So I just spent twenty minutes doing hand transcriptions of Tengwar.

Is there something interactive online somewhere that can help with that*? – Not that I’m ever likely to need to convert from that alphabet into the Roman one, but it might be helpful if I ever need a block of text for a game, or something. …For that matter, is the Tengwar subject to copyright? I mean, obviously Tolkien created the various scripts and alphabets himself.

Moe Lane

*I did look, and I found some helpful tables, but I’m looking for something more interactive.

4 thoughts on “So I just spent twenty minutes doing hand transcriptions of Tengwar.”

  1. Short and sweet: http://www.tengwar.art.pl/tengwar/ott/start.php?l=en

    Longer version:

    Check out http://csvoss.github.io/projects/2015/09/17/transliterating-tengwar.html

    Which leads to a Python script at https://gist.github.com/csvoss/e58302f7394a57860c46

    This seems like a reasonably close facsimile to what you’re looking for, but I wish it was online. So on with the hunt…

    Finally, I found https://digiphile.wordpress.com/2009/01/23/online-jrrtolkein-translators-and-font-converters/ which included the Online Tengwar Tool at the top.

    As to the copyright, I presume that much of what we know about the Tengwar stems from the Silmarillion or Lord of the Rings, though I understand that at least some areas where laid out in private correspondence. I’d assume that it all falls under the same copyright as the LotR books, and subject to Fair Use, etc… More here: http://www.elvish.org/FAQ.html#copyright

    BTW: I am now seized with a desire to learn to write in a Tengwar mode. I’m blaming you for this…
    http://orig04.deviantart.net/ee77/f/2011/329/7/4/dan_smith__s_tengwar_textbook_by_inkless_illustration-d4h9u4s.pdf

  2. Well, strictly speaking, the Tengwar isn’t an alphabet, it’s a phonetic system.
    .
    And you’ve not been doing anything I wasn’t doing back in the 70s. Phooey on those modren (sic) computer aids ‘n stuff!

  3. I’m not that hardcore of a purist.
    I just use the various fonts made of it. Makes it a replacement code rather than an actual language, but it’s good enough for a handout that the players need to find a translation for.

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