Post by Indilwen on Sept 11, 2011 13:27:40 GMT 12
The History of the Elvish alphabet
There are three main forms of Elvish alphabets: the Alphabet of Rúmil, the Alphabet of Fëanor and the Alphabet of Dairon.
The oldest is the Alphabet of Rúmil, and its roots are in Valinor. It was created by Rúmil of Tirion, in the time that Melkor was chained. It was mainly used for writing Quenya, and it was the main idee for The Alphabet of Fëanor. It is said still to be used by the Lindar of Valinor, but not by the Quendi.
The Fëanor Alphabet was made by (of course) Fëanor (also the creator of The Silmarillion). It can be used for writing Quenya, Sindarin and Silvan. But it is generaly used for writing Quenya by the surviving Quendi. This Alphabet was brought to Middle-earth by the exiled Noldor, and so became known to the Edain and the Númenoreans. And in the third age their use had spread over much the same area as that in wich the Common Speech was known.
The Alphabet of Dearon was in origin a runic script for inscriptions. It was invented by the great minstrel of king Thingol, Daeron (the one who was madly in love with Lúthien and told Thingol of Lúhtien and Berens afair, so he was the one who led Beren into his Silmarillion story). It was most used and developed to completenes in Doriath, there they even produced a writing form. And it was this time too, that the dwarfs awoke and contacted king Thingol. They traded weapons for jewelry. They came to the Elfs more often and the Elfs thought them the Alphabet of Daeron, and the found it a great language. They called it The Angerthas and used it for all their writing.
There are three main forms of Elvish alphabets: the Alphabet of Rúmil, the Alphabet of Fëanor and the Alphabet of Dairon.
The oldest is the Alphabet of Rúmil, and its roots are in Valinor. It was created by Rúmil of Tirion, in the time that Melkor was chained. It was mainly used for writing Quenya, and it was the main idee for The Alphabet of Fëanor. It is said still to be used by the Lindar of Valinor, but not by the Quendi.
The Fëanor Alphabet was made by (of course) Fëanor (also the creator of The Silmarillion). It can be used for writing Quenya, Sindarin and Silvan. But it is generaly used for writing Quenya by the surviving Quendi. This Alphabet was brought to Middle-earth by the exiled Noldor, and so became known to the Edain and the Númenoreans. And in the third age their use had spread over much the same area as that in wich the Common Speech was known.
The Alphabet of Dearon was in origin a runic script for inscriptions. It was invented by the great minstrel of king Thingol, Daeron (the one who was madly in love with Lúthien and told Thingol of Lúhtien and Berens afair, so he was the one who led Beren into his Silmarillion story). It was most used and developed to completenes in Doriath, there they even produced a writing form. And it was this time too, that the dwarfs awoke and contacted king Thingol. They traded weapons for jewelry. They came to the Elfs more often and the Elfs thought them the Alphabet of Daeron, and the found it a great language. They called it The Angerthas and used it for all their writing.