Encyclopedia of Arda: Tengwar

Tengwar of Rúmil

Fëanorian Tengwar

Rúmil of Tirion was the first to invent letters, or Tengwar, that could be written with a pen, but the later Fëanorian system became much more widespread. Fëanor's Tengwar were largely of his own invention, but were inspired, at least to some extent, by Rúmil's work.

The characters devised by Fëanor, originally to represent the sounds of the Quenya language, but later widely adopted for writing most of the languages of Middle-earth.

Notes

The Annals of Aman (in Morgoth's Ring, volume 10 of The History of Middle-earth) even gives us precise datings for the invention of the tengwar. Rúmil originally devised them in 1179 YT, and Fëanor devised his improved system in 1250 YT. In our terms, then, they were invented about 3,075 years before the beginning of the First Age, and the Fëanorian version appeared some 680 years later.

The name seems to have developed from the root teñ-, meaning a line or row.

Tengwar

The Fëanorian script

Notes

See also...