Is Voldemort called "Tom Elvis Riddle" in the French versions of Harry Potter?

Question

A friend told me that in the French versions of Harry Potter, they had to make Voldemort's middle name "Elvis". They said that they did this in order to make the "Tom Marvolo Riddle" to "I am Lord Voldemort" anagram to work.

Now I don't know French that well, but I thought this was too funny to be true.

Did this really happen, or is one of my friends lying to me? If it did happen, can anyone show how?

NB: This is a movies and TV site so answers should be about the movies, not the books. This was correctly raised here.

HP Wikia has a full list of such changes. Can't fetch it now because I'm boycotting HP Wikia, but the list is hilarious! — Gallifreyan, Apr 12 '17 at 18:02
I always thought it was odd how his name anagram included 'I am' in it. Without including those two words translation issues aren't really an issue in my opinion. Though, I'm betting 'I am' came as a result of wanting to have 'Riddle' as the last name, as a foreshadowing that his name is actually some sort of Riddle. — user200857, Apr 12 '17 at 19:03
In the Russian translation, Voldemort is changed to Volan-de-mort, so your question definitely sounds plausible. — alexgbelov, Apr 12 '17 at 22:35
@Thunderforge why change the title? I like the pun. What's wrong with it as it is? — caird coinheringaahing, Apr 13 '17 at 03:39
@ThisGuy The original title wasn't a question and didn't really describe the contents of it (virtually every other question tagged with [tag:harry-potter] has a question in the title). It was also a Hot Network Question and so I felt it should be changed to showcase a higher standard of quality for this site. It was never a pun anyway (it wasn't two words that sound the same), but I did keep the name in the title. — Thunderforge, Apr 13 '17 at 04:29
It's worth seeing the whole video by Vox, but if you start here, you'll see that they discuss the French translation of the name. — Shokhet, Apr 13 '17 at 05:36
Related meta discussion: Would this question be about the books, and therefore off-topic? — Napoleon Wilson, Apr 13 '17 at 19:43
@NapoleonWilson really? Also the currently highest voted answer doesn't mention the books and I'm accepting it in a bit. In addition, to me personally, the "translators" imply talking/filmography. I don't know about you but... — caird coinheringaahing, Apr 13 '17 at 20:05
@Shane French:"Hodor" Spanish:"Hodor" German:"Hodor" any language:"Hodor" — caird coinheringaahing, Apr 13 '17 at 20:12
@ThisGuy Well, feel free to share your insights on the respective meta discussion. I just dropped it here for reference purposes. — Napoleon Wilson, Apr 13 '17 at 20:15
"to me personally, the "translators" imply talking/filmography" - That...is a stretch though. You won't believe how the guys translating books are called. ;-) — Napoleon Wilson, Apr 13 '17 at 20:42

score 49 · Accepted Answer · answered Apr 12 '17 at 17:06

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It's true that the second name is Elvis, but the last name is also different in French. To make the anagram work there are many different versions of the name in other languages.

In other languages, translators replaced the entire name to preserve the anagram. In French, Riddle's full name becomes Tom Elvis Jedusor (...) which forms an anagram for "Je suis Voldemort" ("I am Voldemort").

From Wikipedia

answered Apr 12 '17 at 17:06

The Raven Queen

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So… Marvolo Gaunt is Elvis Gaunt in France?! – Janus Bahs Jacquet Apr 12 '17 at 19:33
he is actually elvis marvolo gaunt – fonfonx Apr 12 '17 at 19:52
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To give another example of such an anagram where it's even more different: In Dutch, he's called Marten Asmodom Vilijn, which swaps around for "Mijn naam is Voldemort". – Nzall Apr 13 '17 at 06:25
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@Nzall any relation to Asmodean? – muru Apr 13 '17 at 06:52
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Tom Rojvol Raddle in Czech, which swaps around for "Já, Lord Voldemort"... – vojta Apr 13 '17 at 07:02
@muru you sir are awarded +1 interwebs for mentioning The Wheel of Time. – Ryan Apr 15 '17 at 00:38
@muru: It seems probable both names ultimately derive from Asmodeus, with appropriate sinister connotations. ("Vilijn", in Dutch, has the same sound as "vilein" - "vile", "villainous"). Unlike "Tom Marvolo Riddle", "Marten Asmodom Vilijn" is a name to run away from really fast. (Obligatory link to TVTropes deliberately omitted.) – Jeroen Mostert Sep 18 '17 at 13:36

score 31 · Answer 2 · edited Apr 14 '17 at 12:24

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Lot of names were actually changed in the French translation of the books. It is the case of Tom Marvolo Riddle which is translated to "Tom Elvis Jedusor" to make the anagram works, but Snape (Rogue in French), Mad-Eye Moody (Maugrey Fol Œil in French), Hogwarts (Poudlard in French), Muggle (Moldu in French), Crucio (Endoloris in French) and so many other names or spells have been changed by the French translator in order to preserve the puns.

Note that the French "Jedusor = Jeu du sort" means "game of spell" or "game of fate" as you want, which does not exactly mean riddle but which keeps the idea of playing with words.

edited Apr 14 '17 at 12:24

Manu

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answered Apr 12 '17 at 20:04

fonfonx

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I wonder why the French publishers just didn't have Harry go to Beaubatons. ;) – krillgar Apr 13 '17 at 11:20
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@krillgar isn't it exclusively a school for girls? are they going to also rename the main character to Harriet Potter? – user253751 Apr 15 '17 at 11:20
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@immibis in the movies Beauxbatons is indeed a girl school but (at least only girls are shown) but this is not the case in the books – fonfonx Apr 15 '17 at 12:29
Are "Snape" and "Muggle" puns? – Eric Duminil Sep 14 '19 at 21:42

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Apr 13 '17 at 07:09

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Yep, they do. If not, the anagram doesn't work. In spanish, for example, his name is "Tom Sorvolo Ryddle" (Soy Lord Voldemort). Here's the spanish version.

answered Apr 13 '17 at 07:09

Newwt

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Is Voldemort called "Tom Elvis Riddle" in the French versions of Harry Potter?

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