The Lord of the Rings Russian translations

Some unusual cases of the structure of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ were discussed somewhere, I did not find the discussion, so I post the information here.

LotR is usually printed in the three volumes or a single one. In Russia it is sometimes printed in a thick volume under the name ‘The Full History of Middle-Earth’ along with ‘The Hobbit’ and ‘The Silmarillion’ (2003, 2008), supplemented with ‘The Children of Húrin’ (2009, 2013 (two editions), 2014). Yes, four books in one volume, under the slightly familiar title. Every edition of this huge book has a set of translations incompatible with each other (‘The Hobbit’ by N. Rakhmanova, LotR by V. Muravyov and A. Kistyakovsky, ‘The Silmarillion’ by N. Estel, TCoH by S. Likhachova).

In 1993 there was the two-volume edition containing the translation by N. Grigorieva and V. Grushetsky which is well known thanks to its illustrations by Ukrainian artist Sergei Yukhimov. The first volume has the Prologue and Books 1, 2, 3; the second has Books 4, 5, 6 and the Appendices.

Another set was published in Baku (Azerbaijan) in Russian. The first volume begins with ‘The Silmarillion’ (by N. Estel) followed by ‘The Hobbit’ (by N. Rakhmanova). In the second volume after the Appendices (by N. Grigorieva and V. Grushetsky) there is FotR (by V. Muravyov and A. Kistyakovsky). The last volume consists of TTT and TRotK (by V. Muravyov and A. Kistyakovsky).

In April 2025, a few days ago, the recent strange edition was issued. The translation in it is made by M. Kamenkovich and V. Karrik. It is the only full Russian (published) translation of LotR (others are at least slightly abridged), firstly issued in 1995, and it was the first official translation, containing The Foreword by Rayner Unwin for the Russian readers, and it was heavily annotated by translators. It is relatively rare: 1995, 1999, 2000, 2001 (two editions), 2002; in 2016 it was reissued in a slightly abridged version, without the maps, and that version had additional printings in 2018, 2019, 2021.

Let’s go back to the current two-volume edition of the translation. After the forewords by Unwin and the translators there are Appendices. The numeration of the notes in their text starts with 679, and there are not notes for the Appendices themselves in this volume (they are in the end of the second volume). The genealogical tree of Durin’s Folk here is excluded (unlike previous editions) but Tolkien’s comments for it remain. The table of the Hobbits’ calendar is also missing (and the comments of the translators for the names of the months are left). After the Appendices there are lists of names (nomenclature), of words and phrases in Rohirric and Elvish (exclusively from FotR), and of linguistic terms from the Appendices. Now, at last, it’s time for the Prologue and the Books One and Two, and the notes for them (the numeration of the notes in this section begins from 1). The Ring inscription, Gandalf’s symbol and the text on Balin’s tomb are here but the image of the gates of Moria is not. The second volume contains ‘The Two Towers’, ‘The Return of the King’ (the both preceded by Tolkien’s synopses), the notes for them and for the Appendices. The maps are not included, the cover illustrations for the both volumes are by Alan Lee

The links to the publisher’s site:
https://ast.ru/book/vlastelin-kolets-k ... druzhestvo-koltsa-883984/
https://ast.ru/book/vlastelin-kolets-k ... ashchenie-korolya-883985/

Ruslania in Finland have both volumes available to order (I think they ship worldwide).

https://ruslania.com/en/search/general ... ail=1&screen_type=desktop

https://ruslania.com/en/search/general ... ail=1&screen_type=desktop

I think this is the 1994/1995 Edition referred to?

The links to the publisher’s site:
https://ast.ru/book/vlastelin-kolets-k ... druzhestvo-koltsa-883984/
https://ast.ru/book/vlastelin-kolets-k ... ashchenie-korolya-883985/

Yes, you are right, the first two volumes were issued 1994, and the third in 1995. The translators’ foreword has those gratitudes:

We express our deep gratitude to Mr. Christopher Tolkien, who provided us invaluable assistance in resolving linguistic problems, as well as to the English publisher of Tolkien's books, Mr. Rayner Unwin, who provided us with the materials necessary for our work, including ‘The Guide to the Translation of Names’ [The Guide to the Names in The Lord of the Rings], and supported us in the process of preparing the translation. We also express our gratitude to I. Kucherov, who played the role of Radagast, the herbalist, to R. Kabakov, a researcher of Tolkien's works, as well as to David Dougan, Christina Scull, Colin Duriez, the London Society of Tolkienists [The Tolkien Society], L. Kurbatova, N. Geda and all the others who by the will of fate entered this ‘Fellowship of the Lord of the Rings’. …

I would also post here, at TCG, the Foreword by Rayner Unwin, translated back into English:

It is gratifying to learn that after many years of waiting, a complete translation of ‘The Lord of the Rings’ is finally coming out in Russian. The book is often divided into three parts, but it is, of course, a single story. And what a story! J. R. R. Tolkien, professor of Old English language and literature, wrote it in Oxford between 1938 and 1954, when the outside world was undergoing great upheavals. But Tolkien’s Middle-earth was not inspired by modern events, and it is futile to look for any analogies with them in Tolkien’s book. Long before ‘The Lord of the Rings’, Tolkien had set himself the ambitious, almost quixotic idea of single-handedly creating for England its own mythology. This plan he carried out, and on an unprecedented scale: the result was one of the most complex and multifaceted works of the creative imagination ever undertaken, incorporating the history, geography, cosmogony, languages and social structure of the author's fictional world.

‘The Lord of the Rings’ was originally intended to serve as a sequel to Tolkien's successful children's book ‘The Hobbit’, but the ever-expanding fictional universe (later made famous by ‘The Silmarillion’) quickly absorbed the new story, and it took its place in that universe, becoming a long, detailed and triumphant tale of the Third Age of Middle-earth.

The genius of this book did not become obvious at once. The fact is that it did not fit into any of the existing categories. First of all, the book seemed too long to readers, and many of them, along with the critics, preferred to brush it aside, some angrily, some condescendingly, denying it the right to be called serious literature. But this attitude gradually changed (not least thanks to the enthusiasm of young, open-minded readers), firstly in the English-speaking world, and then in other countries when the book was translated into the main languages. Every year many millions of people get acquainted with the trilogy, and every year many millions succumb to its charms. This book evokes strong feelings. To this day, however, some do not like ‘The Lord’, but most are captivated by the story told by Tolkien and return to it again and again to revive in their memory this book, which has become for them a textbook of life.

This is a moral book, but it does not preach. It is a story of exploits and adventures, of good and evil, battles and devastation, of home comfort and simple joys. But, among other things, the needle of its huge compass points first of all to the dignity and deep meaning of life itself. Good luck!

I would like to correct myself, the edition is issued in May 2025, not April.
Here are the two official promo fragments from the books.

Sergey Belyakov's compendium is very useful for me: https://ivmk.net/lithos-vkr.htm

I'd also like to use this chance to recommend Michael Mints's Tolkien bibliography, which includes 3000+ books and papers: http://michael-mints.ru/tolkien-bibliography/