English is a quirky language, but what they’ve done with the title for the new hobbit game can’t be blamed on zany grammar rules. It’s a sin that’s been committed in the name of branding—a terrible sin.
The full title of Wētā Workshop’s upcoming cozy hobbit life sim is: “Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings Game.”
The crime is so heinous that the unconscious mind sometimes edits it out, so here’s that last bit again: “A The Lord of The Rings Game.”
I will admit that writers are prone to indulging in theatrically strong opinions about language that other people are correct not to give a crap about, and sure, I have at times taken pleasure in being pointlessly dogmatic about the meaning of the word “comprise.” I considered that reacting to this felony article usage with anything more than a shrug might just be an affectation, but every time I see it again, I become re-convinced that I can’t be the only one repulsed by the thought of seeing “A The” in my Steam library.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen the rule being broken here spelled out—that is, when an article like “the” or “a” is followed by a title that starts with an article, omit the article from the title—but only because it doesn’t normally need to be. I’ve never met anyone who goes around saying things like “a The Matrix movie” or “the The Godfather DVD.”
I can’t believe anyone would subtitle their game “A The Lord of the Rings game” unless their arm was twisted, so I think it must be the case that someone to do with the Lord of the Rings trademark (or “the The Lord of the Rings trademark,” I should say) insisted that the “the” be retained.
I actually omitted a trademark symbol when I reproduced the title above, so, to be totally accurate, the full title of the game on Steam is: Tales of the Shire: A The Lord of The Rings™ Game. What depravity! (The game looks cool though.)
