Tengwar is the fictional writing system used for the Ring inscription in J.R.R. Tolkien’s world.
The inscription on the One Ring is written in Tengwar characters, although the language of the inscription is the Black Speech of Mordor. This distinction is important: a script is a writing system, while a language is the system of words and grammar being written. The Ring’s text begins with “Ash nazg durbatulûk,” the famous line about one Ring ruling the others.
Tolkien designed Tengwar as an elegant script used for several languages, especially those associated with the Elves. Its letters represent consonants and its vowel marks are placed around them. In the story, the inscription is revealed when the Ring is heated by fire.
Cirth is another Tolkien writing system, based on runic forms, while Sarati is an earlier script in the fictional history of Tolkien’s languages. These alternatives are related to Tolkien’s extensive writing-system designs but are not the script shown on the One Ring.