The inscription on the One Ring in J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings is written in the Black Speech of Mordor.
The inscription begins, “Ash nazg durbatulûk,” translated as “One Ring to rule them all.” It is part of a longer verse describing the Rings of Power and the Ring’s dominance over the others. Tolkien created the Black Speech for Sauron and intended it to represent the language of Mordor.
The Ring’s inscription is written in Tengwar, a writing system associated especially with the Elves, but the language being represented is not Elvish. This distinction causes a frequent confusion: Tengwar identifies the script, while Black Speech identifies the language.
The inscription becomes visible when the Ring is heated. In the story, Gandalf reads it aloud in the Black Speech at the Council of Elrond, causing a hostile reaction among the participants because the words are closely associated with Sauron’s power.