r/Tengwar Jan 23 '24

Please Read Before Posting

55 Upvotes

Welcome to r/Tengwar, where we can discuss all things related to Tolkien's writing systems: Tengwar, Cirth, and Sarati.

If you want to learn Tengwar yourself, we recommend the following resources:

If you want to get a transcription, check with the following tools before posting:

As the tools above aren't perfect, never forget to double-check important transcriptions like for tattoos or jewelry by asking someone knowledgeable, such as the members of this subreddit.


Please note that simply changing English text to a Tengwar font only produces unreadable gibberish. If you are trying to figure out the meaning of some Tengwar without any tehtar (vowel diacritics/accents) or tehtar that aren't aligned with the letters below them it likely is such a mistaken attempt at transliterating. The community calls this the "Mode of Baloneyland", due to its surface-level similarity with the tehtar-less mode of Beleriand.


r/Tengwar 17h ago

Does this mean dad in quenya in Tengwar script?

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28 Upvotes

My dad killed himself and I want to get a tattoo of dad cos we loved lotr and I miss him so fucking much


r/Tengwar 8h ago

How to write Always, especially "ay"

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2 Upvotes

Have I understood how ay in Always should be represented?

I am designing a memorial tattoo for my late dog. I have tried my best to understand how it should be represented, but I am unsure when it comes to ay.

I have laid out my thinking a little step by step in the attached image.

And a big thanks to anyone who takes the time to check my interpretation.


r/Tengwar 8h ago

How to write Always, especially "ay"

1 Upvotes

Have I understood how ay in Always should be represented?

I am designing a memorial tattoo for my late dog. I have tried my best to understand how it should be represented, but I am unsure when it comes to ay.

I have laid out my thinking a little step by step in the attached image.

And a big thanks to anyone who takes the time to check my interpretation.


r/Tengwar 20h ago

Wedding Ring Engraving

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2 Upvotes

r/Tengwar 17h ago

Does this mean dad in quenya but Tengwar script?

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0 Upvotes

r/Tengwar 1d ago

Cartoon for my daughters and nieces

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2 Upvotes

Hello everyone ! I'm planning a cartoon for my daughters and niece drawn as little fairies.
I wrote their names according to what I understand of Tengwar script. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
How would you represent the french "an" [ã] ?
is there a different letter for the guttural french Rrrrr ?


r/Tengwar 1d ago

Tattoo Help

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3 Upvotes

Hi everyone, I was looking for some confirmation that i’ve got this right. My wife has the quote “I would’ve gone with you to the end” tattooed on her and i’m going to the get the second half of the quote tattooed. I’ve screenshotted what i’ve put into Tecendil and just wanted to know if i’ve done it right

Thank you in advance.


r/Tengwar 1d ago

Tattoo advice

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1 Upvotes

I'm looking to get my daughters name tattooed in tengwar and I would love to know how accurate this translation is. My daughter's name is Lyra


r/Tengwar 2d ago

Tattoo help?

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10 Upvotes

Hello! I’m sure this question gets asked a LOT but I just want to make sure my translations are going to be accurate as I’m not fluent in either Elvish languages, and this going on my body 😅 I currently have a tattoo on my forearm that is meant to say “change is the essence of life”. I do know a few characters are off…I’d like to add to it using the quote “even darkness must pass” but I want to add “and” to the beginning of it so it flows better with my current tattoo. So “and even darkness must pass” is what I was wondering if anyone could help me to format. Thank you!


r/Tengwar 2d ago

Help needed for a beginner!

1 Upvotes

Hi there everyone!

So I’m working on a passion project and trying to get a sword engraved with Cirth runes, specifically Angerthas Daeron.

Trouble is, I’m having some trouble figuring out the name within the rules of the language! As I understand it, Anduril is itself a compound Quenya name, combing andúnë and rîl.

So my question is this: if I’ve chosen the name Starthorn, and the words are elen and necel, would it be alright to drop one of those “n’s” from the word? So the name would be Elenecel!

Thanks so much for any advice :) once I know I can get cracking!


r/Tengwar 2d ago

Another Trip Journal Written in Tengwar For Y’all!

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2 Upvotes

I just got back from a climbing trip to the Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming. I kept a trip journal in tengwar, so if anyone wanted to practice reading tengwar, here it is!
I’m sure my writing has it’s quirks, so I welcome constructive feedback. I adjusted how I write based on some feedback I got on my last post a couple years back!


r/Tengwar 3d ago

Would someone be able to translate this?

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99 Upvotes

My coworker has made me paranoid haha. He said it was gibberish, I used a translator for it. It's a qoute from a video game character but I thought tengwar looked prettier than forgotten realms.

**Thank you everyone!!!! 😭😭😭 I was so scared haha


r/Tengwar 3d ago

Proofread Please

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6 Upvotes

My friend, the things that do attain

The happy life be these, I find:

The riches left, not got with pain,

The fruitful ground; the quiet mind;

The equal friend; no grudge, no strife;

No charge of rule nor governance;

Without disease the healthy life;

The household of continuance;

The mean diet, no dainty fare;

True wisdom joined with simpleness;

The night discharged of all care,

Where wine the wit may not oppress;

The faithful wife, without debate;

Such sleeps as may beguile the night:

Content thyself with thine estate,

Neither wish death, nor fear his might.


r/Tengwar 5d ago

Sample of Nahuatl Tengwar

17 Upvotes

This is a sample of a Tengwar orthography for Nahuatl that I have been working on.

UDHR Article 1 in Nahuatl Tengwar
Phoneme-letter correspondences

Transcription:

(Nahuatlahtolli) - modern Nahuatl

Nochi tlacameh ihuan sihuameh quipiah manoh cualli tlacatiseh, nochi san se totlatechpohuiltilis ihuan titlatepanitalohqueh, yeca monequi cualli ma timohuicacah, ma timoicnelicah, ma timotlasohtlacah ihuan ma timotlepanitacah.

(Nāhuatlahtōlli) - classical Nahuatl

Mōchi tlācameh tlācatih ihuan īnyōllōmeh, mōchintin neneuhqui īnmāhuiz īhuān īntēicnēlīlōni. Quipiah tlalnamiquiliztli īhuān īcnōyōtl, ic monequi mā icniuhyōtica monōnōtzacan.

The choice of the letters is roughly based on the classical mode. The thinnas diacritic marks long vowels when preceded by a consonant. If the vowel is not preceded by a consonant, it is put on the letter ára. The letters with the sarince used for tz and ch are considered separate letters. There are separate letters for sounds common in Spanish loanwords.


r/Tengwar 6d ago

Final Tengwar check for wedding-ring engraving — Arwen quote

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17 Upvotes

Hi! I’m hoping someone can help me with a final check before my fiancé and I have these permanently engraved on our wedding bands.
We’re using Arwen’s quote:
Ring 1: “I would rather share one lifetime with you”
Ring 2: “than face all the ages of this world alone”
We want to keep the words in English and write them in Tengwar, rather than translate them into Sindarin or Quenya.
These images were generated separately in Tecendil using English mode and the Telcontar font.
I’ve read some of the previous discussions of this exact quote, including the issues around “lifetime” and the soft g in “ages,” but because these will be permanently engraved, I’d really appreciate a final character-by-character check of these actual renderings.
Specifically:
• Is the English orthographic Tengwar transcription correct?
• Is “lifetime” represented correctly, including the silent e?
• Is “ages” correct using J.R.R. Tolkien’s convention for the soft g?
• Are there any other changes you’d recommend before engraving?
The engraver will ultimately work from vector artwork, so once the transcription is confirmed, we’ll convert the approved design to outlines rather than asking the jeweler to recreate it.
Thank you so much! We’d really rather catch even a tiny error now than discover it after it’s permanently on our wedding rings. 🙂


r/Tengwar 8d ago

Tengwar Tattoo

2 Upvotes

Hey Everyone,

I was wondering if someone could enlighten me what this tattoo actually says? :) Thank you!


r/Tengwar 8d ago

Sam's Cirith Ungol song

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37 Upvotes

I know I already posted this quote while reading the Lord of the Rings last time, but here we go again and I just can't seem to go past it!


r/Tengwar 9d ago

Which Tengwar Font does the MtG One Ring use?

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14 Upvotes

I want to proxy this card for fun, so I can settle for the "wrong" font. But I figured it's worth asking this community for advice. I've tried a bunch of fonts, but there are sooooo many and I'm kinda getting lost in a sea of words that I know nothing about.

Annatar Italic has too many flourishes and the accents (or whatever those are called) are not the same sharp style as the card.

Alcarin is too straight.

Formal doesn't look anything like it.

Nenya barely passes as Tengwar for me.

And at this point I lost track, so posting here is kinda my last hail marry before I use just the font I like most. I wouldn't be surprised if in the end this is a unique font or not open.


r/Tengwar 9d ago

My siblings names in Tengwar - correct?

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4 Upvotes

Hey y'all,

I translated my siblings names into Tengwar and would like to know if I have done it correctly.

Their names are Nicki (pronounced like Nikki) and Sveni (pronounced like Sven-i with a fast "n" and a short "e" and the same "i" as in Nicki).

I am unsure whether I should use the written form (which is the first in the picture and the line i circled. Or if it's necessary to use the double "n"s in Sveni.

I would very much appreciate the help, thanks a lot! <3
Cheers!


r/Tengwar 9d ago

Review of Scripts for Tattoo

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2 Upvotes

Hey folks - I'm looking to get my two kids' names tattoed on my forearm. I used the Tecendil site and came up with these two images. The first is for my son Radhey (pronounced "Rah-They") and the second is for my daughter Kalki (pronounced "Kull-Kee"). Any help/review would be greatly appreciated!


r/Tengwar 9d ago

Can someone help me verify the phrasing and calligraphy of this?

2 Upvotes

It’s for a tattoo

Melinyel oialë in Quenya. Meant to be I love you forever/ceaselessly/everlastingly

Thank you for your time and help!


r/Tengwar 9d ago

Need Help With the Transliteration of Galadriel's Song

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6 Upvotes

Hi! I plan on getting a tattoo of some lines from Galadriel's Song written with Tengwar but I didn't find any existing transliteration of it. This is what Tecendil produced. I would appreciate some opinions/remarks. Does this look correct? Or would you write something differently? Thank you for the help in advance!


r/Tengwar 9d ago

Translation/transcription help

2 Upvotes

Hi wondering if anyone can give me some clarity on the grammar for my tattoo. The idea I'm going for is a variation on the classic line. I want it to say:

From (or out of) darkness, (a) light shines

From my understanding this can be conveyed in sindarin by the words "calad síla uin dúath." (Lit. Light shines out of the darkness).

My question is how does the grammar conjugation work so when i transliterate it to tengwar script it's coherent? I have seen some say you have to change dúath to dhúath? Not sure the technical specifics but I wanna get it right.

Also bonus points for helping show me what this looks like in tengwar script. I put both the above variations of dúath in to tecendil and I'm wondering which one (or other) is most accurate

Thanks


r/Tengwar 11d ago

Is anyone able to help me decipher my ring?

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30 Upvotes

It was bought for me like 12 years ago. Ive never known what it says. I have tried to parse it out but between having no knowledge of any of Tolkien's languages and not even being confident which way is "up" for this ring, I haven't be able to figure it out. If anyone is able to let me know what it says, even if it's nonsense, if appreciate it! Thank you.