Gilgamesh

The Epic of Gilgamesh (Klingon title ghIlghameS, pronunciation: S) is an epic poem from Mesopotamia and is amongst the earliest surviving works of literature. It has been translated to Klingon in 2000 by Roger Cheesbro.

History from the author's point of view

In the fall of 1998 I (Roger Cheesbro) was taking a college course (physics). When the course was finished at the end of November I found myself with this new free time. My skill with the Klingon language, though not superior by any means, had reached a point where I was able to read jatmey without looking up a word on every page. And having read jatmey, what else was there to read? Hamlet, being Shakespeare, was too much. I wanted simple stories of warriors of the old days. But there weren't any available. Hmm, maybe I could do something? So I translated ghIlghameS... for me. At the time I wasn't thinking about other klingonists. I simply wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. ...and I didn't tell anyone.

It took seven months. With the setup fee, it more cost affective to have several copies made instead of just one for me. qep'a' was approaching. So, I had a set of hard cover, Klingon only versions of the book printed up. qep'a' was in Las Vegas that year... nice place for a book release.

I went to the podium, and said "We now have ghIlghameS!" Mouths were open, no one made a sound; I guess I surprised them.

ghIlghameS is now available at your local bookstore. But if you're going to give your money to someone, you should buy the book directly from the KLI on their merchant page.

The current version is a paperback with the Klingon on the left pages and the English on the right pages. Many find it a good tool for beginners.

Readers' Reviews

Have you read ghIlghameS? Let others know what you think.

Review by naHQun

I purchased ghIlghameS sometime last year, and while I'm not that fluent in tlhIngan Hol, I found that I could follow it without much difficulty. DloraH uses very simple grammer in his translation. It's probably the closest to a "Dick and Jane" book we'll get.

~naHQun