# Star Trek/Shakespeare experts? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 12, 1999, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125 "1999-10-12T12:44:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/1 "1999-10-12T12:44:00Z")
I’d like to know the sources for the lines that Christopher Plummer’s character is using as he bombs away at the Enterprise. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/2 "1999-10-12T13:22:00Z")
Hamlet, for the most part, ifn’ I recalls correctly. I ain’t gonna rent the movie just to remember which lines, though. The title of the movie is from Hamlet’s famous soliloquy about facing death. ---
**Author:** ![TheIncredibleHolg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@TheIncredibleHolg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheIncredibleHolg)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/3 "1999-10-12T14:40:00Z")
Which is ironic. Those Star Trek guys love to use Shakespeare, and usually that’s quite enjoyable. But in that film they screwed up big time. Just think of the scene where humans and Klingons all toast “the undiscovered country”, meaning the future, when in Hamlet, that phrase clearly refers to death: “… the thought of something after death – the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveler returns – puzzles the will, and makes us rather bear those ills we have than fly to others that we know not of.” ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/4 "1999-10-12T14:47:00Z")
[http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0102975](http://us.imdb.com/Trivia?0102975) ---
**Author:** ![Bluepony](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Bluepony](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bluepony)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/5 "1999-10-12T14:52:00Z")
As he bombs away at the _Enterprise_, Kang is repeating a line from Shakespeare’s _Julius Caesar_, Act III- Scene 1. Marc Anthony’s line, _“Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war…”_ The famous soliloquy from _Hamlet_ is used in the formal dinner at the beginning of the movie and the title of Star Trek VI. From _Hamlet, Act III, Scene I_: \*The undiscovered country from whose bourn No traveler returns, puzzles the will, And makes us rather bear the ills we have Than fly to others that we know not of?\* The same act and scene is used when by General Kang when his ship is facing destruction, and that is the famous first line-- “To be, or not to be…” * * * “…send lawyers, guns, and money…” ``` Warren Zevon ``` ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/6 "1999-10-12T14:57:00Z")
Yep, there is very little true originality left anymore. Even Playboy magazine uses the same jokes from the 70’s today & just changes the words. ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/7 "1999-10-12T14:58:00Z")
Are you guys sure Mjollnir isn’t referring to the ‘let loose the dogs of war’ line? I haven’t read _Hamlet_ lately, and while I’m fairly certain the line is from Shakespeare (maybe one of the ‘Henry’ plays?), I don’t recall it in Hamlet’s soliloquy. I’m thinking of the play with “Once more into the breech, dear friends, once more!” ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/8 "1999-10-12T14:59:00Z")
Damn – Bluepony’s stomped my ass into the ground . . . ---
**Author:** ![neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/3ab097/32.png) [@neuro-trash\_grrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neuro-trash_grrrl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/9 "1999-10-12T16:53:00Z")
TheIncredibleHolg- Uh, you’ll notice that after Chancellor Gorkon proposes his toast, there is a distinct pause, sort of an unspoken “Huh?” going around the table. Then he clarifies: “The future”, and everyone relaxes. I’m pretty sure they knew fully well what the line meant, and were perhaps taking the opportunity to foreshadow the drama to come… Or maybe they weren’t, and I need to get a life. * * * Modest? You bet I’m modest! I am the queen of modesty! ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/10 "1999-10-13T05:23:00Z")
I just have to say that the line following the quoting of Shakespear at the table about hearing it in the original Klingon is one of the funniest frikkin’ things I’ve seen on the big screen. … Ok, I have an odd sense of humour… * * * ‘They couldn’t hit an Elephant from this dist…!’ Last words of General John Sedgwick ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/11 "1999-10-13T05:48:00Z")
That kind of thing really happens. The Hungarian Consul in NYC told a friend of mine that Kalmann’s _Die Czardasfuerstin_ had a “really good German translation.” And Germans have spoken for years of _“unserer [our] Shakespeare”._ * * * John W. Kennedy “Compact is becoming contract; man only earns and pays.” – Charles Williams ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/12 "1999-10-12T18:45:00Z")
John, along the same lines, I was in an annual meeting of the local theatre group, where we were voting on next season’s bill. Someone had proposed _Hedda Gabler_, by Ibsen (of course). A member of the group (who also at the time was a prominent local judge and has subesequently gone on to be a Circuit Court judge) got up to endorse it, saying,"I think this is a great play! I think it’s one of the great plays of the English language . . . " I and the woman across the aisle from me had to beat a hasty exit to keep from bursting with laughter. ---
**Author:** ![Sofa\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/58956e/32.png) [@Sofa\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sofa_King)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/13 "1999-10-12T18:51:00Z")
Certainly someone has taken the time to actually translate Shake into Klingon, haven’t they? As a matter of fact, yes. You can send your hard-earned money to these guys, if you like: "Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project Taking its cue from Star Trek VI, the KSRP has as its goal the restoration of the complete works of Shakespeare to the “original Klingon.” One of the KLI’s proudest accomplishments was the publication of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (The Restored Klingon Version) in March 1996, with a paperback version from Pocket Books anticipated in 1999. We hope to publish translations of Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth in the future; these translations are already in progress. To find out how you can help others to experience the Bard in his native language send a SASE to: Klingon Shakespeare Restoration Project P.O. Pox 634 Flourtown, PA 19031-0634 USA e-mail: [lawrence@kli.org](mailto:lawrence@kli.org) " ripped from: [http://www.kli.org/kli/projects.html#KSRP](http://www.kli.org/kli/projects.html#KSRP) ---
**Author:** ![douglips](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@douglips](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/douglips)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/14 "1999-10-12T19:07:00Z")
Sofa King writes: > [@](#): > > Certainly someone has taken the time to actually translate Shake into Klingon, haven’t they? As a matter of fact, yes. You can send your hard-earned money to these guys, if you like… There is an obvious tie in to a recent [Onion](http://www.theonion.com/) article [**Klingon Speakers Now Outnumber Navajo Speakers**](http://www.theonion.com/onion3526/klingon_navajo.html). Excerpts: > [@](#): > > “Navajo, a 3,000-year-old Native American tonal language belonging to the Athabaskan/Na-Dené group of tongues, is clearly dying and will likely be extinct by 2010,” MLA president Frederick Toback said. “Fortunately, though, the sad, steady decline of this once-proud Native American tongue has been more than offset by a rising interest in Klingon culture.” > … > “The number of truly fluent Navajo speakers stands at less than a thousand,” Littlefoot said. “And of these thousand, only a handful are less than 60 years old. Within a generation, our 4,000-year-old tongue will be dust.” > > “We have people from all walks of life here,” said Jennifer “pekaQ” Proehl, a member of the Klingon Language Institute’s High Council. “Students, computer programmers, salespeople–all of them banding > together in the proud Klingon tradition.” If you don’t laugh, you’ll cry. ---
**Author:** ![lvick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/d07c76/32.png) [@lvick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lvick)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/15 "1999-10-12T19:43:00Z")
Once more into the breach dear friends is from Henry V, as far as there being more Kingon speakers than Navajo, get a life ---
**Author:** ![tanstaafl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@tanstaafl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tanstaafl)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/16 "1999-10-12T19:55:00Z")
How does the number of Klingon speakers compare to the number of Espranto speakers? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/17 "1999-10-12T20:08:00Z")
Hey, I speak Esperanto like a native . . . -andros- * * * “Listen Children Eternal Father Eternally One!” Exceptions? None! -Doc Bronner ---
**Author:** ![Keeves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f05b48/32.png) [@Keeves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Keeves)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 1999, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/18 "1999-10-12T21:01:00Z")
To me, the best line in that movie was when Worf said — no, scratch that, the IMDB says that it was Spock’s line, I remembered it as Worf quoting a Klingon saying — anyway, when Spock said: “There is the old Vulcan proverb: Only Nixon could go to China.” ---
**Author:** ![TheIncredibleHolg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8797f3/32.png) [@TheIncredibleHolg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheIncredibleHolg)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/19 "1999-10-13T06:43:00Z")
neuro-trash grrrl – I wasn’t aware of that. But it still doesn’t seem right to me. I mean, it makes sense as an in-joke, but they chose the phrase as the title of the film itself! Nah, I don’t quite buy it. Sofa King: > [@](#): > > We hope to publish translations of Much Ado About Nothing and Macbeth in the future; these translations are already in progress. Okay, Hamlet and Macbeth I understand. But Much Ado About Nothing just doesn’t seem very Klingon-like to me… ---
**Author:** ![Doobieous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@Doobieous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doobieous)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 1999, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125/20 "1999-10-13T10:24:00Z")
The KLI (Klingon Language Institute) is involved in the process to translate both the bible and the works of Shakespeare. They have a website at: [www.kli.org.](http://www.kli.org.) Theres even a mailing list for language afficionados. Oh and according to an article done on that “The Onion” article at [www.langmaker.com,](http://www.langmaker.com,) there are perhaps dozens of fluent speakers of Klingon compared to 100,000 native speakers of Navajo. * * * ‘The beginning calls for courage; the end demands care’ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/star-trek-shakespeare-experts/4125.md?page=2)