Shakespeare’s birthplace and The Roald Dahl Museum
You might think there’s nothing to link Roald Dahl and William Shakespeare, but there are a few things they have in common…
They’ve both got big anniversaries this year:
2016 marks 100 years since Roald Dahl’s birth, and 400 years since Shakespeare’s death. That means 2016 is a pretty great year for celebrating the lives and works of these two world-famous writers.
They both made up some crackling words:
Shakespeare coined countless new words and phrases, many of which have found their way into common usage, including ‘wild goose chase’, ‘laughing stock’, and ‘heart of gold’. Roald Dahl invented quite a few words of his own, especially while writing The BFG – who can forget snozzcumber, gigglehouse and exunkly?
Both authors have their very own dictionaries, both published by Oxford University Press. The Oxford Illustrated Shakespeare Dictionary and The Gobblefunk Dictionary (coming in June).
Quick quiz:
Can you tell which of the following 5 words are Roald Dahl words, and which 5 are Shakespeare words?
Babblement, Smilets, Bubukles, Crumpscoddle, Pulsidge,
Vizaments, Squizzled, Twangling, Bootboggler, Sossel.
(Answers at the bottom of the page!)
They both have links to the Royal Shakespeare Company:
Set up in 1875 the Royal Shakespeare Company was established to inspire a lifelong love of William Shakespeare and to produce new plays and productions. In 2010 the RSC’s production of Matilda the Musical based on Roald Dahl’s Matilda, premiered at The Courtyard Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, before moving to the West End in 2011. This record-breaking, award-winning musical is still going strong, made its way to Broadway in 2013 and toured Australia in 2015.
They are both loved worldwide:
Shakespeare is well and truly international. According to The British Council his works have been translated into over 100 languages (including Klingon), and performed worldwide – Romeo and Juliet has been performed in 24 countries in the last 10 years alone!
Roald Dahl books have been translated into 58 languages including Norwegian, Welsh and Japanese, but not Klingon… yet. During his lifetime Roald Dahl stuck a pin in a world map every time he received fan mail from a new place. Far flung destinations included Sao Paulo, Beijing, Addis Ababa and Windhoek.
Roald’s Fan Map
They are both top ten borrowed authors:
Both Roald Dahl and Shakespeare are very popular with library goers it would seem. The Public Lending Right lists Roald Dahl as the number 1 most borrowed classic author in 2015, with Shakespeare taking tenth place. Not bad!
They’re big on the big screen:
Many of Shakespeare’s plays have been made into movies. According to the BFI the first Shakespeare film was made in 1899. Since then there have been countless film versions and adaptations including William Shakespeare’s Romeo + Juliet (1996), West Side Story (1961), and 10 Things I Hate About You (1999).
There have been some great film adaptations of Roald Dahl’s books too, Including Matilda, Fantastic Mr Fox, and Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The BFG is coming to cinemas this July.
You can visit their home towns:
Two places you must definitely visit are The Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire and Shakespeare’s Birthplace in Stratford-Upon-Avon.
Roald Dahl lived in the village of Great Missenden for 36 years and wrote all of his children’s books in his Writing Hut in the bottom of his garden. The Museum is housed in an old coaching inn on the High Street, you can’t miss it – look for the painted BFG on the front.
William Shakespeare lived in Henley Street in Stratford from the time of his birth until he was old enough to marry. Visitors can tread in his footsteps in the house he lived in, for millions of enthusiasts worldwide this house is a shrine.
Some of their stories are rooted in folklore:
Witches, magic, sprites and mysterious creatures appear in work by Roald Dahl and Shakespeare, and almost certainly rooted in folklore. Roald Dahl’s Norwegian heritage may have influenced his stories about jumbly giants and witches. His first story for children The Gremlins was inspired by RAF folklore which held that little creatures were responsible for the various mechanical failures on aeroplanes.
Shakespeare plays feature similar characters: Titania in Midsummer Night’s Dream, the sorcere Prospero, and the witches in Macbeth. Even Hamlet is borrowed from an old Scandinavian tale.
Quiz answers:
Roald Dahl = Babblement, Crumpscoddle, Squizzled, Bootboggler, Sossel.
William Shakespeare = Smilets, Bubukles, Pulsidge, Vizaments, Twangling.
—
credits: roald dahl museum
I breathed a sigh of relief when I realised I’d recognised which words were whose!
LikeLiked by 4 people
I got them all wrong!
LikeLiked by 3 people
it’s a challenge –
LikeLiked by 2 people
wow, that’s really good )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Nice post – I enjoyed it!
LikeLiked by 2 people
thank you )
LikeLike
Enjoyed all the fun facts. 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
glad you enjoyed it –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Very, very cool Beth. I learned a lot.
LikeLiked by 2 people
thanks so much, paul –
LikeLike
Really interesting stuff, Beth. I especially love be word quiz. So many similarities. How much fun is that..:)
LikeLiked by 2 people
i agree, i love their use of language and their creation of it )
LikeLike
Fascinating and fun! Thanks Beth
LikeLiked by 1 person
glad you enjoyed it, mark –
LikeLike
Very interesting and informative! I loved the made up words they created. Thanks!!
LikeLiked by 2 people
me too! )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Great quiz!!!!! I WON I WON!!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
woo-hoo!
LikeLiked by 1 person
coucou
thank you for sharing this good post
happy to discover and follow your blog
Anita
https://femmeetinfos.wordpress.com
LikeLiked by 1 person
thank you, anita –
LikeLiked by 1 person
you’re welcome dear
🙂
LikeLike
Wow, Bamboozled!
LikeLiked by 1 person
hah!
LikeLiked by 1 person
The comparison is indeed apt!
>
LikeLiked by 1 person
it is )
LikeLike
Great post, I think they both wrote some ‘must have’ books for young and old!
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks, i think they did too )
LikeLiked by 1 person
Fascinating! I learned much more about Dahl. Thank you!
LikeLiked by 1 person
with roald, there is always more )
LikeLike
Reblogged this on A Grateful Man and commented:
For Fans of Raold Dahl (and/or Shakespeare). I found this post quite interesting. That’s not a surprise since Beth wrote it! I thought many of you would like to experience it.
With Love,
Russ
LikeLiked by 1 person
thanks so much, russ )
LikeLike
Darn, you tricked me! I was thinking that both were Roald Dahl words because of the title of the post and the way that you asked the question. Hope my guessing is better on the board exams in 9 days!
LikeLiked by 1 person
your fellow patients and i hope so too! good luck )
LikeLike
I never really enjoyed Shakespeare until, in college, I found a book that explained all the sexual imagery and innuendo in his plays. What a dirty old man he was! After that, I couldn’t get enough of his word play!
LikeLiked by 1 person
he was quite a wit!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Really fascinating, Beth – thanks for this post – love the words! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
the words were my favorite part, too –
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for this delightful post. I had the pleasure of meeting and sharing a shattering incident with Roald Dahl that I wrote about in one of my blogs.
LikeLiked by 1 person
my pleasure – you are so very lucky!
LikeLike
Excellent post, and fresh …. Two legends. Hey, I don’t reblog very often anymore. But I want to reblog this. If you don’t want me to reblog any of your posts, just let me know.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i’m glad you enjoyed it, and feel free to reblog anything you like, i consider it a compliment )
LikeLike
Hey Beth … I couldn’t find the reblog option … so I will try it again another day when my brain is firing on all of the pistons.
LikeLiked by 1 person
i totally get that –
LikeLike
oh, forsooth! I doth loveth this! copying and sharing I must!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hahahaha thanks for your babblement!
LikeLike
This was too late in the day but I still would have only got about 50% of the words right, Beth. You did a lovely job of comparing their styles of word usages and also, their anniversaries which are major this year. Happy 100 and Happy 400 to the two very cool and wonderful story tellers, both dramatic and humorous with “gads of flair!”
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love Roald Dahl books! I read most of them when I was a kid. Great post!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Me too, and I’m rereading them as an adult)
LikeLiked by 1 person
What an interesting connection! I love both Dahl and Shakespeare and had never really thought to join them together before. What an important year we have this year then! Happy Dahl day today 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
yes, i love both of them too and even though they may not often be put together, they do have some things in common )
LikeLike
“Twangling” is actually one of my favorite words! Great post! xx Arielle
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is a great word )
LikeLike