Encyclopedia of Arda: Runes of Doriath

The original Runes, devised by Thingol's loremaster Daeron in the time before the Return of the Noldor. They were little used in Doriath itself, but greatly prized by the Dwarves from the Blue Mountains that travelled to trade with Doriath. The Dwarves took them east, and eventually developed their own runic systems based on them, as did later generations of Elves. The Runes of Doriath also came to be used by Men, or at least those who lived on Doriath's borders: the Stone of the Hapless, memorial to Túrin and Niënor, was carved by the Men of Brethil using the Runes of Doriath.

Notes

1	Daeron's invention of his Runes is mentioned in The Grey Annals (in volume 11 of The History of Middle-earth), but the dating there is rather vague. All we can say for sure is that they were devised some time after the Valian Year 1350 (that is, within about the last 1,400 solar years before the first rising of the Sun).
2	Tradition said that Daeron improved on his own original invention to produce the Angerthas Daeron, a more fully developed writing system. In fact, it seems likely that this system was developed rather later - probably in Second Age Eregion - and it is therefore open to question whether the later Angerthas should be considered Runes of Doriath.