palach

[R. M. Cleminson]

The etymology of палач is, as has already been pointed out, obscure and uncertain.  However, to return to the original question, of how to translate it, this very much depends on how the tale as a whole is being translated.  In other words, how far is it being domesticated?  It should be remembered that the duties of the public hangman in early modern times extended far beyond hanging people, for example, to burning proscribed books; so to be whipped by the hangman would be no means be abnormal to the English-speaking public.  Therfore ше the translated narrative is being given a consciously Russian setting, a палач-hangman might seem out of place, but if the finished product is to be received in the same way as any other tale in English, he would be quite at home.  It all depends how the reader is intended to perceive the narrative.
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