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Ryszard Derdzinski - Feanor.jpg
Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i thîw hin


Cirth Erebor by Dan Smith

Cirth referred to the runic writing systems in Middle-earth. Cirth (singular certh) means "runes" in Sindarin. Certhas refers to a runic alphabet. The system was an ancient writing of the Elves, and although they were later largely replaced by the Tengwar (which were enhanced and brought by Fëanor), they were adopted by Dwarves because its straight lines were better suited to carving than the curved strokes of the Tengwar.


[edit] Table of the earliest Cirth

1 p 8 t e c R r l i

[edit] Notes


[edit] Structure





[edit] History




By the Second Age the cirth were seldomly used. The Noldor of Eregion used cirth as a "matter of lore" mainly for formal writing. It was how the Dwarves of Moria got to know them and preferred them from the tengwar, being intended for carved inscriptions.[note 1] They modifed the system accordngly for their Khuzdul language (cf. Angerthas Moria and Angerthas Erebor).

By the Third Age only some Elves of Sindarin descent wrote in cirth in inscriptions, even though with spelling influence from the tengwar. The Longbeards were of the very few peoples who still knew and used cirth, leading to the misconception that they invented them, and were known as "dwarf-letters" by outsiders.[2]

[edit] Inspiration


[edit] Other versions of the Legendarium

Tolkien had noted an apparent discrepancy between Elrond's reference to the Runes (the Moon-letters) as invented by the Dwarves, and Appendix E stating that they were invented by the Sindar in Beleriand. He attempted to resolve the discrepancy by having the Dwarves invent the Runes, and Daeron organising them;or making Angerthas Moria a purely Dwarvish invention. However, he decided that Elrond referred only to the Moon-letters and not the alphabetic system itself. Christopher Tolkien cites this incident as an example of how he strived for consistency for his Secondary world.[3]

[edit] Encoding


[edit] See also


  1. The text connects the lore usage of the cirth by the Gwaith-i-Mirdain with the notion that Celebrimbor was a descendant of Daeron, before it was decided to make him the son of Curufin.



[edit] External links

Languages in Tolkien's works
Dwarvish languages Iglishmêk · Khuzdul
Outside the legendarium Animalic · Arktik · Mágol · Naffarin · Nevbosh