The Sword of Destiny

Since The Sword of Destiny (Miecz przeznaczenia) -- the other witcher short story collection -- hasn't been translated into English, I bought it as a Finnish one. Which means it cost more than twice what an English paperback would cost. But what can you do; they just decided to skip translating it, even though it has two stories leading into the saga.

Tapani Kärkkäinen translated the book into Finnish straight from Polish. (I can't imagine there being many Finns capable of doing that.) I guess the language was mostly alright. Maybe a slightly different tone than what I got from The Last Wish. There were also some odd words whose meanings escaped me. I've read that Sapkowski uses pretty interesting words himself, so I guess that's the result of that.

Dandelion's name in Finnish is Valvatti, which would be sowthistle in English. But dandelion isn't a literal translation either -- as it turns out -- as the bard's name in Polish is Jaskier, which would be buttercup in English. Apparently it was too feminine and they went with Dandelion instead. The Finnish word for buttercup, leinikki, is also very feminine and a traditional name for cows (like buttercup is in English). Hardly a fitting name for the bard, I'd say.

The translation of witcher (or wiedźmin) into Finnish is pretty clever, though. Noituri is (or at least seems to be) a combination of noita (witch) and soturi (warrior). It's kind of a perfect word for what the witchers are. Well, I guess witcher is a pretty good word too, and apparently wiedźmin also a made-up word (a forced masculine form of wiedźma (witch)). But I do like the Finnish name, I really do.

One oddity I noticed (in the previous book already), is how smiles (usually Geralt's) are often described with the same adverb/adjective. I guess Sapkowski didn't feel like coming up with different ones for every short story, and if you read them back to back, you get some repetition. One of the adverbs/adjectives used was a really weird one, as in I didn't know what kind of smile it was. Neither in English or Finnish. Too bad I forgot the word, and I don't feel like browsing the books to find a part where it was used. I should've made a note...

The Sword of Destiny doesn't have a framework story like The Last Wish. Instead the stories follow each other in a -- presumably -- chronological order. The book has couple stories that I remember being referenced in the first game; the golden dragon from The Bounds of Reason and the merfolk stuff from A Little Sacrifice.

The last two stories, The Sword of Destiny and Something More, introduce Ciri, who presumably is the white haired lady in The Witcher 3's trailer. (I think I also saw Yennefer in there. The game should be interesting...) I started on Blood of Elves already and it seems Ciri will be in an important role in the saga. I wonder if she'll become a full-blooded witcher or will she just get the training without all the mutation stuff. Geralt sure did try to avoid her but the girl just kept popping up. I guess destiny is not to be avoided, even though he doesn't believe in it.

The sword of destiny has two edges. One of them is you.

I guess that means you make your destiny. But what is the other edge? Geralt says it's death but doesn't expand on it. You make your destiny while trying to avoid dying? Maybe the other edge is chance. Who knows.

I like how once again the short stories have classic fairy tales with twists mixed in them. It's also amusing how Geralt thinks some stories are merely stories. Golden dragons, for instance. He thought they were just a legend until he saw one himself in the book. It's a mystery how his logic works in that matter.

Quite mysterious are the spellcasters in the witcherverse as well. Magic seems quite powerful yet surprisingly few are running amok with it. Maybe they keep their own in line. But every wizard and sorceress sure are of unknown age. Like the Aes Sedai in the Wheel of Time. I wonder if Geralt's mother (who he meets in Something More) will outlive him. I got the impression that Geralt might live quite old himself, too, thanks to the witcher stuff. Unless some monster kills him, of course.

The Sword of Destiny was an entertaining read. I probably would've liked it even more in English, though. The tone just feels somehow different in Finnish. I hope the level of quality stays high in the saga books as well.