What is the name of the fictional script Tolkien designed for many Elvish languages?

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The fictional script J.R.R. Tolkien designed for many Elvish languages is called Tengwar.

Tengwar means “letters” in Quenya, one of Tolkien’s Elvish languages. In Tolkien’s mythology, the Elf Fëanor devised the script in the First Age. Its letter shapes and modes could represent different languages, including Quenya, Sindarin, and the Black Speech inscription on the One Ring.

Tolkien designed Tengwar as a writing system rather than as a single spoken language. This distinction is important: a script records language, while a language has its own vocabulary, grammar, and pronunciation. Tolkien’s fictional peoples could therefore use different Tengwar modes for different tongues.

Cirth is another Tolkien script, characterized by angular runic forms and associated especially with Dwarves. Sarati is an earlier script in Tolkien’s invented writing history, so those names are related but do not answer this question.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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