How can I learn that strange and beautiful Elvish script?
Begin with Appendix E of The Lord of the Rings. Then, analyze a couple of Tolkien’s tengwar samples. See the DTS (the Mellonath Daeron Tengwar Specimina) for a list. You will soon notice that tengwar is used quite differently in each language (Quenya, Sindarin, English). To further complicate matters, most of the languages can each be written in several different ways. And to make things completely confusing, each script sample has its own idiosyncrasies. But don’t give up hope! It is possible to find distinct modes among the different script samples. There are few comprehensive works available on the tengwar. We have a few concise writing guides for the beginner. See also our Links page. If you want to write with tengwar in some other language (e.g. Swedish), you’re on your own, since no authorial script samples exist. You have to design your own mode. That is somewhat easier if you know some of the existing tengwar modes.
