《HP官方资料翻译集（物品篇）》霁随心

27、格兰芬多的宝剑

　　【Pottermore中有关格兰芬多的宝剑的信息】
　　（前面的翻译微改自豆瓣上对WitchWillow的翻译转贴，后面“罗琳的想法”是自己翻译的）

　　格兰芬多的宝剑在一千年前由妖精制造，妖精是魔法世界里技术最精湛的工匠，因此这把剑也被施了魔法。这把剑以纯银打造，镶嵌有红宝石，红宝石在霍格沃茨的沙漏里代表着格兰芬多所获得的学院分数。戈德里克·格兰芬多的名字就刻在剑柄下方。
　　这把剑由莱格纳克一世（Ragnuk the First）为戈德里克·格兰芬多量身定做。莱格纳克一世是妖精中技艺最精湛的银匠，因此也是妖精之王（在妖精的文化中，统治者比别人工作更多，技术更精）。这把剑打造完成时莱格纳克觊觎不已，于是假装声称是格兰芬多从他那偷走了剑，并派他的仆人去偷回来。格兰芬多用他的魔杖自卫，但并没有杀掉袭击者。他给他们施了魔法，让他们回国王那儿转告他的警告：如果再妄想盗取宝剑，格兰芬多将会抽刀出鞘向所有妖精宣战。
　　妖精之王重视了这一警告，让格兰芬多保留了这把合法财产，但至死都怨恨未消。这也是为何在妖精的一些部落中至今流传着格兰芬多盗窃的谣言。
　　至于为何一个巫师需要一把宝剑，这个问题常被问及，其实答案很简单。在《国际保密法》颁布之前，巫师和麻瓜自由来往，巫师像需要魔杖一样需要用剑来保护自己。事实上，人们认为用魔杖对抗麻瓜的宝剑是不君子的行为（但并不是说没有发生过）。许多颇有天赋的巫师同时也是传统意义上出色的决斗者，格兰芬多就是其中之一。
　　民间传说中流传着许多有魔力的宝剑。努阿杜之剑——丹奴之子的四件传奇宝藏之一——刀出鞘则战无不胜。格兰芬多的宝剑借鉴了王者之剑——亚瑟王之剑——的传说，传说中只有真正的国王才能将剑从石头中拔出。胜任者才能取得宝剑，这一理念一直伴随着格兰芬多之剑回归到出自其真正主人的学院的杰出成员手中。

　　罗琳的想法：
　　有关于王者之剑，还有另外一个典故。《死亡圣器》中，哈利必须潜入森林中结冰的池塘以取得宝剑（尽管宝剑被放在那儿实际上是出于斯内普恶意的冲动），这源于在某些版本的传说中，王者之剑是湖中夫人交给亚瑟王的，亚瑟王死后，将其还到了湖里。在魔法世界里，实质拥有并不一定意味着具有所有权。这一概念对三件死亡圣器和格兰芬多宝剑都适用。
　　我对文化信念有冲突时会发生什么很感兴趣。在哈利波特的书籍中，妖精这一种族中最好斗的的那部分认为，所由有妖精制作的物品都理当归他们所有，即便巫师可以通过支付金币而在他活着的时候拥有特定的妖精制品。男女巫师就像麻瓜一样，认为一旦支付完成，这件物品就属于他们，并可以永远地传给他们的后代或遗产受赠人。这是一种无解的价值观冲突，因为双方对“什么是正确的”具有不同的理解。因此，在《死亡圣器》中，当拉环要求以宝剑来换取他的帮助时，哈利陷入了道德上的两难。

作者有话说

　　【Pottermore中有关于格兰芬多宝剑的信息】
The sword of Gryffindor was made a thousand years ago by goblins, the magical world's most skilled metalworkers, and is therefore enchanted. Fashioned from pure silver, it is inset with rubies, the stone that represents Gryffindor in the hour-glasses that count the house points at Hogwarts. Godric Gryffindor's name is engraved just beneath the hilt.
The sword was made to Godric Gryffindor's specifications by Ragnuk the First, finest of the goblin silversmiths, and therefore King (in goblin culture, the ruler does not work less than the others, but more skillfully). When it was finished, Ragnuk coveted it so much that he pretended that Gryffindor had stolen it from him, and sent minions to steal it back. Gryffindor defended himself with his wand, but did not kill his attackers. Instead he sent them back to their king bewitched, to deliver the threat that if he ever tried to steal from Gryffindor again, Gryffindor would unsheathe the sword against them all
The goblin king took the threat seriously and left Gryffindor in possession of his rightful property, but remained resentful until he died. This was the foundation for the false legend of Gryffindor's theft that persists, in some sections of the goblin community, to this day.
The question of why a wizard would need a sword, though often asked, is easily answered. In the days before the International Statute of Secrecy, when wizards mingled freely with Muggles, they would use swords to defend themselves just as often as wands. Indeed, it was considered unsporting to use a wand against a Muggle sword (which is not to say it was never done). Many gifted wizards were also accomplished duellists in the conventional sense, Gryffindor among them.
There have been many enchanted swords in folklore. The Sword of Nuadu, part of the four legendary treasures of Tuatha Dé Danann, was invincible when drawn. Gryffindor's sword owes something to the legend of Excalibur, the sword of King Arthur, which in some legends must be drawn from a stone by the rightful king. The idea of fitness to carry the sword is echoed in the sword of Gryffindor's return to worthy members of its true owner's house.
J.K. Rowling's thoughts
There is a further allusion to Excalibur emerging from the lake when Harry must dive into a frozen forest pool to retrieve the sword in Deathly Hallows (though the location of the sword was really due to a spiteful impulse of Snape's to place it there), for in other versions of the legend, Excalibur was given to Arthur by the Lady of the Lake, and was returned to the lake when he died.
Within the magical world, physical possession is not necessarily a guarantee of ownership. This concept applies to the three Deathly Hallows, and also to Gryffindor's sword.
I am interested in what happens when cultural beliefs collide. In the Harry Potter books, the most militant of the goblin race consider all goblin-made objects to be theirs by right, although a specific object might be made over to a wizard for his life-span upon a payment of gold. Witches and wizards, like Muggles, believe that once payment has been made, the object belongs to them and their descendants or legatees in perpetuity. This is a clash of values without a solution, because each side has a different concept of what is right. It therefore presents Harry with a difficult moral dilemma when Griphook demands the sword as payment for his services in Deathly Hallows.