#elvishtypography — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #elvishtypography, aggregated by home.social.
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The Dwarven or Rúmilian numerals.
Above Tolkien's manuscript. Below my interpretation in Tengwar Grotesk Medium. -
So I am developing OpenType Fonts of the Tengwar (the script Tolkien invented).
The stylistic alternates of the "mode of Beleriand". A mode especially used for the Sindarin language.How to choose the tengwa using QuarkXPress.
The tengwa "a" can have a square dot or not.
The tengwa "i" can be without the dot.
The tengwa "y" (pronounced like the German ü) has 2 shapes. -
Tolkien often used the dot with 2 denotations (meanings).
A dot could have a typographical usage (to make the Elvish letter more visible) or a dot could have a "meaning".
In order to help the reader, in my font, the square dot = typographical usage; round dot "meaning".
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Tolkien's explanation & presentation of the mode of Beleriand and opposite my font Tengwar Grotesque Medium.
Two tengwar are missing. I'm still working on them.
I have also decided to not include the variant adew (n° 41) with a light stroke (very unpractical to design with a police without serif like my Tengwar Grotesque), but instead I propose an adew with a dot, a variant also used by Tolkien in this mode.
Comments are welcome!
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So I have re-worked to re-arrange the glyphs and put "rules" in Tengwar Typography.
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These are the 2 "styles" of "Tengwar Sans" I am working on right now.
I have some idea for a 3rd one. Will show in a few days.
Feedback is welcome!
Don't be shy.
Say what you think. -
Tolkien did coin many of the Elvish words of Elvish typography.
And as there is plenty of unpublished stuff on Elvish by Tolkien we might get to know the words we miss today, like "spur" or "counter".
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Tolkien's Elvish writing systems have an inner history (paleography) and a complex terminology.
From my dictionary of Quenya (still a work in progress).‽ = an Elvish word not published but logically deduced by me.
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In Europe early "German" printed books matched the style of handwritten manuscripts.
It is thanks to the "crazy Italian" eyes, minds and hands that Typography was born by drinking Roman's monumental capitals.Tolkien fortunately did experiment a lot and he left us with plenty of paths to follow in making Tengwar Fonts.
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Tolkien imagined a complex set of names for each letter or Tengwa: alphabetic names, different in each languages and modes, and a 'full name' a Quenya word used in every languages as a loanword to designate the letter.
The full name of hwá was hwesta "breeze" in Quenya.
The letter called hwá in Quenya was named chwae in Sindarin (Noldorin), and in real Common Speech it was akha, later aha (as in Rohan).
#tolkien #tengwa #elvishtypography -
I am changing and adjusting the position of some of the diacritical marks (called tehtar in Quenya).
Also Toshi decided to have two forms for the Tengwa rómen, a special one when having under dots. I prefer when only one single form is used. -
The sa-rince (= + s) used with the Tengwar leaves open the door for typographical interpretation(s).
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I reworked the glyph for 11 in duodecimal trying to make it looking less like a Tengwa (letter) and more like a 'number' (abstract).
Comments welcome. I am still learning! 🤓
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I spent a few hours on the Elvish Zero.
I am rather happy with it as it is now. -
My new Elvish question marks.
Up to last year we only had 1 example of such a mark in 1 text/calligraphy by Tolkien, published in "The Road Goes Ever On".Last year (at last) a text by Tolkien provided the definitive explanation of its origin showing that my hypothesis was the right one. It is a reshaped/reduced Tengwa M.
Note: Parmaquesta is a normalized written form of Quenya, using a standardized spelling.
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The Plan:
In order to learn to design tengwar I am using Toshi's work.
Red are the tengwar I designed this month in the style of Alcarin Tengwar by Toshi Omagari.
Blue tengwa, I reassigned it.After mastering the design of the Tengwar and doing the 15 or about Open Type Fonts for each mode Tolkien imagined, I will finish designing my Tengwar Sans Serif, then open a site dedicated to the Tengwar, and then do the "Middle-earth Dingbats Fonts".
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On the left my design of the Tengwa called in Noldorin ydew, next to its variant, called in Quenya silma.
Tolkien wrote about this in Appendix E: "The West-gate inscription illustrates a mode of ‘full writing’ with the vowels represented by separate letters. All the vocalic letters used in Sindarin are shown. The use of No. 30 as a sign for vocalic y may be noted".
Toshi Omagari designed "silma" in Alcarin Tengwar.Comments are welcome! I'm still learning.
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Another forgotten Tengwa on the left (it does not appear in any of free Tengwar Fonts available today). It is this variant "rómen" (shown on the right) that I have drawn in the style of Alcarin Tengwar by Toshi.
This glyph does not have a special Elvish name. It might be called "variant rómen".
Below the glyphs, Tolkien's explanation showing his calligraphy of the ('forgotten') glyph.
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I changed just a little this Elvish glyph
( previously: https://typo.social/@e_kloczko/114409064965850694 )
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I think a more 'modern' design is better for this glyph. And you what do you think?
( my first design of this glyph: https://typo.social/@e_kloczko/114398216648962504 )
#tengwar #tolkien #elvishtypography -
This mark was published for the first time in "Sauron Defeated" (p. 131) in 1992. But I had to wait 2024 to understand what it was exactly and how it was used precisely.
Why? C. Tolkien abstained from publishing the hundreds pages of his father's notes on the Tengwar.
I have reshaped this mark a little bit if compared to what Toshi Omagari did in Alcarin giving it a more symmetrical (typographical) look. That is how I'm learning to do Elvish typography. -
The new Tengwa in context.
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I was rather unhappy with my first (quick) attempt at designing a new Tengwa. An alternate form of the Tengwa called rómen in "The Lord of Rings".
This alternate RÓMEN (r sound) is apparently (?only) used in Gondor. This Tengwa appears to be a mix between the glyphs "óre" and "rómen" (see Appx E of LOTR).Tolkien gave a name (and often many names) to the glyphs of his invented Tengwar script.
This morning I worked on it. What do you think? 🤓
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This is my first tentative design of this new "Tengwa" or rather Elvish question mark in the style of the Font Alcarin by Toshi.
C. Tolkien abstained from publishing the hundreds pages of his father's notes on the Tengwar script. He gave instead copies of these ms and an authorization to a closed group of US cultists.
This new (previously unknown) symbol was published for the first time in the fanzine Parma Eldalamberon n° 23 in September 2024.
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The Elvish tengwar have in fact two sizes, if only (usually) one shape: minuscules and capitals.
But in my new Elvish typography, some capital tengwar must have also a slightly different shape, like in Latin typography c and C, o and O.
The word Imladris written in the “mode of Beleriand” from Tolkien’s hand.
Second image. Look at the capital i (a telco) in the name Io - rhael.
Iorhael is the Sindarin translation of Frodo.
#tolkien #tengwar #elvishtypography -
I was very surprised to meet young Feench typographers who know Tolkien and his Tengwar, but do not understand why the Tengwar need to have their own modern design (stabilization) and not simply make copies of the few Tolkien's calligraphies they know.
Tolkien experimented extensively with Elvish calligraphy. My goal is to provide the public with several Tengwar fonts and pave the way for other typographers and designers.
Image = Tolkien's manuscript. -
"A Elbereth Gilthoniel" written by Tolkien in "The Road Goes Ever On" and in Tengwar Font.
The capital E is not my invention but a variant "e" used sometimes by Elves (according to Tolkien).
I find it convenient to differentiate Capital Tengwar when it is a "historically" correct form in Middle-earth.
The dot over the i are simply a variant in this mode. It helps reading I believe.
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The first Font of Tengwar is MOROMA. I bought it in 1994. I got by Post from the USA on a floppy disk.
Today you can get it free. It is certainly a very strange, quite ugly Font. But in 1995 I had no choice. I used it on the cover of my first book published in 1995.
#Tolkien #tengwar #elvishtypography -
The Tengwar are primarily a system of signs. The manner in which they were used and applied varied greatly at different times (within Middle-earth) and according to the purposes for which they were used. For each language to which this script was applied, the values of the signs and diacritical marks were freely altered and adapted, making the correct use of this writing system extremely complex. Tolkien often made mistakes while writing in Tengwar.
#tengwar #tolkien #elvishtypography -
Tolkien wrote the Latin language using Tengwar. Tolkien used in fact the Tengwar to write several natural languages beside English.
Below Tolkien's manuscript with my transliteration.
I call this mode the "Latin full mode".
#Tengwar #Latin #Elvishtypography #Elvish