What is the name of the writing system Tolkien used for many Elvish languages?

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The writing system Tolkien used for many Elvish languages is called Tengwar.

Tengwar is a script created by Tolkien for the languages of Middle-earth. Its letters, or tengwar, represent sounds through a structured system of signs and tehtar, including vowel marks. Tolkien displayed it in texts such as the title page inscription of The Lord of the Rings and the Ring-inscription written in the Black Speech of Mordor.

Tengwar is a writing system, not a language. This distinction matters because Tolkien created several languages, including Quenya and Sindarin, which could be written with different scripts. Cirth is another Middle-earth writing system, associated especially with runic letters and the Dwarves. Sarati was an earlier script in Tolkien's invented history of writing.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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