How to Write in Elvish

Lord of the Rings expert Tim DeMarco shares tips for writing in the Elvish alphabet

Co-authored by Tim DeMarco

Last Updated: August 12, 2026 Approved

The languages developed by J.R.R. Tolkien and featured in The Lord of the Rings series have come to be studied and used in various capacities by many ardent fans. Though a few of Tolkien’s various Elvish dialects were extensively developed, none include a complete grammar, and he frequently changed grammar rules and lettering styles.^{[1]
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Research source} Accordingly, you'll likely need to use a bit of your own or others' creative interpretation to write in Elvish. Still, you can quickly familiarize yourself with some of the basics of Tolkien's Elvish and even learn to write in the alphabets he designed.

Writing in Elvish

Lord of the Rings expert Tim DeMarco says to learn the Tengwar alphabet and write in Quenya mode. Place vowels above the preceding consonant (except for Y and E, which go below) or a vertical line beneath vowels when there is no consonant beforehand. Wavy lines under a letter mean the letter is doubled.

Method 1

Method 1 of 3:

Understanding the Basics of Tolkien’s Elvish

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The Lord of the Rings series was written in part as an extension of Tolkien’s interest in creating new languages. You could even say that the characters were literary devices through whom he could use the languages he loved to invent. And invent he did: there are 15 different dialects of Elvish alone. However, only two – Quenya and Sindarin – have enough established words and grammar rules to be functionally used. People study, speak, and write in each of these languages.^{[2]
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Know that you’re likely familiar with Sindarin. Sindarin was the Elvish language that Tolkien featured most frequently in the Lord of the Rings series. The names of many places and characters in the series are Sindarin, and the dialect was the most common Elvish language during the fictional time period of Middle Earth.^{[3]
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- Sindarin is closely related to Quenya. The distinctions between the two have to do with specific aspects of the fictional histories Tolkien created.
- Quenya, which uses words that mostly end in vowels or r, l, or n, is based on Finnish, a language Tolkien particularly favored.
- Sindarin words almost always end in consonants, and consonant clusters are more common. Sindarin reminds many people of Celtic languages, and was based on Welsh.
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Learn the Feanorian letters. Though Tolkien also invented several alphabets, the Feanorian letters – which make up the Tengwar alphabet – were most prominently featured in his work, and are most commonly used today, agrees Lord of the Rings expert Willie Jenkins.^{[4]
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Willie Jenkins (Knewbettadobetta)
Lord of the Rings Expert

Expert Interview} Depending on dialect, this alphabet is written in different modes. The Tengwar alphabet is always written left to right, in horizontal lines.^{[5]
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- “Tengwar is a system of letters,” says DeMarco. “It’s not a language; it’s the writing itself, developed by Fëanor, the greatest of Elves to ever live.”^{[6]
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  Tim DeMarco
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- Find an image of the Feanorian letters online. Note that different modes will affect the appearance of certain letters.
- Further, be aware that different renditions of Tolkien’s alphabets are extremely common. Different renditions may appear differently depending on the fictional historical time period, or specific Tolkien piece, from which they were derived.
Some common two-letter combinations in English – such as “sh”, “nd” and “ld” are replaced by individual letters of the Tengwar alphabet. These letters should also be included in alphabets that are available online. The important thing to note is that the Tengwar alphabet has more letters than the English alphabet, for instance.

Method 2

Method 2 of 3:

Writing a Word in Quenya

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1
Start writing Elvish in the Quenya mode. The Quenya mode is most commonly used in written Elvish today. Different modes of writing the Tengwar alphabet are used for different dialects. These different modes affect, among other things, the way vowels are indicated when written down.^{[7]
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Research source} Barring some specific rules regarding certain letters, you may be able to simply replace most consonants in your English name with their equivalent in the Tengwar alphabet.
- For instance, to write the name "Dan," first simply find the Tengwar equivalent of "D", "a", and "n."
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Indicate vowels properly. Vowels will usually require a shift in lettering and marking, as opposed to a simple replacement of the letter. In the Quenya mode, vowels are indicated by diacritics that appear above the preceding consonant.^{[8]
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Research source} Accordingly, shift the marking for a vowel up and to the left, so you end up writing it above the letter that came before the vowel.
- Continuing with the example of "Dan," shift the marking for the letter "a" above the preceding marking for the letter "D". Follow these stacked markings with the marking for the letter "n", and you've written "Dan" in Elvish!
- For “y” and “e”, the markings to indicate these letters go below the preceding consonant instead of above.
- In Sindarin mode, diacritics that indicate a vowel appear above the following consonant.
More specifically, draw a place holder beneath vowels that are not preceded by a consonant. For instance, when a vowel starts a word or follows another vowel, you need something beneath the marking for a vowel. This is most commonly a short vertical line that simply takes the place of the consonant that isn’t there.
Double consonants of the same letter are indicated by a wavy line written beneath a letter. More specifically, instead of writing the same consonant twice in a row, write it once, then draw a wavy line beneath the letter. ^{[9]
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Learn the special rules regarding certain letters. Depending on where “s” and “r” are located in a word, certain markings most necessarily accompany or replace these letters. For instance, when “s”, “ss”, or “r” follow a vowel, there is actually a different consonant that does not have an equivalent in the English language. Similarly, when “s” follows another consonant, it is written with a downward hook.^{[10]
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- Another example involves drawing a line above a consonant that follows a nasal “n” or “m” sound.

Method 3

Method 3 of 3:

Studying Elvish Further

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1
Read the appendixes of The Return of the King. If you’re hoping to learn more about Tolkien’s languages, there are two appendices – A and F – in one of the books from the Lord of the Rings series that should be your primary sources. These appendices describe the various languages, as well as different types of letters, in detail.^{[11]
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- These appendices also contain a guide to pronunciation of Tolkien’s languages, as well as music to which Tolkien wrote Elvish lyrics.
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Consult Tolkien’s original manuscripts. The manuscripts for many of Tolkien’s works are stored in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, at Marquette University. The margins of the manuscripts include all sorts of notes about how and why he chose or developed certain Elvish words. Further, unpublished works contain new Elvish words that continue to be “discovered.”^{[12]
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- The Elvish Linguistic Fellowship is another source of a wealth of material, some of which was created using some of Tolkien’s unpublished works.^{[13]
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An Introduction to Elvish, written by Jim Allen, is widely respected as the most substantial work on Tolkien’s languages. However, many consider it to be outdated. The Languages of Tolkien’s Middle-earth is reportedly “less accurate,” but is still recommended. The Tolkien Society recommends several other sources for further reading.^{[14]
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You read that right. You can take courses and tutorials online developed by people who have extensively studied Tolkien’s languages. The modern languages in which these lessons are taught vary, as so the approach and inspiration that led to their creation.^{[15]
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Question

Did Fëanor invented the Tengwar?

Willie Jenkins (Knewbettadobetta)
Lord of the Rings Expert
Willie Jenkins (Knewbettadobetta) is a Lord of the Rings content creator and Lord Master based in Long Island, New York. Willie first read The Lord of the Rings at the age of 12 and has since become an expert in its lore. He now teaches The Lord of the Rings at Signum University, working directly with Professor Corey Olsen. He is also part of the Signum Collaboratory, where he has his own shows and content available. Willie also co-hosts The Voices of Arda podcast, has worked with Torn Many Times on TheOneRing.net, and has partnered with Amazon on Rings of Power content and with Warner Brothers on The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim. Willie creates a plethora of content on all social media platforms @knewbettadobetta, and has built an online community of over 130k people.

Willie Jenkins (Knewbettadobetta)

Lord of the Rings Expert

Expert Answer

Yes, Tengwar is an Elvish script that was created by Fëanor. However, it first started with an Elf named Rúmil, who created the first writing system and language. Then, Fëanor improved the writing system of Rúmil, and it was eventually adopted by the Elves and became Tengwar, also known as the Fëanorian runes.

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Where do I learn Elvish? Can you tell me the websites for that?

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Quenya101.com will help you learn Elvish.

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How do I write a word in Quenya that has a vowel as the first letter?

Community Answer

You use the place holder symbol. It's similar to how in Korean, the circle "ieung" acts as a place holder, but in Elvish the place holder is simply a straight line going down, followed by the rest of the word.

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Warnings

Websites affiliated with the Grey Company contain discussions of Elvish that are in part inspired by Tolkien’s work, but have also been heavily influenced by more recent role playing games, etc.

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