Tolkien's scripts

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Tolkien's scripts are the writing systems invented by the philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien. The best-known are Cirth, Sarati, and Tengwar.

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Context

Being a skilled calligrapher, Tolkien invented scripts as well as languages. Some of his scripts were designed for use with his constructed languages, others for more practical ends. [1] The Privata Kodo Skauta (Private Scout Code) from 1909 was designed to be used in his personal diary; it had both an alphabet and some whole-word ideographs. [2] Late in his life, he created a New English Alphabet structured like Tengwar but written in characters resembling those of Latin and Greek. [1] [2]

In chronological order, Tolkien's Middle-earth scripts are: [2]

  1. Tengwar of Rúmil or Sarati
  2. Gondolinic runes (Runes used in the city of Gondolin)
  3. Valmaric script
  4. Andyoqenya
  5. Qenyatic
  6. Tengwar of Fëanor
  7. The Cirth of Daeron

In addition, there are some pre-Fëanorian variants including Falassin, Noriac, Banyaric, and Sinyatic, and some non-Middle-earth alphabets, in manuscripts from the 1920s, and a Goblin Alphabet used in The Father Christmas Letters . [2]

Cirth

The word "Cirth" written using the Cirth Cirth word.png
The word "Cirth" written using the Cirth

The Cirth, meaning "runes" is a semi‑artificial script, based on real‑life runic alphabets, invented by Tolkien for his constructed languages. Cirth is written with a capital letter when referring to the writing system; the letters themselves can be called cirth. In the fictional history of Middle-earth, the original Certhas was created by the Sindar or Grey Elves for their language, Sindarin. Its extension and elaboration was known as the Angerthas Daeron, as it was attributed to the Sinda Daeron, despite the fact that it was most probably arranged by the Noldor to represent the sounds of other languages like Quenya and Telerin. Although it was later largely replaced by the Tengwar, the Cirth was nonetheless adopted by the Dwarves to write down both their Khuzdul language and the languages of Men. The Cirth was adapted, in its oldest and simplest form, by various races including Men and even Orcs. [3] [4]

Sarati

"Sarati" written in Sarati, from left to right, the letter "a" shown explicitly Sarati word.jpg
"Sarati" written in Sarati, from left to right, the letter "a" shown explicitly
"Sarati" as usually written, in abugida style, with implicit letter "a" after unmarked consonants Sarati word abugida style.jpg
"Sarati" as usually written, in abugida style, with implicit letter "a" after unmarked consonants

The Sarati was Tolkien's first script for the Elves. It eventually developed into the Tengwar, supposedly created by Fëanor. [5] Known as the first writing system of Arda, Sarati was invented by the Ñoldorin chronicler Rúmil of Valinor in the Valian Year of 1179. It was he "who first achieved fitting signs for the recording of speech and song" [6] The writing system is officially called Sarati as each letter of the script represents a "sarat". However, Tolkien sometimes called the writing system "The Tengwar of Rúmil", tengwar meaning "letters" in the Elvish language Quenya. "Sarati" is the Quenya name for Rúmil's script. [5]

Sarati was usually written top-to-bottom, but it could also be (and originally was) written left-to-right, or boustrophedon, going left and right alternately, like an ox pulling a plough back and forth in a field. When writing Quenya, the sign for "a" is usually omitted, as it is the most common vowel in Quenya. This makes Sarati an abugida with an inherent vowel of "a". [7] [8]

Tengwar

"Tengwar" written using the Tengwar script in the Quenya mode Tengwar.svg
"Tengwar" written using the Tengwar script in the Quenya mode

Within the fictional context of Middle-earth, the Tengwar were invented by the Elf Fëanor, and used first to write the Elven tongues Quenya and Telerin. Later a great number of languages of Middle-earth were written using the Tengwar, including Sindarin. Tolkien used Tengwar to write samples in English. [9]

The inscription on the One Ring, a couplet in the Black Speech from the Ring Verse, was written in the Elvish Tengwar script, with heavy flourishes, as Mordor had no script of its own. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cirth</span> Artificial script in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien

The Cirth is a semi‑artificial script, based on real‑life runic alphabets, one of several scripts invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for the constructed languages he devised and used in his works. Cirth is written with a capital letter when referring to the writing system; the letters themselves can be called cirth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tengwar</span> Fictional script in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien

The Tengwar script is an artificial script, one of several scripts created by J. R. R. Tolkien, the author of The Lord of the Rings.

The Elvish languages of Middle-earth, constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien, include Quenya and Sindarin. These were the various languages spoken by the Elves of Middle-earth as they developed as a society throughout the Ages. In his pursuit for realism and in his love of language, Tolkien was especially fascinated with the development and evolution of language through time. Tolkien created two almost fully developed languages and a dozen more in various beginning stages as he studied and reproduced the way that language adapts and morphs. A philologist by profession, he spent much time on his constructed languages. In the collection of letters he had written, posthumously published by his son, Christopher Tolkien, he stated that he began stories set within this secondary world, the realm of Middle-earth, not with the characters or narrative as one would assume, but with a created set of languages. The stories and characters serve as conduits to make those languages come to life. Inventing language was always a crucial piece to Tolkien's mythology and world building. As Tolkien stated:

The invention of languages is the foundation. The 'stories' were made rather to provide a world for the languages than the reverse. To me a name comes first and the story follows.

The English philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien created several constructed languages, mostly for his fictional world of Middle-earth. Inventing languages, something that he called glossopoeia, was a lifelong occupation for Tolkien, starting in his teens. An early project was the reconstruction of an unrecorded early Germanic language which might have been spoken by the people of Beowulf in the Germanic Heroic Age.

In the works of J. R. R. Tolkien, the Noldor are a kindred of Elves who migrate west to the blessed realm of Valinor from the continent of Middle-earth, splitting from other groups of Elves as they went. They then settle in the coastal region of Eldamar. The Dark Lord Morgoth murders their first leader, Finwë. The majority of the Noldor, led by Finwë's eldest son Fëanor, then return to Beleriand in the northwest of Middle-earth. This makes them the only group to return and then play a major role in Middle-earth's history; much of The Silmarillion is about their actions. They are the second clan of the Elves in both order and size, the other clans being the Vanyar and the Teleri.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fëanor</span> Character in J.R.R. Tolkiens Middle-Earth

Fëanor is a fictional character in J. R. R. Tolkien's The Silmarillion. He creates the Tengwar script, the palantír seeing-stones, and the three Silmarils, the skilfully-forged jewels that give the book their name and theme, triggering division and destruction. He is the eldest son of Finwë, the King of the Noldor Elves, and his first wife Míriel.

The Black Speech is one of the fictional languages constructed by J. R. R. Tolkien for his legendarium, where it was spoken in the evil realm of Mordor. In the fiction, Tolkien describes the language as created by Sauron as a constructed language to be the sole language of all the servants of Mordor.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium, the Elves or Quendi are a sundered (divided) people. They awoke at Cuiviénen on the continent of Middle-earth, where they were divided into three tribes: Minyar, Tatyar and Nelyar. After some time, they were summoned by Oromë to live with the Valar in Valinor, on Aman. That summoning and the Great Journey that followed split the Elves into two main groups, which were never fully reunited.

<i>The War of the Jewels</i> 11th volume of the 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth

The War of the Jewels (1994) is the 11th volume of Christopher Tolkien's series The History of Middle-earth, analysing the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R. Tolkien. It is the second of two volumes—Morgoth's Ring being the first—to explore the later 1951 Silmarillion drafts.

<i>The Peoples of Middle-earth</i> 12th and last volume of the 12-volume series The History of Middle-earth

The Peoples of Middle-earth (1996) is the 12th and final volume of The History of Middle-earth, edited by Christopher Tolkien from the unpublished manuscripts of his father J. R. R. Tolkien. Some characters only appear here, as do a few other works that did not fit anywhere else.

The Lhammas is a work of fictional sociolinguistics by J. R. R. Tolkien. It was published in The Lost Road and Other Writings (1987), volume five of The History of Middle-earth series. The word lhammas is a Noldorin word meaning “account of tongues”. In Tolkien's later development of Sindarin he changed the rules governing initial l- and r- whereby they ceased being devoiced, resulting in the word becoming lammas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sarati</span> Fictional script in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien

Sarati is an artificial script, one of several scripts created by J. R. R. Tolkien. According to Tolkien's mythology, the Sarati alphabet was invented by the Elf Rúmil of Tirion.

The works of J. R. R. Tolkien have generated a body of research covering many aspects of his fantasy writings. These encompass The Lord of the Rings and The Silmarillion, along with his legendarium that remained unpublished until after his death, and his constructed languages, especially the Elvish languages Quenya and Sindarin. Scholars from different disciplines have examined the linguistic and literary origins of Middle-earth, and have explored many aspects of his writings from Christianity to feminism and race.

This is a list of all published works of the English writer and philologist J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien's works were published before and after his death.

Elvish languages are constructed languages used by Elves in a fantasy setting. The philologist and fantasy author J. R. R. Tolkien created the first of these languages, including Quenya and Sindarin.

In J. R. R. Tolkien's writings, Elves are the first fictional race to appear in Middle-earth. Unlike Men and Dwarves, Elves are immortal. They feature in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. Their history is described in detail in The Silmarillion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Quenya</span> Fictional language in the fantasy works of J. R. R. Tolkien

Quenya is a constructed language, one of those devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for the Elves in his Middle-earth fiction.

Sindarin is one of the constructed languages devised by J. R. R. Tolkien for use in his fantasy stories set in Arda, primarily in Middle-earth. Sindarin is one of the many languages spoken by the Elves. The word Sindarin is a Quenya word.

Quenya is a constructed language devised by J. R. R. Tolkien, and used in his fictional universe, Middle-earth.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Loback</span> American artist and Tolkien scholar (1949-2015)

Tom Loback was an artist, known for his illustrations of characters from J. R. R. Tolkien's 1977 book The Silmarillion, his miniature figurines, and his public artworks in New York. He contributed also as a Tolkien scholar interested in Tolkien's constructed languages.

References

  1. 1 2 Hammond, Wayne G.; Scull, Christina (1995). J. R. R. Tolkien: Artist and Illustrator . London: HarperCollins. p. 190. ISBN   0-261-10322-9. OCLC   34533659.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Smith, Arden R. "Writing Systems". The Tolkien Estate . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
  3. ↑ Tolkien, J. R. R. (1955). The Return of the King . London: George Allen & Unwin. Appendix E.
  4. ↑ Smith, Arden R. (1997). "The Semiotics of the Writing Systems of Tolkien's Middle-earth". In Rauch, Irmengard; Carr, Gerald F. (eds.). Semiotics Around the World: Synthesis in Diversity. Proceedings of the Fifth Congress of the International Association for Semiotic Studies, Berkeley, 1994. Vol. 1. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 1239–1242. ISBN   978-3-11-012223-7.
  5. 1 2 Smith, Ross Inside Language, p. 107
  6. ↑ 'The Silmarillion' by J. R. R. Tolkien (63)
  7. ↑ Björkman, Måns. "Les Sarati - Forme Phonétique". Ambar-eldaron.com. Archived from the original on 17 January 2018. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  8. ↑ Björkman, Måns. "The Sarati of Rumil". mansbjorkman.net. Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  9. ↑ The War of the Jewels , Appendix D to Quendi and Eldar
  10. ↑ Hammond, Wayne G.; Scull, Christina (2005). The Lord of the Rings: A Reader's Companion. HarperCollins. p. 83. ISBN   978-0-00-720907-1.
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