Tengwar

Tengwar is a family of scripts invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for writing his constructed languages in Middle-earth. It was developed in the early to mid-20th century and is primarily associated with Quenya and Sindarin, though other languages within Tolkien’s legendarium are described as renderable in tengwar. The term tengwar refers to the letters themselves, while tehta are diacritic marks used to represent vowels; together they form a complete writing system.

The writing is organized around a set of base shapes called tengwa, which are constructed from a vertical stem with up to two accompanying strokes. The shapes are grouped into series by phonetic features, and the vowels are indicated with tehta marks placed above or below the preceding tengwa or on a carrier. Writing typically proceeds left to right, and there are multiple modes that adapt tengwar to different languages’ phonologies. The most widely discussed modes are the Quenya mode and the Sindarin mode. An older dwarven variant known as Angerthas is derived from tengwar and used in different contexts within the lore.

In-world usage frames tengwar as the Elven script for inscriptions, manuscripts, and ceremonial writing. Tolkien’s published writings and letters describe its development and application, and it appears in various texts within his legendarium. In contemporary practice, tengwar has become a staple of fantasy philology and fan culture, often taught in guides and reproduced with fonts and calligraphy resources. While not an official script outside of Tolkien’s works, it remains a canonical and influential element of his fictional universe.