“der Arm der See” – what does it mean? Is it really “the ass”?

Question

I cannot understand the meaning of the word Arm in the sentence:

... die Sonne...bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden ^{source, p. 241}

Der Arm, according to the dictionary, can be arm as a body limb, or a branch of a tree or of a river. All these meanings fit here badly, even if taken metaphorically. For the text has no thoughts or references to possibly branched structure of the sea. And why is it infinite?

I could accept the meaning on the great bosom of the Ocean here. But Arm could have such metaphoric meaning due to two reasons: It has similar non-metaphorical meaning or a ready expression with this or very close metaphoric meaning exists. But I couldn't find neither the similar meaning nor a similar phrase.

In the very modern and experimental or specially funny text there could be a third reason: creation of the new metaphor and meaning in site, but such tricks are very hard for understanding, and the source is a children book, so I consider this variant improbable.

In the Duden, I had found yet another meaning of the word Arm: Arsch (ass). And that meaning does fit the context ideally.

The sun sinking in the endless ass of the Southern Sea

is very nice and funny and controverse and romantic-expectations-breaking sentence. But in a children’s book?

So either I didn’t understand the use of the word in this context, or hadn’t found the correct dictionary, or greatly underestimated the bravery of Astrid Lindgren and Cäcilie Heinig – her translator to German.

Please, how should I understand the sentence?

Answer 1

My subjective but confident reading, very much provoked by the presence of unendlich and versinken is that the passage tries to evoke an idyllic feeling and uses Arm in the sense of bosom. As in:

Die Mutter hielt den Säugling im Arm.

I would translate:

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden…/ when the sun started descending and was about to set in the infinite bosom of the South Sea…

I don’t understand, why you disqualified this meaning, which you already mentioned. In my view this metaphor is perfectly relatable to Germans. Furthermore we have to consider the frequency of the metaphor in Swedish besides German. Even when a metaphor is not commonplace, translators often translate it quite directly, as long as it’s relatable.

The translator (and perhaps the original Author too, whom I cannot read) may simultaneously be thinking of Meeresarm mentioned by others. This word play is probably too good to be an accident. Arm der See has certainly been used to denote Meeresarm (evidence, further evidence, which seems to misspell estuary ). In fact I think that in dem makes both interpretations problematic. You don’t use it in the fixed expression „in its bosom“ but you also don’t use it without prior reference to a Meeresarm.

As for the Arse this meaning is absolutely not intended, especially in a children’s book. I have traveled very much in the German speaking world and can’t remember Arm ever used for Arse in real life.

Answer 2

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden, riefen die Trommeln der Taka-Tuka-Bewohner alle Menschen zum Fest- und Regierungsplatz, der mitten im Ort lag.
_{(from PIPPI in Taka-Tuka-Land, p. 241)}

You already noticed that rivers can have arms, but seas can have arms, too. See, for example, the entries of Meeresarm in the Duden, the DWDS, or the Wiktionary. Even dict.cc knows it.

Addendum:
I googled a bit and found out that the fictitious Taka-Tuka-Land is borrowed from the real place Larantuka on Flores Island, Indonesia. A picture, taken from a hotel building there, gives you an impression of the nearby Meeresarm:

_{Picture on Google Maps supplied by user Bulan Sari.}

Answer 3

You must have been mixing up something:

• (Germ) Arm = (Engl) arm
• (Germ) Arsch = (Engl) ass

This is the complete sentence (on page 241):

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden, riefen die Trommeln der Taka-Tuka-Bewohner alle Menschen zum Fest- und Regierungsplatz, der mitten im Ort lag.

In English:

When the sun began to sink and was ready to disappear in the infinite arm of the South Seas, the drums of the Taka Tuka dwellers called all people to the festival and government square, which lay in the middle of the village.

Obviousely the Swedish author Astrid Lindgren used the Swedish Word »arm« in a metaphoric way in her Swedish original. I think she wanted to express, that the South Seas embraced the sinking sun. The German translation of this Swedish word »arm« is »Arm«, and the English translation is »arm«.

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addendum

About bosom (Reaction to comments):

The German word for bosom is »Busen«. There are two things to say about this word:

1. The German word »Busen« has almost the same sexual connotation as the English word »titts«. It is not appropriate to use this word in a children's book.

2. The term »Busen der See« or »Busen des Meeres« is as unusual in German as »Arm der See«.

There also is the word »Meerbusen«, but it has a meaning, that doesn't fit here. This is a geographic term that means gulf or bay:

Finnischer Meerbusen = Gulf of Finland
Bottnischer Meerbusen = Gulf of Bothnia
Rigaischer Meerbusen = Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga

Answer 4

Given the context

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden, riefen die Trommeln der Taka-Tuka-Bewohner alle Menschen zum Fest- und Regierungsplatz, der mitten im Ort lag.

it is obvious (at least for me) that this is seen from the perspective of someone standing on the Island (Taka-Tuka is an island, as everybody knows who has read his Lindgren), and what do you see when standing on an island and looking out to the sea? You see a stretch of water, quite wide from from left to right, but very narrow from top to bottom. So this is clearly something lengthy, and thus can well be called an Arm.

But also more technically, as Taka-Tuka-Land is an island, even if you look at it from an airplane, you have a body of water between the island and the next piece of land, and this again can without any problem be called an Arm. Quite similar to the Ärmelkanal, although possibly wider.

I even wonder how else you could call a piece of water or section of an ocean that is lenghty in appearance, or devides two pieces of dry land?

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Some experiments to check if there are alternatives

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Bein der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Bauch der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Ohr der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Strich der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in der unendlichen Fläche der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in der unendlichen Weite der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in der unendlichen Straße der Südsee zu verschwinden...

Only the Fläche, Weite seem possible, but then they do not express lengthiness.

I think Arm was a good decision.

Answer 5

By the use of »Arm« the author (at least the translator) tried to gain some extra benefit for the reader. This try has failed. The reader is misled since an »Arm« is longer than wide and the given landscape is no »Meeresarm« which is the most common association while reading »Arm der Südsee«. Sure, it's a clever idea to interprete the »Arm« like Christian Geiselmann did, but I doubt that many readers go this path. Utterly sufficient would therefore be:

Als die Sonne zu sinken begann und bereit war, in dem unendlichen Arm der Südsee zu verschwinden, riefen die Trommeln der Taka-Tuka-Bewohner alle Menschen zum Fest- und Regierungsplatz, der mitten im Ort lag.