A press release we received recently about the newly adapted Tintin books in Welsh!
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Dafydd Jones’ passion for all things Tintin has finally come full circle as his latest adaptation of the young reporter’s adventures is published.
Explorers on the Moon was the first ever Tintin book that Dafydd bought as a young child.
Decades later, along with Destination Moon, he’s adapted Belgian author Hergé’s masterpieces into Welsh so that the people of Wales can enjoy Tintin’s adventures as the first person to walk on the moon.
Destination Moon, translated as Llwybr i’r Lleuad, follows Tintin, his faithful dog Milyn and Capten Hadog as they respond to Professor Ephraim R. Efflwfia’s call to travel to Sprodzj atomic research centre in Syldafia. There, Ephraim is busy preparing for the first ever moon expedition – 15 years before Neil Armstrong managed such a feat – and invites Tintin and his friends along on his pioneering adventure. In the second book, Explorers on the Moon, translated as Ar Leuad Lawr, the crew have made it safely to the moon but, with treachery awaiting in the lunar shadows, could this be Tintin’s final adventure?
“I started reading Tintin books around 1974 when I bought a copy of Explorers on the Moon. When I was a young boy I would devour the books in English, and as I got older I would also read some of them in French before a handful of them were translated into Welsh in the late 70s and early 80s. But after that, nothing more appeared in Welsh until publishers Dalen and I recently started adapting some of the books,” says Dafydd, who’s now published six Tintin books with Dalen.
- Dafydd Jones and the fruit of his efforts.
Originally from Cardiff, Dafydd Jones now lives in Bridgend. He is a lecturer at Cardiff School of Art and is the Editor of the University of Wales Press. Having read comic books all his life Dafydd, along with his brother Alun Ceri Jones, director of publishing company Dalen, have adapted a number of comic books into Welsh, including the Lucky Luke and Tintin adventures.
Tintin’s adventures are renowned around the world having been translated into nearly 100 different languages. But as you follow Tintin on his quests in Welsh, you’ll soon realise that Dafydd Jones has given the adventures a distinctively Welsh twist as you meet the bungling detectives Parry-Williams and Williams Parry, developing the stories not only in the Welsh language but also in the culture that the language expresses.
The young reporter will soon be attracting a new wave of followers as Hollywood prepares to make a film about his adventures. But as the world catches up with enthusiasm for comics, Europe has been embracing this style of literature for years.
“Comic strips are a genre in Europe, and as the bande dessinée a much loved form that has been a part of the French and Belgian media for decades. On the continent, they don’t categorize comic strips in the same way as we do here. They are regarded as stories for adults as well as children – they are meant to be enjoyed for what they are by all,” says Dafydd.
Both Welsh Tintin books, Llwybr i’r Lleuad and Ar Leuad Lawr, ar available to buy now at your local Welsh bookshop or from www.gwales.com
For more information please contact Gwenan Davies at Cambrensis on 01286 685254 or gwenan@cambrensis.uk.com
