Cirth

This article displays one of J.R.R. Tolkien 's writing systems . For optimal viewing, install the following font: Cirth Erebor by Dan Smith . Cirth referred to the runic writing systems in Middle-earth . Cirth (singular certh ) means " runes " in Sindarin . Certhas refers to a runic alphabet. The system was an ancient writing of the Elves , and although they were later largely replaced by the Tengwar (which were enhanced and brought by Fëanor ), they were adopted by Dwarves because its straight lines were better suited to carving than the curved strokes of the Tengwar. The cirth[[1]]( table above demonstrates the values after Daeron rearranged them into what became known as the Certhas Daeron . The cirth runes themselves existed beforehand, with different but unglossed values. As for the vowel usage, perhaps the certh for u possibly was used for w (like in early latin orthography). The certh for a can’t be guessed, so maybe this sound was “meant” (like in some Quenya Tengwar Modes). More possibly it was one of the two cirth whose value can’t be determined, or it was one of some other cirth that did not survive till the later Angerthas. During the Chaining of Melkor , the Sindar of Beleriand began developing an alphabet for their language. Its letters were entirely made for carving on wood, stone or metal, hence their angular forms and straight lines. These letters were named cirth (sing. certh ). By the Second Age the cirth were seldomly used. The Noldor of Eregion used cirth as a "matter of lore" mainly for formal writing. It was how the Dwarves of Moria got to know them and preferred them from the tengwar, being intended for carved inscriptions.[[note 1]]( They modifed the system accordngly for their Khuzdul language (cf. Angerthas Moria and Angerthas Erebor ). By the Third Age only some Elves of Sindarin descent wrote in cirth in inscriptions, even though with spelling influence from the tengwar . The Longbeards were of the very few peoples who still knew and used cirth, leading to the misconception that they invented them, and were known as "dwarf-letters" by outsiders.[[3]]( Tolkien had noted an apparent discrepancy between Elrond 's reference to the Runes (the Moon-letters ) as invented by the Dwarves, and Appendix E stating that they were invented by the Sindar in Beleriand . He attempted to resolve the discrepancy by having the Dwarves invent the Runes, and Daeron organising them; or making Angerthas Moria a purely Dwarvish invention. However, he decided that Elrond referred only to the Moon-letters and not the alphabetic system itself. Christopher Tolkien cites this incident as an example of how he strived for consistency for his Secondary world .[[4]]( The Cirth are not part of the Unicode Standard. However the ConScript Unicode Registry has defined the U+E080–E0FF range of the Unicode "Private Use Area" for Cirth. 1. ↑ The text connects the lore usage of the cirth by the Gwaith-i-Mirdain with the notion that Celebrimbor was a descendant of Daeron, a late conception (1968 or later) which Christopher Tolkien nonetheless did not retain in The Silmarillion , because it would have contradicted the mention of Celebrimbor's descent from Fëanor in the second edition of The Lord of the Rings .