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Mellonath Daeron - The Language Guild of the Forodrim |  |
This is an index to the texts by J.R.R. Tolkien written in the cirth, the runic writing-system invented by Daeron in his sub-creation. The index is maintained by the Mellonath Daeron, the linguistic guild of the Tolkien Society Forodrim.
All references are given in the structural format of the Arda annual. For bibliographical information, see Åke Bertenstam's chronological list of Tolkien's published writings.
Mellonath Daeron also maintains the DTS, a corresponding index to texts in the Elvish tengwar script.
The index is a perpetual work in progress with references being added continually.
Reference: LR title-page (top), first state (Tbibl.:A12-A13:aa / Hammond A5a.i-ii 1st impr.)
Characters: 35
A title (and subtitle) of the book. It is self-contained, but is continued by the tengwar text at the bottom of the page (The Lord of the Rings Title-page Tengwar (Uncorrected)).
Transcription: "The Lord of the Rings translate from the Red Book"
The erroneous translate for translated was corrected for following impressions; see further The Lord of the Rings Title-page Cirth (Corrected)!
Reference: LR title-page (top), second state (most editions, after Tbibl.:A12-A13:aa / Hammond A5a.i-ii 1st impr.)
Characters: 36
A title (and subtitle) of the book. It is self-contained, but is continued by the tengwar text at the bottom of the page (The Lord of the Rings Title-page Tengwar (Corrected)).
Transcription: "The Lord of the Rings translated from the Red Book".
The correction is that the sixth word is now translated.
In the original edition this specimen was used in each of the three volumes on a general title-page for the The Lord of the Rings, and also on the volumes' individual title-pages. This arrangement is common in three-volume editions. In one-volume editions (from TBibl.:A21:ba / Hammond A5g onwards), the specimen occurs on the single title-page.
Reference: LR 1 I:26; 1 X:73, 74, 75
Characters: 1
There are four instances of this specimen appearing in the text. The first is in the description of Gandalf's bundles of fireworks, "each labelled with a large red G <ungwe> and the elf-rune, <certh 19>." The other three occur in Gandalf's letter to Frodo (LR 1 X:73-77): one as part of the signature : "GANDALF.<certh 19>"; one after the exclamation mark that concludes the PS; and one after the period that concludes the first paragraph of the PPS. One and the same (as it appears) authorial specimen thus represents a certh on a label-stamp (unless the firework-labels were hand-written), and three different specimens of Gandalf's "strong but graceful script" (LR 1 X:72).
Transcription: "G".
The hobbit-children recognized one or both of the characters on the firework-labels: "'G for Grand!' they shouted" (LR 1 I:27). In the letter, the combination of these cirth with text printed in letters may represent that Gandalf wrote in tengwar, adding his rune as a logotype. The label-certh is followed by a period, which was included in the printing block, giving rise to a reproductional variant (for example in TBibl.:A21:ba / Hammond A5g) where another period has been typeset after the block, wrongly making the heavier first period appear to be a dot accompanying the certh on Gandalf's label. (Cf. Gandalf's Marks on Weathertop.) Cf. Gandalf's Large Rune.
Reference: LR 1 X:77, ill.
Characters: 1
This ornamental certh accompanies the PPPS to Gandalf's Letter, but as an inset having the height of several lines, and not at a certain position in the text. The certh is surrounded by four dots: above, below and on either side.
Transcription: "G".
The combination of text printed in letters with a rune may represent that Gandalf wrote in tengwar, adding his rune as a logotype. Cf. Gandalf's Little Rune.
Reference: LR 1 XI:98
Characters: 2
A depiction of the marks scratched by Gandalf on a flat stone on Weathertop, occurring at * in the text: "... Frodo saw some scratches: *. 'There seems to be a stroke, a dot, and three more strokes,' he said. / 'The stroke on the left might be a G-rune with thin branches.' said Strider. ... 'I should say, ... that they stood for G3 ...'" (LR 1 XI:98, 99, 101).
On the depiction, the thin branches of the G-rune are not visibly joined to the stem.
The three strokes are followed by a heavy dot not mentioned by either Frodo or Strider. Clearly this is not a part of the depiction, but (like in the first instance of Gandalf's Little Rune) a following period that was included in the printing block. (There is no typeset period.)
Reference: LR 2 IV:207, ill.
Characters: 53
"'These are Daeron's Runes, such as were used of old in Moria,' said Gandalf. 'Here is written in the tongues of Men and Dwarves: / BALIN SON OF FUNDIN / LORD OF MORIA.'" (LR 2 IV:208-9) The specimen consists of four lines inside a rectangular frame (either the outline of the "great slab of white stone" on which the "runes were deeply graven" (LR 2 IV:206-7), or a frame engraved on it). It has no division into words, but the full transcription would seem to be: "Balin / Fundinul / Uzbad Khazad-dûmu / Balin son of Fundin Lord of Moria".
It is stated in LR App.E II Cirth:5 that "Angerthas Moria is represented in the tomb-inscription".
Although the first two lines are not in English, the Old Norse Balin and Fundin (presumably Tolkien's translations of names in a Mannish language related to Westron) are used.
The manuscript of the specimen is kept at the Bodleian Library (MS Tolkien drawings 90, fol.48), and is reproduced on p.88 in the centenary exhibition catalogue, Tolkien: Life and Legend (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1992).
Reference: LR App.E II Cirth, table "The Angerthas"
Characters: 66
A table containing 58 numbered and two unnumbered cirth graphemes, in four columns with 15 graphemes each. For 38, 45, 51, 52, 55 and 56 two allograms are shown. Below each of 7, 12, 17, 22, 28, 33, 38, 52 and 56 two small circles are inserted in the column, dividing the cirth into ten series.
A second part of the table, subtitled "Values", contains transliterations of the cirth, identically arranged. The exposition in LR App.E II Cirth all through refers to the table.
Reference: L 118:1
Characters: 47
Each paragraph of L 118 contains a Christmas greeting to Hugh Brogan. The first paragraph is written with cirth, the last two with tengwar (The Brogan Tengwar Greetings).
Transcription: "Dear Hugh this is just to wish you a happy Christmas in dwarf runes."
(A more literal transcription is given in an editorial note to the letter.)
The specimen is "not dated, but possibly written at Christmas 1948" (L 118, headnote).
Reference: L 245:1
Characters: 2
Two cirth occurring in the text of a discussion of the shapes of the cirth, that are "to be extracted from the basic pattern, [pattern], the possibilities being decreased by the avoidance of the juncture of a diagonal with the bottom of an upright (the exceptions are few and limited to cases where as in <certh 6> <certh [60]> there is also juncture at the top)."
Since the runes are shown as forms, without any intended values, no transcription is justified. The letter is dated 25 June 1963.
Reference: L 245:1
Characters: 4
Four cirth occurring in the text of a discussion of the shapes of the cirth: "[The possibilities] are increased by the repetition on the opposite side of an upright of any diagonal appendage, sc. by repeating half the basic pattern: [half-repeated pattern] hence <certh 12> <certh 5> <certh 22> <certh 17 etc." (The sc. here, rather than the less suitable & found in the printed text, is taken from a typed rendering of the letter made by the recipient, Rhona Beare.)
Since the two cirth are shown as form, without any intended values, no transcription is justified.
The letter is dated 25 June 1963.
Reference: P 24 ("Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul" = 23 in 1st ed.), I
Characters: 340 (approximately)
One of three representations of pages from the Book of Mazarbul, found by the Fellowship of the Ring in Moria, "slashed and stabbed and partly burned ... written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish script" (LR 2 V:3). This page is the first that Gandalf reads from, in LR 2 V:5-7, having noted that "the pages seem to have numbers referring to the years after their arrival. The top page is marked one -- three, so at least two are missing from the beginning" (LR 2 V:4). In the centre of the top of the page there is a vertical stroke, apparently what Gandalf reads as "one", inside a red circle, and in the top right-hand corner there is a character like <certh 17> or <certh 52> that he reads as "three". The main text on the page is also written with cirth. The leaf appears badly damaged, and not all of the text is intact. The picture is accompanied by a commentary and transcription by Christopher Tolkien, who manages to make out "a little more of the text than Gandalf was able to do in the Chamber of Mazarbul" (P 24 (= 23 in 1st ed.), note I), and agrees that the top right-hand rune is "the numeral 3" (ibidem). The specimen shows the certh-system "known as the mode of Erebor, and exemplified in the Book of Mazarbul", as the Author explains in LR App.E II Cirth:6 (even though the three pages were not published in The Lord of the Rings). Cf. Middle Page from the Book of Mazarbul, Bottom Certh and Last Page from the Book of Mazarbul (and the tengwa-specimens Middle Page from the Book of Mazarbul and Last Page from the Book of Mazarbul, Last Line).
First published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977. The manuscript of the specimen is kept at the Bodleian Library (MS Tolkien drawings 73).
Reference: P 24 ("Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul" = 23 in 1st ed.), II
Characters: 1
A single certh at the bottom of one of three representations of pages from the Book of Mazarbul, found by the Fellowship of the Ring in Moria, "slashed and stabbed and partly burned ... written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish script" (LR 2 V:3). This page is the second that Gandalf reads from, in LR 2 V:10, having noted that "there must be a number of leaves missing, because they begin to be numbered five, the fifth year of the colony, I suppose" (LR 2 V:8), and that the main text is written with tengwar; see further Middle Page from the Book of Mazarbul. The specimen is a <certh 22> (possibly with a subscript dot), which is apparently what Gandalf reads as "five". The picture is accompanied by a commentary and transcription by Christopher Tolkien, who agrees that the specimen is "the numeral 5" (P 24 (= 23 in 1st ed.), note II). It presumably belongs to the certh-system "known as the mode of Erebor, and exemplified in the Book of Mazarbul", as the Author explains in LR App.E II Cirth:6 (even though the three pages were not published in The Lord of the Rings). Cf. also Top Page from the Book of Mazarbul and Last Page from the Book of Mazarbul (and the tengwa-specimen Last Page from the Book of Mazarbul, Last Line).
First published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977. The manuscript of the specimen is kept at the Bodleian Library (MS Tolkien drawings 74).
Reference: P 24 ("Leaves from the Book of Mazarbul" = 23 in 1st ed.), III
Characters: 167 (approximately)
The main text on one of three representations of pages from the Book of Mazarbul, found by the Fellowship of the Ring in Moria, "slashed and stabbed and partly burned ... written by many different hands, in runes, both of Moria and of Dale, and here and there in Elvish script" (LR 2 V:3). This page is the third that Gandalf reads from, in LR 2 V:11, having noted that it "is the last page of all" (LR 2 V:10); it is written with cirth except for the last line "in a trailing scrawl of elf-letters" (LR 2 V:11); see further Last Page from the Book of Mazarbul, Last Line. In the top left-hand corner there are six vertical strokes, possibly meaning "6". In the centre a piece is missing from the upper edge, but some strokes there may be a remnant of another numeral. The leaf appears badly damaged, and not all of the text is intact. The picture is accompanied by a commentary and transcription by Christopher Tolkien, giving a fuller text than what Gandalf reads (P 24 (= 23 in 1st ed.), note III). The specimen shows the certh-system "known as the mode of Erebor, and exemplified in the Book of Mazarbul", as the Author explains in LR App.E II Cirth:6 (even though the three pages were not published in The Lord of the Rings). Cf. also Top Page from the Book of Mazarbul and Middle Page from the Book of Mazarbul, Bottom Certh (and the tengwa-specimen Middle Page from the Book of Mazarbul).
First published in The Lord of the Rings Calendar 1977. The manuscript of the specimen is kept at the Bodleian Library (MS Tolkien drawings 75). There is a large-size reproduction of the page on p.76 in the centenary exhibition catalogue, Tolkien: Life and Legend (Oxford: Bodleian Library, 1992).
Reference: TI Appendix:Plate V
Characters: 26
The first version of the inscription on Balin's tomb in Moria that is not written in Anglo-Saxon runes. It agrees closely with the English Dwarf Runes, but differs in a few points. It is also very similar to the English inscription in the final version (Balin's Tomb Inscription). The inscription seems to have been immediately succeded by another version; see Balin's Tomb Inscription - Second Version.
This version of the inscription needed no explanation by Gandalf:
"'It looks like a tomb!' [muttered >] thought Frodo, and went forward to look at it more closely with a curious sense of foreboding. Gandalf came up quickly to his side. On the slab was deeply cut in Runes:
BALIN SON OF BURIN LORD OF MORIA
Gandalf and Frodo looked at one another. 'He is dead then. I feared it somehow,' said Frodo." (RS 25:135)
Reference: TI Appendix:Plate V
Characters: 26
The second version of the inscription on Balin's tomb in Moria, written immediately after the First Version on the same manuscript page (RS 25:Note 40). It is very similar to its predecessor and agrees closely with the English Dwarf Runes, but differs in a few points from both. The inscription is also reminiscent of the English part of the final version (Balin's Tomb Inscription), though not as similar to it as its forerunner.
This version of the inscription needed no explanation by Gandalf:
"'It looks like a tomb!' [muttered >] thought Frodo, and went forward to look at it more closely with a curious sense of foreboding. Gandalf came up quickly to his side. On the slab was deeply cut in Runes:
BALIN SON OF BURIN LORD OF MORIA
Gandalf and Frodo looked at one another. 'He is dead then. I feared it somehow,' said Frodo." (RS 25:135)
Reference: TI IX:70, ill.
Characters: 52
An earlier version of the inscription on Balin's tomb in Moria. It is somewhat differently described by Gandalf than in the final version: "These are dwarf-runes, such as they use in the North. Here is written in the old tongue and the new: Balin son of Fundin, Lord of Moria." (TI IX:69) Gandalf's description belongs to the manuscript version of the text; however, the inscription accompanying the manuscript was written on blue paper and could not be reproduced in the book. Therefore, an inscription belonging to the typescript version directly succeeding the manuscript is reproduced instead, being "very closely similar to the first in its design an identical in all its forms." (TI IX:70)
The runes are written in three lines within narrow stripes. They differ on many points from those of the final version. The inscription is divided into words, contrary to the final form, and the English version precedes the Khuzdul version.
Transcription (by Christopher Tolkien):
BALIN SON OF FUNDIN
LORD OF MORIA
Balin Fundinul Uzbad Khazaddu|mu
[In the transcription above, the vertical bar | should be replaced by a macron ¯ over the previous glyph, in accordance with the Daeron Diacritic Encoding Standard.]
Reference: TI Appendix:Plate I-IV
Characters: 458
A document entitled "Runes of Beleriand" that traces the development of the rune systems of Beleriand. The document contains six tables, intervowen with detailed commentaries, explanations and rune-samples.
The text is introduced by the words: "The oldest signs seem to have been the following:-" The table that follows shows 31 runes (untranscribed) in four rows, apparently organised on similarity between the characters.
The second table shows the runes "usually" associated with the "original Doriath order of letters". There are 31 characters together with transcriptions.
The third table shows "The special Doriath long series". This table consists of three rows showing 56 runes in all. The fourth table has the caption "The later Noldorin use", with four rows containing 67 runes.
The fifth is a table in three rows describing "the written form, or 'Alphabet of [Pengolod >] Dairon'". It is said of the rune-system that "Its chief elaboration took place in Doriath, where a written form was developed." (TI Appendix ii:1) The runes are based on those of the fourth table, and have a slightly cursive style.
The sixth and final table bears the caption: "The smaller and more cursive letters were as follows." Below is shown the runes of the previous table, accompanied by "minuscle" versions of the same. The document ends with two inscriptions, the first in the "minuscle" style, the second in both "minuscle" and "majuscle" variants, transcribed "pennas na·ngoeloeidh" and "Eredwethion", respectively.
Reference: TI Appendix:Plate V
Characters: 74
A table showing "Dwarf runes for writing English (phonetic)". Christopher Tolkien notes that it "agrees well on the whole with 'the later Noldorin use'" in Runes of Beleriand.
Reference: AI 176
Characters: 28
A draft design for the dust-jacket of LR I. The final design is DTS 2. According to AI, "five designs by Tolkien for the Fellowship of the Ring jacket are extant", in this index designated A-E, the fifth presumably the final and printed version.
This draft has a band of cirth behind the ring, which reads "in the land of shadows where the Mordor lie" (sic).
There is also a tengwar text, listed in DTS 33.
Reference: TI Appendix: Plate VI (i)
Characters: 171
Christopher Tolkien's transcription of the earliest rough sketch of DCS 11, found on a manuscript page of the original 'Moria' chapter. It was followed by the more elaborate sketch of DCS 21.
Unlike DCS 11, this version is written in phonemical English. The usage of the runes differs in some details from DCS 18.
Christopher Tolkien's transcription of this specimen are found in RS XXV note 40 and (in phonemic form) in TI appendix on runes (ii) 5.
Reference: TI Appendix: Plate VI (ii)
Characters: 292
Christopher Tolkien's transcription of the second sketch of DCS 11.
This sketch was done in pencil and coloured chalks. There were two more sketches before the final version of DCS 11.
Unlike DCS 11, this version is written in phonemical English. The usage of the runes is identical to the one described in DCS 18. It differs in some details from the first, rougher sketch, DCS 20.
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This document has been online since 15 September 1996. |
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