Fonts for Tolkien's Alphabets

In order to use a font, you need to actually know how to write in a certain alphabet. Information is in the third volume of the Lord of the Rings, where explanations of the use of the tengwar alphabet and the cirth (or runic) alphabet are given. This particular page gives links to where you can download fonts (electronic files) which you can use to write the alphabets.

Tengwar Fonts

The tengwar is an alphabet (not a language) and can be used to write any language. I am listing here some software fonts that you may find useful; all of the fonts that I list here are TTF fonts unless stated otherwise. For more information about how to actually write in the tengwar, see the Tolkien's Alphabets page. You will need to know how to write in tengwar before you can use any software font because tengwar letters do not correspond to the letters of the Roman alphabet. Also the keyboard mapping is different on each font, more or less.

• First of all, please avoid those fonts where the l's (lambe's) are backward. This is wrong and it is very annoying to people who can actually read the alphabet. The Tengwar Gandalf font which is widely available on the net has this error in it. Here is an example of this font. . Here is the backward lambe . It should be like this.... Please don't use this font.
  
• The Tengwar Cursive font by Harri Perälä is at http://www.sci.fi/~alboin/tengwar.htm. This site has both Mac and PC versions to download. The font has the very high delicate ascenders (which everyone likes) seen on the ring inscription.
• The RS Moroma font is available from http://www.acondia.com/font_tengwar/rsmoroma.zip. This is one of the most beautiful tengwar fonts, and the keyboard mapping is fairly direct so it is easier to use than some fonts.
• The Tengwar Parmaite font by Mans Bjorkman is available at http://hem.passagen.se/mansb/at/Downloads/ and then click on Parmaite12b.zip. This is a very beautiful font and more complete than the RSMoroma font. The keyboard mapping is more difficult though.
• The Tengwar Annatar font by Johan Winge is available at http://home.student.uu.se/jowi4905/fonts/annatar.html
• Various Ornamental Fonts by Yehuda Ronen are available at http://my.ort.org.il/tolkien/gandalf/graph/tengwar/tengwar.html. I particularly like the Square Outline (No. 16) because that could be used to form ornamented initials. Just insert the outline letter and then color it however you like on the printout.
• There are other tengwar fonts available in Tex fonts and Macintosh fonts format, but I can't use them so I didn't list them. Definitely try the Yamada font site for Macintosh fonts, at http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/tolkien.html.

Cirth or Runic Fonts

• A TTF Certh font by Morton Bek, called cirth.zip. This is at an impenetrable site http://fonts.lordkyl.net/fonts.php?author=mbek. This site also has a font for the Moon Runes (actually Anglo-Saxon runes) used in the Hobbit for the Map of Erebor.
• A really nice Angerthas Font by Bruce Kvam is at http://simplythebest.net/fonts/fonts/angerthas.html. This is the most complete font and has all 60 of the letters that appear in the rune chart in the Lord of the Rings, so it can be used to write the Angerthas Moria and Angerthas Daeron.
• The Moria Font by Neale Davidson is available at DaFont. This site is a little bit difficult to navigate and link to, so go to http://www.dafont.com, and then click on the "Fonts by Theme" icon at the top of the page, and then look under "dingbats" and then under "runes/elf" on the pop up menu. They have a lot of cool stuff.
• There are other certh or angerthas fonts available in Tex fonts and Macintosh fonts format, but again, since I can't use them I didn't list them. Check out the Yamada font site for Macintosh fonts for the Cirth, at http://babel.uoregon.edu/yamada/fonts/tolkien.html.

Sarati of Rumil

• There is only one font available for the Sarati of Rumil, called Tirion Sarati and this is at http://hem.passagen.se/mansb/at/Downloads/ and then click on Tirion20b.zip.

These fonts are all shareware or freeware, as I understand it, but please respect the requests of their creators, and, I hope, thank them for their generosity.

We do not yet have any fonts for the Goblin Alphabet nor for the Runes of Gondolin. In addition, many new variant forms of the Sarati have been published for which there are no fonts. Of course, it is not to be expected that anyone will go to the trouble to produce fonts for every variation of every alphabet that Tolkien every devised, since he seems never to have written anything the same way twice, over a period of 60 years. This just makes more fun for calligraphers, though!

Lisa Star LisaStar@earthling.net

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