Cirth

Template:Infobox writing system The Cirth (sjn, meaning "runes"; sg. certh sjn) is a semi‑artificial script, based on real‑life runic alphabets, one of several scripts invented by J. R. R. Tolkien for the constructed languages he devised and used in his works. Cirth is written with a capital letter when referring to the writing system; the letters themselves can be called cirth.

In the fictional history of Middle-earth, the original Certhas was created by the Sindar (or Grey Elves) for their language, Sindarin. Its extension and elaboration was known as the Angerthas Daeron, as it was attributed to the Sinda Daeron, despite the fact that it was most probably arranged by the Noldor in order to represent the sounds of other languages like Quenya and Telerin.

Although it was later largely replaced by the Tengwar, the Cirth was nonetheless adopted by the Dwarves to write down both their Khuzdul language (Angerthas Moria) and the languages of Men (Angerthas Erebor). The Cirth was also adapted, in its oldest and simplest form, by various races including Men and even Orcs.

External history

Concept and creation

File:Ashton Park rock carving.jpg

Rock carving in Cirth in the Sydney Harbour National Park, dating back to the 1980s at least

Many letters have shapes also found in the historical runic alphabets, but their sound values are only similar in a few of the vowels. Rather, the system of assignment of sound values is much more systematic in the Cirth than in the historical runes (e.g., voiced variants of a voiceless sound are expressed by an additional stroke).

The division between the older Cirth of Daeron and their adaptation by Dwarves and Men has been interpreted as a parallel drawn by Tolkien to the development of the Futhorc to the Younger Futhark. The original Elvish Cirth "as supposed products of a superior culture" are focused on logical arrangement and a close connection between form and value whereas the adaptations by mortal races introduced irregularities. Similar to the Germanic tribes who had no written literature and used only simple runes before their conversion to Christianity, the Sindarin Elves of Beleriand with their Cirth were introduced to the more elaborate Tengwar of Fëanor when the Noldorin Elves returned to Middle-earth from the lands of the divine Valar.

Internal history and description

Certhas

In the Appendix E to The Return of the King, Tolkien writes that the Sindar of Beleriand first developed an alphabet for their language some time between the invention of the Tengwar by Fëanor (YT 1250) and the introduction thereof to Middle-earth by the Exiled Noldor towards the end of the First Age.

This alphabet was devised to represent only the sounds of their Sindarin language and its letters were mostly used for inscribing names or brief memorials on wood, stone or metal, hence their angular shapes and straight lines. In Sindarin these letters were named cirth (sing. certh), from the Elvish root *kir- meaning "to cleave, to cut". An abecedarium of cirth, consisting of the runes listed in due order, was commonly known as Certhas (sjn, meaning "rune-rows" in Sindarin and loosely translated as "runic alphabet").

The oldest cirth were the following:

Consonants	ᚹ p	ᚱ b	ᛳ mh	ᛒ m
	ᛚ t	ᚨ d	ᛏ n
	ᚴ k	ᚠ g	ᛉ ng
	ᛕ r	ᛅ l	ᚳ ~ ᚳ h or s	ᚲ s or h	ᚷ ss
Vowels	ᛁ i	ᛟ u	ᚺ e	ᚢ o

The form of these letters was somewhat unsystematic, unlike later rearrangements and extensions that made them more featural. The cirth File:Certh 13.svg and File:Certh 35.svg were used for ⟨h⟩ and ⟨s⟩, but varied as to which was which. Many of the runes consisted of a single vertical line (or "stem") with an appendage (or "branch") attached to one or both sides. If the attachment was made on one side only, it was usually to the right, but "the reverse was not infrequent" and did not change the value of the letter. (For example, the variants File:Certh 13.svg or File:Certh 15.svg specifically mentioned for h or s, also File:Certh 8.svg or File:Certh 10.svg for t, etc.).

Angerthas Daeron

In Beleriand, before the end of the First Age, the Certhas was rearranged and further developed, partly under the influence of the Tengwar introduced by the Noldor. This reorganisation of the Cirth was commonly attributed to the Elf Daeron, minstrel and loremaster of King Thingol of Doriath. Thus, the new system became known as the Angerthas Daeron (where "angerthas" sjn is from Sindarin "an(d)" sjn + "certhas" sjn, meaning "long rune-rows").

In this arrangement, the assignment of values to each certh is systematic. The runes consisting of a stem and a branch attached to the right are used for voiceless stops, while other sounds are allocated according to the following principles:

1. adding a stroke to a branch adds voice (e.g., File:Certh 1.svg [p] → File:Certh 2.svg [b]);
2. moving the branch to the left indicates opening to a spirant (e.g., File:Certh 8.svg [t] → File:Certh 10.svg [θ]);
3. placing the branch on both sides of the stem adds voice and nasality (e.g., File:Certh 18.svg [k] → File:Certh 22.svg [ŋ]).

The cirth constructed in this way can therefore be arranged into series, each corresponding to a place of articulation:

• labial consonants, based on File:Certh 1.svg;
• dental consonants, based on File:Certh 8.svg;
• front consonants, based on File:Certh 13.svg;
• velar consonants, based on File:Certh 18.svg;
• labialized velar consonants, based on File:Certh 23.svg.

Other letters introduced in this system include: File:Certh 48.svg and File:Certh 44.svg for ⟨a⟩ and ⟨w⟩, respectively; runes for long vowels, evidently originated by doubling and binding the certh of the corresponding short vowel (e.g., File:Certh 50.svgFile:Certh 50.svg ⟨oo⟩ → File:Certh 51.svg ⟨ō⟩); two front vowels, probably stemming from ligatures of the corresponding back vowel with the ⟨i⟩-certh (i.e., File:Certh 39.svgFile:Certh 42.svg → File:Certh 45a.svg ⟨ü⟩, and File:Certh 39.svgFile:Certh 50.svg → File:Certh 52.svg ⟨ö⟩); some homorganic nasal + stop clusters (e.g., File:Certh 38.svg [nd]).

Back to the fictional history, since the new File:Certh 13.svg-series and File:Certh 23.svg-series encompass sounds which do not occur in Sindarin but are present in Quenya, they were most probably introduced by the Exiled Noldor who spoke Quenya as a language of knowledge.

By loan-translation, the Cirth became known in Quenya as Certar qya, while a single certh was called certa qya.

After the Tengwar became the sole script used for writing, the Angerthas Daeron was essentially relegated to carved inscriptions. The Elves of the West, for the most part, abandoned the Cirth altogether, with the exception of the Noldor dwelling in the country of Eregion, who maintained it in use and made it known as Angerthas Eregion.

Note: In this article, the runes of the Angerthas come with the same peculiar transliteration used by Tolkien in the Appendix E, which differs from the (Latin) spelling of both Quenya and Sindarin. The IPA transcription that follows is applicable to both languages, except where indicated otherwise.

Regularly formed cirth

Labial consonants	Certh		File:Certh 1.svg	File:Certh 2.svg	File:Certh 3.svg	File:Certh 4.svg	File:Certh 6.svg	File:Certh 7.svg
	Transliteration		p	b	f	v	m	mh, mb
	IPA		[p]	[b]	[f]	[v]	[m]	(S.) [ṽ] (Q.) [mb]
Dental consonants	Certh		File:Certh 8.svg	File:Certh 9.svg	File:Certh 10.svg	File:Certh 11.svg	File:Certh 12.svg	File:Certh 38.svg or File:Certh 38a.svg
	Transliteration		t	d	th	dh	n	nd
	IPA		[t]	[d]	[θ]	[ð]	[n]	[nd]
Front consonants	Certh		File:Certh 13.svg	File:Certh 14.svg	File:Certh 15.svg	File:Certh 16.svg	File:Certh 17.svg
	Transliteration		ch	j	sh	zh	nj
	IPA	(N.)	[c⁽ȷ̊⁾]	[ɟj]	[ç]	[ʝ]	ɟ[ɲj] ← [ɲɟj]
		(V.)	[t͡ʃ]	[d͡ʒ]	[ʃ]	[ʒ]		[nd͡ʒ]
Velar consonants	Certh		File:Certh 18.svg	File:Certh 19.svg	File:Certh 20.svg	File:Certh 21.svg	File:Certh 22.svg	File:Certh 33.svg
	Transliteration		k	g	kh	gh	ŋ	ng
	IPA		[k]	[ɡ]	[x]	[ɣ]	[ŋ]	[ŋɡ]
Labiovelar consonants	Certh		File:Certh 23.svg	File:Certh 24.svg	File:Certh 25.svg	File:Certh 26.svg	File:Certh 28.svg	File:Certh 27.svg
	Transliteration		kw	gw	khw	ghw	nw	ngw
	IPA	(Q.)	[kʷ₍w̥₎]	[ɡʷw]	[ʍ]	[w]	[nʷw]←[ŋʷw]	[ŋɡʷw]

Additional cirth

Consonants	Certh	File:Certh 29.svg	File:Certh 30.svg	File:Certh 31.svg	File:Certh 32.svg	File:Certh 34.svg or File:Certh 35.svg	File:Certh 36.svg	File:Certh 54.svg
	Transliteration	r	rh	l	lh	s	ss or z	h
	IPA	[r]	[r̥]	[l]	[l̥]	[s]	[sː] or [z]	[h]
Approximants	Certh		File:Certh 44.svg	File:Certh 5.svg
	Transliteration		w	hw
	IPA		[w]	[ʍ]
Vowels	Certh	File:Certh 39.svg	File:Certh 42.svg		File:Certh 46.svg	File:Certh 48.svg	File:Certh 50.svg
	Transliteration	i, y	u		e	a	o
	IPA	[i], [j]	[u]		[e]	[a]	[o]
Long vowels	Certh		File:Certh 43.svg		File:Certh 47.svg	File:Certh 49.svg	File:Certh 51.svg or File:Certh 51a.svg
	Transliteration		ū		ē	ā	ō
	IPA		[uː]		[eː]	[aː]	[oː]
Fronted vowels	Certh		File:Certh 45.svg or File:Certh 45a.svg				File:Certh 52.svg or File:Certh 52a.svg
	Transliteration		ü				ö
	IPA		[y]				[œ]

Notes:

1. ^ According to the principles outlined above, the labial nasal would be assigned to the certh File:Certh 5.svg. However, archaic Sindarin had two labial nasals: the occlusive [m], and the spirant [ṽ] (spelt ⟨mh⟩). Since the ⟨mh⟩ sound could best be represented by a reversal of the sign for ⟨m⟩ (to indicate its spirantization), the reversible File:Certh 6.svg was given the value ⟨m⟩, and File:Certh 7.svg was assigned to ⟨mh⟩. The sound [ṽ] merged with [v] in later Sindarin.
2. ^ The certh File:Certh 38.svg was not clearly related in shape to the dentals.
3. ^ The File:Certh 13.svg-series, which represents the front consonants of Quenya, is essentially the Cirth counterpart to the Tengwar tyelpetéma (column III in the General Use).
   In this article, each certh of this series comes with two IPA transcriptions. The reason is that these consonants are realised as palatals in Noldorin Quenya, but as postalveolars in Vanyarin Quenya. Although the Angerthas Daeron was devised for the Noldorin variety, it is deemed necessary to show the Vanyarin pronunciation as well, given that the very transliteration used by Tolkien is more akin to the Vanyarin phonology.
4. ^ The certh File:Certh 13.svg indicates Quenya ⟨ty⟩, which is pronounced [c^⁽ȷ̊^⁾] in Noldorin but is a voiceless postalveolar affricate [t͡ʃ] in Vanyarin.
5. ^ The certh File:Certh 14.svg represents Quenya ⟨dy⟩, formerly pronounced [ɟj].
6. ^ The certh File:Certh 15.svg stands for Quenya ⟨hy⟩, which is a voiceless palatal fricative [ç] in Noldorin and a voiceless postalveolar fricative [ʃ] in Vanyarin.
7. ^ The certh File:Certh 17.svg denotes Quenya ⟨ndy⟩, formerly pronounced [ɲɟj]. In Noldorin, this cluster was later reduced to ⟨ny⟩ (articulated as [ɲj]). On the other hand, in Vanyarin, the cluster underwent assibilation, turning into [nd͡ʒ].
8. ^ The certh File:Certh 28.svg, much like the tengwa File:Tengwa nwalme.svg "ñwalme", formerly represented Quenya ⟨ñw⟩ (pronounced [ŋʷw]), occurring only in initial position. This sound later evolved into [nʷw], explaining the transliteration of this certh as ⟨nw⟩. Non-initial occurrences of [nʷw] are most probably interpreted as ⟨n⟩+⟨w⟩ (i.e., two separate cirth).
9. ^ The certh File:Certh 36.svg, the theoretical value of which is ⟨z⟩, is instead used as ⟨ss⟩ in both Quenya and Sindarin (cf. the tengwa File:Tengwa esse.svg "esse"/"áze").
10. ^ The new certh File:Certh 54.svg was introduced for ⟨h⟩: it is similar in shape both to the certh File:Certh 13.svg (formerly used for ⟨h⟩, then reassigned to ⟨ty⟩) and to the tengwa File:Tengwa hyarmen.svg "hyarmen".
11. ^ The certh File:Certh 5.svg, the theoretical value of which was ⟨m⟩, was used for Sindarin ⟨hw⟩ for the reasons stated above (cf. the tengwa File:Tengwa hwesta sindarinwa.svg "hwesta sindarinwa").

Angerthas Moria

According to Tolkien's legendarium, the Dwarves first came to know the runes of the Noldor at the beginning of the Second Age. The Dwarves "introduced a number of unsystematic changes in value, as well as certain new cirth". They modified the previous system to suit the specific needs of their language, Khuzdul. The Dwarves spread their revised alphabet to Moria, where it came to be known as Angerthas Moria, and developed both carved and pen-written forms of these runes.

Many cirth here represent sounds not occurring in Khuzdul (at least in published words of Khuzdul: of course, our corpus is very limited to judge the necessity or not, of these sounds). Here they are marked with a black star (^★).

Certh	Translit.	IPA'	Certh	Translit.	IPA	Certh	Translit.	IPA'	Certh	Translit.	IPA
File:Certh 1.svg	p	/p/★	File:Certh 18.svg	k	/k/	File:Certh 31.svg	l	/l/	File:Certh 46.svg	e	/e/
File:Certh 2.svg	b	/b/	File:Certh 19.svg	g	/ɡ/	File:Certh 32.svg	lh	/ɬ/★	File:Certh 47.svg	ê	/eː/
File:Certh 3.svg	f	/f/	File:Certh 20.svg	kh	/x/★	File:Certh 33.svg	nd	/nd/	File:Certh 48.svg	a	/a/
File:Certh 4.svg	v	/v/★	File:Certh 21.svg	gh	/ɣ/★	File:Certh 34.svg	h	/h/	File:Certh 49.svg	â	/aː/
File:Certh 5.svg	hw	/ʍ/★				File:Certh 35.svg	ʻ	/ʔ/	File:Certh 50.svg	o	/o/
File:Certh 6.svg	m	/m/	File:Certh 36.svg	ŋ	/ŋ/★				File:Certh 51.svg or File:Certh 51a.svg	ô	/oː/
File:Certh 7.svg	mb	/mb/	File:Certh 37.svg	ng	/ŋɡ/	File:Certh 22.svg	n	/n/	File:Certh 52.svg or File:Certh 52a.svg	ö	/œ/★
File:Certh 8.svg	t	/t/	File:Certh 23.svg	kw	/kʷ/★	File:Certh 38.svg or File:Certh 38a.svg	nj	/ndʒ/★	File:Certh 53.svg	n	/n/
File:Certh 9.svg	d	/d/	File:Certh 24.svg	gw	/ɡʷ/★	File:Certh 39.svg	i	/i/	File:Certh 54.svg	s	/s/
File:Certh 10.svg	th	/θ/★	File:Certh 25.svg	khw	/xʷ/★	File:Certh 40.svg	y	/j/	File:Certh 55.svg or File:Certh 55a.svg		/ə/
File:Certh 11.svg	dh	/ð/★	File:Certh 26.svg	ghw	/ɣʷ/★	File:Certh 41.svg	hy	/j̊, ç/★	File:Certh 56.svg or File:Certh 56a.svg		/ʌ/
File:Certh 12.svg	r	/ʀ, ʁ, r/	File:Certh 27.svg	ngw	/ŋɡʷ/★	File:Certh 42.svg	u	/u/
File:Certh 13.svg	ch	/tʃ, c/★	File:Certh 28.svg	nw	/nʷ/★	File:Certh 43.svg	û	/uː/
File:Certh 29.svg	j	/dʒ, ɟ/★	File:Certh 44.svg	w	/w/★	File:Certh 59.svg	+h	/◌ʰ/
File:Certh 15.svg	sh	/ʃ/
File:Certh 30.svg	zh	/ʒ/★	File:Certh 45.svg or File:Certh 45a.svg	ü	/y/★	File:Certh 60.svg	&
File:Certh 17.svg	z	/z/

Notes:

A.	^ The Khuzdul language has two glottal consonants: /h/ and /ʔ/, the latter being "the glottal beginning of a word with an initial vowel". Thus, in need of a reversible certh to represent these sounds, File:Certh 54.svg and File:Certh 34.svg were switched, giving the former the value /s/ and using the latter for /h/, and its reversed counterpart File:Certh 35.svg for /ʔ/.
B.	^ These cirth were a halved form of File:Certh 46.svg, used for vowels like those in the word ⟨butter⟩ /ˈbʌtər/. Thus, File:Certh 55.svg represented a /ə/ sound in unstressed syllables, while File:Certh 56.svg represented /ʌ/, a somehow similar sound, in stressed syllables. When weak they were reduced to a stroke without a stem (File:Certh 55a.svg, File:Certh 56a.svg).
C.	^ This letter denotes aspiration in voiceless stops, occurring frequently in Khuzdul as kh and th.
D.	^ This certh is a scribal abbreviation used to represent a conjunction, and is basically identical to the ampersand ⟨&⟩ used in Latin script.

File:Balin zg2.PNG

Runes in the upper inscription of Balin's tomb use Angerthas Moria, reading left-to-right:

Balin
Fu[nd]inul
UzbadKʰazaddûmu

In Angerthas Moria the cirth File:Certh 14.svg /dʒ/ and File:Certh 16.svg /ʒ/ were dropped. Thus File:Certh 29.svg and File:Certh 30.svg were adopted for /dʒ/ and /ʒ/, although they were used for /r/ and /r̥/ in Elvish languages. Subsequently, this script used the certh File:Certh 12.svg for /ʀ/ (or /ʁ/), which had the sound /n/ in the Elvish systems. Therefore, the certh File:Certh 22.svg (which was previously used for the sound /ŋ/, useless in Khuzdul) was adopted for the sound /n/. A totally new introduction was the certh File:Certh 53.svg, used as an alternative, simplified and, maybe, weaker form of File:Certh 22.svg. Because of the visual relation of these two cirth, the certh File:Certh 17.svg was given the sound /z/ to relate better with File:Certh 54.svg that, in this script, had the sound /s/.

Angerthas Erebor

At the beginning of the Third Age the Dwarves were driven out of Moria, and some migrated to Erebor. As the Dwarves of Erebor would trade with the Men of the nearby towns of Dale and Lake-town, they needed a script to write in Westron (the lingua franca of Middle-earth, usually rendered in English by Tolkien in his works). The Angerthas Moria was adapted accordingly: some new cirth were added, while some were restored to their Elvish usage, thus creating the Angerthas Erebor.

While the Angerthas Moria was still used to write down Khuzdul, this new script was primarily used for Mannish languages. It is also the script used in the first and third page of the Book of Mazarbul.

Certh	Translit.	IPA	Certh	Translit.	IPA	Certh	Translit.	IPA	Certh	Translit.	IPA
File:Certh 1.svg	p	/p/	File:Certh 16.svg	zh	/ʒ/	File:Certh 31.svg	l	/l/	File:Certh 46.svg	e	/e/
File:Certh 2.svg	b	/b/	File:Certh 17.svg	ks	/ks/
File:Certh 3.svg	f	/f/	File:Certh 18.svg	k	/k/	File:Certh 33.svg	nd	/nd/	File:Certh 48.svg	a	/a/
File:Certh 4.svg	v	/v/	File:Certh 19.svg	g	/ɡ/	File:Certh 34.svg	s	/s/
File:Certh 5.svg	hw	/ʍ/	File:Certh 20.svg	kh	/x/	File:Certh 35.svg			File:Certh 50.svg	o	/o/
File:Certh 6.svg	m	/m/	File:Certh 21.svg	gh	/ɣ/	File:Certh 36.svg	ŋ	/ŋ/
File:Certh 7.svg	mb	/mb/	File:Certh 22.svg	n	/n/	File:Certh 37.svg	ng	/ŋɡ/	File:Certh 52.svg or File:Certh 52a.svg	ö	/œ/
File:Certh 8.svg	t	/t/	File:Certh 23.svg	kw	/kʷ/				File:Certh 53.svg	n	/n/
File:Certh 9.svg	d	/d/	File:Certh 24.svg	gw	/ɡʷ/	File:Certh 39.svg	i	/i/	File:Certh 54.svg	h	/h/
File:Certh 10.svg	th	/θ/	File:Certh 25.svg	khw	/xʷ/	File:Certh 40.svg	y	/j/	File:Certh 55.svg or File:Certh 55a.svg		/ə/
File:Certh 11.svg	dh	/ð/	File:Certh 26.svg	ghw	/ɣʷ/	File:Certh 41.svg	hy	/j̊/ or /ç/	File:Certh 56.svg or File:Certh 56a.svg		/ʌ/
File:Certh 12.svg	r	/r/	File:Certh 27.svg	ngw	/ŋɡʷ/	File:Certh 42.svg	u	/u/	File:Certh 57.svg	ps	/ps/
File:Certh 13.svg	ch	/tʃ/	File:Certh 28.svg	nw	/nʷ/	File:Certh 43.svg	z	/z/	File:Certh 58.svg	ts	/ts/
File:Certh 14.svg	j	/dʒ/	File:Certh 29.svg	g	/ɡ/	File:Certh 44.svg	w	/w/	File:Certh 59.svg	+h	/◌ʰ/
File:Certh 15.svg	sh	/ʃ/	File:Certh 30.svg	gh	/ɣ/	File:Certh 45.svg or File:Certh 45a.svg	ü	/y/	File:Certh 60.svg	&

Angerthas Erebor also features combining diacritics:

• a circumflex File:Certh Circumflex.png used to denote long consonants;
• a macron below File:Certh Macron below.png to indicate a long vowel sound;
• an underdot File:Certh Underdot.png to mark cirth used as numerals. As a matter of fact, in the Book of Mazarbul some cirth are used as numerals: File:Certh 39.svg for 1, File:Certh 50.svg for 2, File:Certh 52.svg for 3, File:Gondolin rune b.svg for 4, File:Certh 22.svg for 5.

File:Balin sp2.PNG

The bottom inscription of Balin's tomb is written in English using the Angerthas Erebor. It reads left-to-right: "Balin sʌn ov Fu[nd]in lord ov Moria"

The Angerthas Erebor is used twice in The Lord of the Rings to write in English:

1. in the upper inscription of the title page, where it reads "[dh]ə·lord·ov·[dh]ə·riŋs·translatᵊd·from·[dh]ə·red·b[oo]k' ..." (the sentence follows in the bottom inscription, written in Tengwar: "... of Westmarch by John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. Herein is set forth/ the history of the War of the Ring and the Return of the King as seen by the Hobbits.");
2. in the bottom inscription of Balin's tomb—being the translation of the upper inscription, which is written in Khuzdul using Angerthas Moria.

The Book of Mazarbul shows some additional cirth used in Angerthas Erebor: one for a double ⟨l⟩ ligature, one for the definite article, and six for the representation of the same number of English diphthongs:

Certh	English spelling
File:Certh LL.svg	⟨ll⟩
File:Certh Article.svg	⟨the⟩
File:Certh AI.svg	⟨ai⟩, ⟨ay⟩
File:Certh AU.svg	⟨au⟩, ⟨aw⟩
File:Certh EA.svg	⟨ea⟩
File:Certh 47.svg	⟨ee⟩
File:Certh 38a.svg	⟨eu⟩, ⟨ew⟩
File:Certh OA.svg	⟨oa⟩
File:Certh 51.svg	⟨oo⟩
File:Certh 38.svg	⟨ou⟩, ⟨ow⟩

Notes:

A.	^ This certh is a scribal abbreviation used to represent the definite article. Although in English it stands for ⟨the⟩, it can assume different values according to the used language.
∗.	^ The cirth marked with an asterisk are unique to Angerthas Erebor.

Other runic scripts by Tolkien

The Cirth is not the only runic writing system used by Tolkien in his legendarium. In fact, he devised a great number of runic alphabets, of which only a few others have been published. Some of these are included in the "Appendix on Runes" of The Treason of Isengard (The History of Middle-earth, vol. VII), edited by Christopher Tolkien.

Runes from The Hobbit

According to Tolkien himself, those found in The Hobbit are a form of "English runes" used in lieu of the Dwarvish runes proper. They can be interpreted as an attempt made by Tolkien to adapt the Fuþorc (i.e., the Old English runic alphabet) to the Modern English language.

These runes are basically the same found in Fuþorc, but their sound may change according to their position, just like the letters of the Latin script: the writing mode used by Tolkien is, in this case, mainly orthographic. This means that the system has one rune for each Latin letter, regardless of pronunciation. For example, the rune File:Certh 13.svg ⟨c⟩ can sound /k/ in ⟨cover⟩, /s/ in ⟨sincere⟩, /ʃ/ in ⟨special⟩, and even /tʃ/ in the digraph File:Certh 13.svgFile:Certh 47.svg ⟨ch⟩.

A few sounds are instead written with the same rune, without considering the English spelling. For example, the sound /ɔː/ is always written with the rune File:Certh 24.svg whether in English it is spelt ⟨o⟩ as in ⟨north⟩, ⟨a⟩ as in ⟨fall⟩, or ⟨oo⟩ as in ⟨door⟩. The only two letters that are subject to this phonemic spelling are ⟨a⟩ and ⟨o⟩.

Finally, some runes stand for particular English digraphs and diphthongs.

Here the runes used in The Hobbit are displayed along with their Fuþorc counterpart and corresponding English grapheme:

Rune	Fuþorc	English grapheme		Rune	Fuþorc	English grapheme
File:Tolkien's Futhorc A.svg	ᚪ	phonemic		File:Certh 2.svg	ᚱ	⟨r⟩
File:Certh 9.svg	ᚫ			File:Certh 40.svg	ᛋ	⟨s⟩
File:Certh 6.svg	ᛒ	⟨b⟩		File:Certh 12.svg	ᛏ	⟨t⟩
File:Certh 13.svg	ᚳ	⟨c⟩		File:Certh 48.svg	ᚢ	⟨u⟩, ⟨v⟩
File:Certh 38.svg	ᛞ	⟨d⟩		File:Certh 1.svg	ᚹ	⟨w⟩
File:Tolkien's Futhorc E.svg	ᛖ	⟨e⟩		File:Certh 22.svg	ᛉ	⟨x⟩
File:Tolkien's Futhorc F.svg	ᚠ	⟨f⟩, ⟨ph⟩		File:Certh AU.svg	ᚣ	⟨y⟩
File:Certh 36.svg	ᚷ	⟨g⟩		File:Certh 17.svg	ᛣ	⟨z⟩
File:Certh 47.svg	ᚻ	⟨h⟩		File:Certh 57.svg	ᚦ	⟨th⟩
File:Certh 39.svg	ᛁ	⟨i⟩, ⟨j⟩		File:Certh 27.svg	ᛠ	⟨ea⟩
File:Tolkien's Futhorc K.svg	ᛱ	⟨k⟩		File:Tolkien's Futhorc ST.svg	ᛥ	⟨st⟩
File:Certh 8.svg	ᛚ	⟨l⟩		File:Certh 42.svg	ᛟ	⟨ee⟩
File:Tolkien's Futhorc M.svg	ᛗ	⟨m⟩		File:Certh 43.svg	ᛝ	⟨ng⟩
File:Certh 32.svg	ᚾ	⟨n⟩		File:Tolkien's Futhorc EO.svg	ᛇ	⟨eo⟩
File:Certh 24.svg	ᚩ	phonemic		File:Certh 5.svg	ᛳ	⟨oo⟩
File:Certh 28.svg	ᛈ	⟨p⟩		File:Certh 41.svg	ᛲ	⟨sh⟩

Notes:

1. ^ This table summarises the transcription of English ⟨a⟩ and ⟨o⟩ in runes:

English grapheme	Sound value (IPA)	Rune
⟨a⟩	/æ/	File:Certh 9.svg
	every other sound	File:Tolkien's Futhorc A.svg
	/ɔː/	File:Certh 24.svg
⟨o⟩	every sound
⟨oo⟩	/ɔː/
	every other sound	File:Certh 5.svg

2. ^ The three runes File:Tolkien's Futhorc K.svg, File:Certh 5.svg, and File:Certh 41.svg were invented by Tolkien and are not attested in real-life Fuþorc.
3. ^ According to Tolkien, this is a "dwarf-rune" which "may be used if required" as an addendum to the English runes.
4. Tolkien commonly writes the English digraph ⟨wh⟩ (pronounced en in some varieties of English) as File:Certh 47.svgFile:Certh 1.svg ⟨hw⟩.
5. There is no rune to transliterate ⟨q⟩: the digraph ⟨qu⟩ (representing the sound en, like in ⟨queen⟩) is always written as File:Certh 13.svgFile:Certh 1.svg ⟨cw⟩, reflecting the Anglo-Saxon spelling ⟨cƿ⟩.

Gondolinic runes

Not all the runes mentioned in The Hobbit are Dwarf-runes. The swords found in the Trolls' cave bore runes that Gandalf could not read. In fact, the swords Glamdring and Orcrist (which were forged in the ancient kingdom of Gondolin) bore a type of letters known as Gondolinic runes. They seem to have become obsolete and been forgotten by the Third Age, and this is supported by the fact that only Elrond could still read the inscriptions on the swords.

Tolkien devised this runic alphabet in a very early stage of his shaping of Middle-earth. Nevertheless, they are known to us from a slip of paper that Tolkien wrote; his son Christopher sent a photocopy of it to Paul Nolan Hyde in February 1992. Hyde published it, with an extensive analysis, in the 1992 Summer issue of Mythlore, no. 69. He commented that although J. R. R. Tolkien had said the "oldest cirth" were "unsystematic", they did not appear so. For example, all the vowels have both short and long forms: vowels are marked as long by adding a stroke, or by doubling the character. The system was reanalyzed by Carl F. Hostetter, who corrected the reading of the χ̑ rune to an ich-laut (voiceless palatal fricative). Later, in Parma Eldalamberon 15, the original manuscript including a script variety of Gondolinic, the first cursive form of any of Tolkien's runic scripts, was presented.

The system provides sounds not found in any of the known Elvish languages of the First Age, but perhaps it was designed for a variety of languages. However, the consonants seem to be, more or less, the same found in Welsh phonology, a theory supported by the fact that Tolkien was heavily influenced by Welsh when creating Elvish languages.

Consonants

		Labial			Dentals									Palatal			Dorsal			Glottal
		Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA
Plosive	Voiceless	File:Gondolin rune p.svg	p	/p/				File:Certh 8.svg	t	/t/							File:Certh 57.svg	k (c)	/k/
	Voiced	File:Gondolin rune b.svg File:Gondolin rune b2.svg	b	/b/				File:Certh 12.svg	d	/d/							File:Certh 6.svg	g	/ɡ/
Fricative	Voiceless	File:Gondolin rune f.svg	f	/f/	File:Certh 9.svg	þ	/θ/	File:Certh 35.svg	s	/s/	File:Gondolin rune sh.svg	š	/ʃ/				File:Certh 40.svg	χ	/x/	File:Certh 59.svg	h	/h/
	Voiced	File:Certh 27.svg File:Certh 22.svg	v	/v/	File:Certh 19.svg	ð	/ð/	File:Gondolin rune z.svg	z	/z/	File:Gondolin rune zh.svg	ž	/ʒ/
Affricate	Voiceless										File:Certh 60.svg	tš (ch)	/t͡ʃ/
	Voiced										File:Gondolin rune j.svg	dž (j)	/d͡ʒ/
Nasal	Voiced	File:Certh 43.svg	m	/m/				File:Certh 54.svg	n	/n/							File:Certh 2.svg	ŋ	/ŋ/
	Voiceless	File:Gondolin rune mh.svg	(mh)	/m̥/													File:Gondolin rune ŋh.svg File:Gondolin rune ŋh2.svg	(ŋh)	/ŋ̊/
Trill	Voiced							File:Certh 29.svg	r	/r/
	Voiceless							File:Certh 33.svg	rh	/r̥/
Lateral	Approximant							File:Certh 36.svg	l	/l/
	Fricative							File:Gondolin rune lh.svg File:Gondolin rune lh2.svg File:Gondolin rune lh3.svg	lh	/ɬ/
Approximant	Voiced													File:Certh 13.svg File:Tolkien's Futhorc K.svg File:Gondolin rune y3 (consonant).svg	j (i̯)	/j/	File:Certh 42.svg	w (u̯)	/w/
	Voiceless													File:Certh 28.svg	χ̑	/ç/?	File:Certh 37.svg	ƕ	/ʍ/

Vowels

Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA	Rune		IPA
File:Gondolin rune a.svg	a	/a/	File:Gondolin rune e.svg	e	/ɛ/	File:Certh 39.svg	i	/i/	File:Certh 48.svg	o	/ɔ/	File:Gondolin rune u.svg	u	/u/
File:Certh 38.svg	ā	/aː/	File:Gondolin rune e-.svg File:Certh 38a.svg	ē	/eː/	File:Certh 31.svg	ī	/iː/	File:Certh 49.svg File:Gondolin rune o-2.svg	ō	/oː/	File:Gondolin rune u-.svg File:Gondolin rune u-2.svg	ū	/uː/
File:Gondolin rune æ.svg File:Gondolin rune æ2.svg	æ	/æ/							File:Certh AU.svg	œ	/œ/	File:Gondolin rune y.svg File:Certh 44.svg	y	/y/
File:Gondolin rune æ-.svg File:Gondolin rune æ-2.svg	ǣ	/æː/							File:Gondolin rune œ-.svg	œ̄	/œː/	File:Gondolin rune y-.svg File:Certh 5.svg File:Gondolin rune y-3.svg File:Gondolin rune y-4.svg	ȳ	/yː/

Encoding schemes

Unicode

Equivalents for some (but not all) cirth can be found in the Runic block of Unicode.

Tolkien's mode of writing Modern English in Anglo-Saxon runes received explicit recognition with the introduction of his three additional runes to the Runic block with the release of Unicode 7.0, in June 2014. The three characters represent the English ⟨k⟩, ⟨oo⟩ and ⟨sh⟩ graphemes, as follows:

• U+16F1 ᛱ RUNIC LETTER K
• U+16F2 ᛲ RUNIC LETTER SH
• U+16F3 ᛳ RUNIC LETTER OO

A formal Unicode proposal to encode Cirth as a separate script was made in September 1997 by Michael Everson. No action was taken by the Unicode Technical Committee (UTC) but Cirth appears in the Roadmap to the SMP.

ConScript Unicode Registry

Unicode Private Use Area layouts for Cirth are defined at the ConScript Unicode Registry (CSUR) and the Under-ConScript Unicode Registry (UCSUR).

Two different layouts are defined by the CSUR/UCSUR:

• 1997-11-03 proposal implemented by fonts like GNU Unifont and Code2000.
• 2000-04-22 discussion paper implemented by fonts like Constructium and Fairfax.

Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols below instead of Cirth.

See also

• List of runestones