut (CJ has the note about maps) but The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents uses the umlaut, because they are looking at a map! ::Didactylos 11:16, 15 December 2005 (UTC)
I've including that passage from Carpe Jugulum in the article, but I'm not certain about moving the page. — mæstro t/c, 11:43, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

Is this right? "The book Monstrous Regiment involves a war between two nations in Überwald." I thought they were two countries bordering Uberwald, but I don't have the map to check. ::Didactylos 11:33, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

I don't know the book specifically, but according to Wikipedia it involved a war between Ankh-Morpork and Borogravia, so I think you are correct. — mæstro t/c, 11:47, 15 December 2005 (UTC)

I've just been looking into the Uberwald name out of interest. This page states that "Its name is German for across the woods, as a play on Transylvania, which is Latin for the same." My reading elsewhere leads me to think that a closer translation of the German might be "over the woods", and of the Latin "beyond the woods". Also I'd like to know what the 13th century references are... I haven't been able to find anything.

Actually Überwald is in itself mangled german and would literally translate to overwood. Over the woods would translate to über den Wäldern, which of course doesn't quite make for a good name. Also it should be noted that in german über is strictly positional, and cannot be translated as beyond, which would be jenseits.--85.179.189.179 13:04, 9 October 2006 (UTC)
It's not positional; it's over, above, beyond in the sense that Übermensch is superhuman or transhuman. It certainly doesn't mean across. Checking my atlas, I only find a few Über- names: de:Überackern, Überlingen, and Übersee. "Transylvania" isn't much help; the German name is de:Siebenbürgen, Seven cities.
—wwoods 18:28, 7 May 2007 (UTC)
Well, Überwald is just a "funny", not very accurate translation of "Transylvania" into German, one that isn't used in reality, but it's clear that this is what's intended, and that's it - any further discussion would seem rather pointless to me. By the way, Überwald isn't too "mangled" as a German word; although I never heard of an actual place bearing this name, it wouldn't be impossible - linguistically, there is no difference to the mentioned existing place Übersee ("overlake"). Gestumblindi 01:04, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Spelling in Wintersmith

The article currently says:

The spelling of the German-language word is certainly "Überwald". The usage in some of the books is uneven, but the later narratives use "Uberwald" exclusively.

However, in Pratchett's newest book Wintersmith, if I remember correctly, it's spelled "Überwald" again. I have it here, but don't remember on which page(s) Überwald is mentioned and don't feel like searching for it now; maybe some other reader can confirm this. Gestumblindi 01:51, 15 January 2007 (UTC)