<p><em><strong>Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu</strong></em> is a series of Japanese novels written by a Japanese person, and is not, to the best of my knowledge, materially based on any previously-existing work.</p>
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<p>The 110-episode OVA series (which is probably what most viewers are familiar with) was given the alternate title &quot;Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel&quot;. I don't speak German, but various discussions on the internet suggest that &quot;Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel&quot; is not valid German. A look at <a href="http://de.wiktionary.org/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">de.wiktionary.org</a> suggests that &quot;Kosmosinsel&quot; is not even a word, or perhaps is a compound noun meaning &quot;cosmos island&quot; (which is not idiomatic for &quot;galaxy&quot;; that would be &quot;Galaxie&quot;).</p>
<p>Given this, it looks like the producers of the OVA figured that it would look cool to have a faux-German title (<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/xm3Bv.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in Gothic font, too!</a>), ran &quot;銀河英雄伝説&quot; through Babelfish (or maybe through some dude who'd had a year of German at university), and got out &quot;Heldensagen von Kosmosinsel&quot;. It's probably the case that the translation went Jap -&gt; Ger (badly) and Jap -&gt; Eng, rather than Ger -&gt; Jap -&gt; Eng.</p>
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<p>I'm not sure why you've been hearing that that &quot;Legend of the Galactic Heroes&quot; is an &quot;interesting&quot; translation of 銀河英雄伝説 (<em>ginga eiyuu densetsu</em>), though. 銀河 <em>ginga</em> means &quot;galaxy&quot;; 英雄 <em>eiyuu</em> means &quot;hero&quot;; and 伝説 <em>densetsu</em> means &quot;legend&quot;.</p>
<p>It's a bit contracted to omit particles, as titles often are, but the meaning is clear - this is a <em>densetsu</em> about the <i>ginga eiyuu</i>s, i.e. a <em>legend</em> about <em>galaxy heroes</em>. Hence, <strong><em>Legend of the Galactic Heroes</em></strong>.</p>
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<p>Note: in the comments, <a href="https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/5816/what-is-a-more-accurate-translation-of-the-title-of-legend-of-the-galactic-heroe/5817#comment6666_5817">@Krazer correctly points out</a> that an alternate parse of <em>ginga eiyuu densetsu</em> is as &quot;<em>eiyuu densetsu</em> about the <em>ginga</em>&quot;, i.e. &quot;Heroic Legends from the Galaxy&quot;. Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure which parse is actually better, in terms of the show.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-10T18:51:17.663Z
If we draw from both sources we can infer that 銀河(Milky Way/Galaxy) 英雄伝説 (heroic [legendary] tales) can also potentially mean: "Heroic Tales/Legends from (the) Milky Way/Galaxy."
кяαzєя
CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-11-14T05:49:46.437Z
@Krazer Good catch. I've incorporated that into the answer.
senshin
CC BY-SA 4.0
2013-11-10T10:09:13.280Z
2023-04-28T04:36:35.083Z
2023-04-28T04:36:35.083Z
senshin
<p>Several people have mentioned to me that the title of <em>Legend of the Galactic Heroes</em> is based on a rather "interesting" translation. What would be a more accurate translation of the original title (銀河英雄伝説 <em>Ginga Eiyū Densetsu</em>)? I've also heard that it is based on a German title, that was then translated to Japanese, and then to English - I don't know if that is true, though. </p>

<japanese-language><legend-of-the-galactic-heroes>
What is a more accurate translation of the title of Legend of the Galactic Heroes?
# What is a more accurate translation of the title of Legend of the Galactic Heroes?
Posted by: username_0 on 2013-11-10
Several people have mentioned to me that the title of *Legend of the Galactic Heroes* is based on a rather "interesting" translation. What would be a more accurate translation of the original title (銀河英雄伝説 *Ginga Eiyū Densetsu*)? I've also heard that it is based on a German title, that was then translated to Japanese, and then to English - I don't know if that is true, though.
**Tags:** japanese-language legend-of-the-galactic-heroes
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## 1 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2013-11-10. Score: 4 | Accepted answer
***Ginga Eiyuu Densetsu*** is a series of Japanese novels written by a Japanese person, and is not, to the best of my knowledge, materially based on any previously-existing work.

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The 110-episode OVA series (which is probably what most viewers are familiar with) was given the alternate title "Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel". I don't speak German, but various discussions on the internet suggest that "Heldensagen vom Kosmosinsel" is not valid German. A look at [de.wiktionary.org](http://de.wiktionary.org/) suggests that "Kosmosinsel" is not even a word, or perhaps is a compound noun meaning "cosmos island" (which is not idiomatic for "galaxy"; that would be "Galaxie").

Given this, it looks like the producers of the OVA figured that it would look cool to have a faux-German title ([in Gothic font, too!](https://i.sstatic.net/xm3Bv.png)), ran "銀河英雄伝説" through Babelfish (or maybe through some dude who'd had a year of German at university), and got out "Heldensagen von Kosmosinsel". It's probably the case that the translation went Jap -> Ger (badly) and Jap -> Eng, rather than Ger -> Jap -> Eng.

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I'm not sure why you've been hearing that that "Legend of the Galactic Heroes" is an "interesting" translation of 銀河英雄伝説 (*ginga eiyuu densetsu*), though. 銀河 *ginga* means "galaxy"; 英雄 *eiyuu* means "hero"; and 伝説 *densetsu* means "legend".

It's a bit contracted to omit particles, as titles often are, but the meaning is clear - this is a *densetsu* about the *ginga eiyuu*s, i.e. a *legend* about *galaxy heroes*. Hence, ***Legend of the Galactic Heroes***.

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Note: in the comments, [@Krazer correctly points out](https://anime.stackexchange.com/questions/5816/what-is-a-more-accurate-translation-of-the-title-of-legend-of-the-galactic-heroe/5817#comment6666_5817) that an alternate parse of *ginga eiyuu densetsu* is as "*eiyuu densetsu* about the *ginga*", i.e. "Heroic Legends from the Galaxy". Now that I think about it, I'm not really sure which parse is actually better, in terms of the show.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2013-11-10): If we draw from both sources we can infer that 銀河(Milky Way/Galaxy) 英雄伝説 (heroic [legendary] tales) can also potentially mean: "Heroic Tales/Legends from (the) Milky Way/Galaxy."  
> **username_1** (2013-11-14): @Krazer Good catch. I've incorporated that into the answer.  
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