Fantastic read. I own the old German translation, thank God, and as a special hardcover edition in a single red volume with silken bookmarks and bible-thin pages. Very beautiful. The old translator had a direct line to Tolkien himself and discussed best translations of the intended tone and spelling. Why German publisher Klett-Cotta would commission a new translation after the movies had come out is beyond me. And how Frodo is Sam's "boss", der Chef, in the new translation says everything about the inaptitude to capture the medieval-like setting.
Does anyone who read both translations prefer the new one?