The 100 million best-selling children's book published in Scottish Gaelic for first time

It is one of the best-selling children’s books of all time and laid the foundations for an epic fantasy series that has been turned into a hugely-popular film franchise.

Now JRR Tolkien’s classic book The Hobbit, which has sold more than 100 million copies worldwide, has been translated into Scottish Gaelic for the first time.

The book, written by the author for his own children, was the prequel for the Lord of the Rings trilogy, which became one of the highest-ever grossing box office film series.

A' Hobat, no A-null 's Air Ais A-rithist: The Hobbit, or There and Back Again in Scottish Gaelic, published by Dundee-based Evertype, is the first translation into Scottish Gaelic of the classic book.

A Hobat has been published by Evertype. | Evertype

“I like The Hobbit very much,” said Evertype director Michael Everson, who published the Irish Gaelic version of the book 13 years ago and has also been behind translations of the work into Hawaiian, Yiddish and Cornish. “It’s one of my favourites.”

Love the arts? Us too - subscribe now to our dedicated newsletter

JRR Tolkien always said he preferred Welsh to Gaelic, and claimed he had a "certain distaste" for "Celtic things", particularly Gaelic.

Mr Everson said, however, he believed the author would be pleased with his new edition of his book, which uses the original 1937 cover art. “I’m sure he would be happy,” he said.

Mr Everson said the book had already been bought by both Gaelic speakers and Tolkien enthusiasts, who collect different translations of the text. With the help of a grant from the Gaelic Books Council, the project has been five years in the making.

A spokesperson for the Gaelic Books Council said: “The Gaelic Books Council’s grants support a range of publications by independent publishers, both original Gaelic texts and works in translation, and The Hobbit is a welcome addition to the range of classic titles now available in Gaelic. We congratulate Evertype and Moray Watson, and we are sure that Gaelic readers will be eager to explore Tolkien’s world in their own language.”

The Hobbit was translated by Professor Moray Watson, who has also translated Evertype’s Scottish Gaelic edition of Alice in Wonderland, which the publisher has published in 90 languages worldwide. He is a professor in translation studies at the University of Aberdeen.