Tengwar mode for Adûnaic + later Númenorean writing style HC
More @numenorweek stuff, not directly related to the prompts but somewhat related to the anti-Elf sentiments, so Day 5 it is.
I couldn't find any official mode for Adûnaic, so I figured the consonants out on my own + added some less canon-compliant elements around the vowels.
It's read bottom-to-top: the vowel is either above preceding consonant (typically) or below the next consonant (initial vowel of a word or word-part).
Black: initial writing (Tengwar-based). Red: later writing style.
The mapping of sounds to Tengwar is pretty obvious. The un-obvious parts, where I had to make some decisions are:
anca as the letter for "kh": from what I understand it's a voiced h, so it fits with h and the "voiced is doubled unvoiced" scheme that kind of exists, especially in Sindarin and English modes.
vala used for "v/w" (Adûnaic seems to use those sounds for the same letter, depending on context): it fits better with the fact that we already have a lot of t, p and k columns, but no letters from the q column.
ngoldo instead of anga for "ng": anga works better for "g" here
romen used instead of óre for "r": I already needed lambe, so it seemed more natural to me to have more letters from that row. Also, romen is the trilled "r", I think it fits better.
Now the non-obvious and headcanon-y part: I want the vowels to go both under and over the consonants, unlike normal Tengwar. Why? Because I hate the vowel carrier and I want word parts like "ar" and some prefixes/suffixes to stick together. I want words to keep their structure in their orthography.
Same for the diphthongs and long vowels: I hate the carrier and the fake vowels that are really consonants. I want the diphthongs and longs to be normal markers. So, first they used two vowels one over another and then it simplified. And the long vowels are stylized normal vowels.
Also, this approach to the vowels, when all the main letters that we write are actual real consonants, seems in my opinion more fitting to a Semitic-like language that does grammar by changing the vowels and sort of moving them around.
Also I made the below-consonant vowel markers slightly different, to make it more symmetrical, because I like how it works.
And i think that in time the writing style would change, especially after Tar-Atanamir, when Númenor had less contact with the Elves. They would still use Tengwar-based writing system, because it's just so good, but they would make it more of their own. It's more angular, because it seems fitting to me.
Also, I want the vowels to be joined to consonants, because this helps me to HC answers for "why did not they invent the movable type at any point, seriously????". Yes, this is a problem I have.
And yes, adding an "e" below the consonant can be tricky and make it look like some different consonant if you're not careful.
The Faithful preferred to use the normal Tengwar in their private writings, and so later Gondor used this writing style.
I know you're all thinking it.. .. .. If they were going to make an alphabet for the numenoreans in the rings of power, why didn't they at least derive it from one of the alphabets tolkien actually created? Well, you hungry dogs, eat up.
and here's the same lines of poetry without vocalization.
As for the writing system itself, the three stages are the original Cirth, a Numenorean scribe's cursive, and a final book-hand. Here's the alphabet,
I based the script off of an earlier rendition of Cirth (except for the H), which didn't have letters for all of the vowels! Which is okay, because Adunaic only has three short vowels (a, i and u). They have 5 long vowels, (a, e, i, o and u) but long e and u evolved from earlier ai and aw respectively, so the letters for long e is derived from i, and the letter for long o is derived from u!
Hi! Here’s our first directory! Thank you guys so much for your patience!
@actuallyfeanor can help you with Scandinavian languages and the Norse Sagas that inspired Tolkien (asks are open!)
@blue-plastic-hairbrush can help you with American Sign Language or linguistics related to sign language (asks are open!)
@bluedancingkittykat can help you with general linguistics (asks are open for both Tolkien and non-Tolkien asks!)
@bodysnatch3r can help you with language evolution, historical linguistics, language construction, translation theory and Proto-Quenya! They’ve done a lot of work (re)-constructing Cuivienen Kwenjâ, Proto-Quenya (asks are open!)
@hellofeanor can help you with Sindarin and Quenya. They also can help with “Names, phrases, poetry, or translating the lyrics to ‘Baby Got Back’” (asks are open!)
@jaz-the-bard can help you with Shakespearean style English and thee/thou too (asks are open!)
@mornyavie can help you with language evolution. They often look at evolving Quenya words into Sindarin and vice versa (asks are open!)
@potatoobsessed999 can help you with your Quenya and Sindarin pronunciation! They can also help with Early Modern English grammar, including the thee/thou tense (asks are open for both Tolkien and non-Tolkien asks!)
@silmallyrn can help you with naming plants, animals, gems and minerals in Quenya, Sindarin, Khudzul and Adunaic (asks are open!)
@vanjalism can help you with Khudzul (asks are open!)
Notes:
If I got anything wrong or you want to add/change something, let me know and I’ll edit the list :) If I missed you, let me know with an ask! tumblr sometimes hides replies or notes, so that’s the best way to reach us. If you had other things in your response that aren’t language or linguistic related, don’t worry; they’ll get their own post! Finally, Name making didn’t make this list, because I thought it’d fit better in a post about Elves or for OC help
Continued from Appendix C. This section will contain information on the Princes of Dol Amroth and the Chieftains of the Dúnedain.
~~~
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Appendix A: Royalty of Númenor
Appendix B: House of Andúnië, Royalty of Arnor
Appendix C: Royalty of Gondor
Appendix D: Princes of Dol Amroth, Chieftains of the Dúnedain (you are here!)
Appendix E: Stewards of Gondor
~~~
PRINCES OF DOL AMROTH
Note: The names of most of these characters come from Adûnaic, but after using a lot of Adûnaic in the Royalty of Númenor section of this project, I was running out of vocabulary to use. Instead I repurposed the fragments of the (often untranslated in canon) Adûnaic names canonical to the House of Dol Amroth and scoured through this Adûnaic dictionary for other words that might be useful. For untranslated words, I made a guess based on the meaning of the word or a similar word in another language, which I excuse because Adûnaic is sort of a language cobbled together from a bunch of other languages.
Following is a brief glossary of the terms I used to make most of these names. If a name element does not appear here, I probably borrowed it from one of these namelists.
GLOSSARY
adra || “crossing” || meaning derived from Gnomish adros (related to Sindarin athrad)
agla || “brilliant, glorious” || meaning derived from Adûnaic aglar
alêth || “city” || canonical meaning
ang[a] || “iron” || meaning derived from Sindarin ang / Quenya anga
asdi || “hope” || a canonical Adûnaic word of unknown meaning; I made up its meaning
batân || “road, path” || canonical meaning
êluk || “past” || a canonical Adûnaic word of unclear meaning; I derived its meaning from Adûnaic tâidô, meaning “once, then” and supposedly a later form of this word
had || “to hurl” || meaning derived from Sindarin hador, “thrower”
hil || “son, child” || meaning derived from Sindarin [c]híl, “heir”
hir || “lord” || meaning derived from Sindarin hîr
imra || “valley” || meaning derived from Sindarin imrath
karasa || “red” || canonical meaning
limir || “chain” || meaning derived from Quenya limil
rûkh || “to shout” || canonical meaning
zâbath || “humble” || canonical meaning
zâira || “yearning, longing” || canonical meaning
zôr || “fire” || canonical meaning
~~~
Adrahil I
ft. Adrahil I, Zâbathasdî (OC), Imrazôr
The history of Dor-en-Ernil is mostly canon. Adrahil’s involvement in Ondoher’s campaign is canon, but his fate in that conflict is unknown, and everything after his retreat to Ithilien is headcanon. Tolkien Gateway has a footnote I find somewhat amusing that emphasizes that we don’t know For Sure that Adrahil was Imrazôr’s father, because even though all the dates line up for that to be true Tolkien never explicitly said that, soooo..... I think there’s no reason he wouldn’t be Imrazôr’s father, but I guess it’s canonically possible he’s not.
Imrazôr
ft. Imrazôr, Mithrellas Nimruphêr, Galador, Gilmith
Amroth’s story is canon, though we don’t know that it specifically was Imrazôr who named the hill after him. All we know about Imrazôr and Mithrellas is their origin story about Mithrellas being lost in the woods and Imrazôr finding her, and that after Mithrellas bore Imrazôr two children she disappeared into the night. I’ve seen lots of varying interpretations of this story, including some where Imrazôr forced Mithrellas to marry her, but in my opinion nothing in the text confirms that theory. We don’t know for sure that Gilmith and Galador are twins, but since they were born in the same year and elf pregnancies are usually exactly a year long I think it’s the most likely scenario. Mithrellas is said to have left after her children were born, which usually I see interpreted as right after their births, but again nothing in the text says her departure was immediate so I think it makes more sense that she stayed until they were grown, at least. Galador does become his father’s heir (see the next edit) but we know nothing else about Gilmith, so their differing fates (mirroring Elros and Elrond’s) are entirely my headcanon. A while back I made an edit about Gilmith and Mithrellas reuniting, if you want to check that out (though I did go with the “Mithrellas leaves immediately” version of events there).
Galador
ft. Galador, Zadnazîrî (OC), Minlubên (OC), Inzilkaras (OC)
The distinction/transition between Dor-en-Ernil and Dol Amroth is never explicitly described in Tolkien’s work, but since the land was not called Dol Amroth until after Amroth’s rule (during Imrazôr’s reign) and Galador was the first prince of Dol Amroth specifically, I think my version of events fits into canon. He was not the first prince of his line, rather the first prince of that specific place-name. Everything about Galador’s choice of mortality and his reasoning behind it is headcanon. His wife, naturally, is unnamed and thus entirely my own creation. Here we get to the first of many “unnamed princes” - we know how many there were between Galador and the next named lord (Aglahad), but nothing else about them save the dates of their lives and rule. Which is still more than we know about the Lords of Andúnië!
Balakân
ft. Balakân (OC), Avradizimril (OC), Zâinabên (OC), Imralêthî (OC), Angahil (OC), Abrazân (OC)
Everything here is entirely my own invention. I realized after making this edit that the line of Dol Amroth was “unbroken” between Galador and Imrahil, meaning there was no uncle to nephew inheritance like this, but tbh that’s a minor detail I’m not fussed about contradicting.
Abrazân
ft. Abrazân (OC), Zâirahirî (OC), Bawbuthôr (OC), Karbazîrî (OC), Avalôzîr (OC), Narakarî (OC), Gimlibên I (OC), Asdiphêl (OC), Zôrahad (OC), Agathilî (OC)
All the events that occur in this edit are canonical, but everything to do with the involvement of anyone from Dol Amroth is my headcanon. All information about the Princes and their family is my own invention.
Alêthir
ft. Alêthir (OC), Zâbathinzil (OC), Karsalimir (OC), Adrabatîna (OC), Gimlibên II (OC), Zimrasdî (OC), Rûkhir (OC), Batânaglar (OC), Zâirêluk (OC), Ûrîzôrî (OC)
Same note as previous. Don’t worry, we’re getting back to semi-canonical stuff soon! The name “Karsalimir” is derived from “karasa+limir”; I shortened the first element for a better flow of the name. Adrabatîna’s name is glossed as “fortunate meeting” but literally means “crossing paths.”
Karazôr
ft. Karazôr (OC), Zâiralêth (OC), Asdihil (OC), Lômihirî (OC)
The 15th and 16th Princes did canonically die early; the 15th Prince was “slain by the Corsairs of Umbar” and the 16th was “slain in battle.” We don’t have specifics on either event, so an isolated skirmish with the Corsairs is plausible enough for the 15th Prince’s demise. The 16th Prince died in 2799, the same year as the end of the War of the Dwarves and Orcs that sent orcs fleeing to the White Mountains in southern Gondor, so while there is no proof I think it’s likely that is the conflict in which he perished. Karazôr’s name comes from “karasa+zôr”; again, I’ve shortened the first element for aesthetic purposes.
Aglazôr
ft. Aglazôr (OC), Gimilzâirî (OC), Angharas (OC), Nîlubêlî (OC)
The Battle of the Poros happened during the rule of the 17th Prince; it is conceivable he and his son would have fought in that conflict, but all information about them is entirely headcanon. Once more I have messed with the word “karas” as a name element: Angharas’ name comes from “ang(a)+karasa,” but in pushing those two elements together Angakarasa becomes something like Angharas.
Aglahad
ft. Aglahad, Karasaphêl (OC), Angelimir, Minalzôrî (OC), Adrahil II
Finally we get to actually canonical characters!! Although we don’t know anything at all about Aglahad or Angelimir other than their names and the usual dates. This is the time Ithilien was deserted and Henneth Annûn was founded, though Angelimir’s involvement is entirely my own speculation.
Adrahil II
ft. Adrahil II, Branniel (OC), Ivriniel, Finduilas of Dol Amroth, Denethor II,
The basic details of Finduilas’ story are canon, though I have embellished a bit (including Imrahil’s resentment of Denethor). Everything about Adrahil, Branniel, and Ivriniel is headcanon.
Imrahil
ft. Imrahil, Malleneth (OC), Elphir, Erchirion, Amrothos, Lothíriel
All of Imrahil’s deeds are canon, though they have been somewhat embellished. He was even canonically bros with Éomer! However, everything about everyone else in his family is headcanon, except that Lothíriel did indeed marry Éomer (though we don’t know how exactly that came to be).
Elphir
ft. Elphir, Idhrenes (OC), Alphros
We know nothing about Elphir and Alphros except for their names and relevant dates; all of this is headcanon.
~~~
CHIEFTAINS OF THE DÚNEDAIN
Aranarth
ft. Aranarth, Lorneth (OC), Amathim (OC), Arahael, Idhrion (OC)
Aranarth is implied to have a younger brother, as the ROTK appendices indicate he is the elder son of Arvedui. He also had at least one other child, since Dírhael is “said to be a descendant of a younger branch of Aranarth.” I came up with a different version of Dírhael’s ancestry that I like better, interpreting “younger branch of Aranarth” to just broadly mean “a younger branch of Aranarth’s house,” but I decided I liked the idea of giving Arahael a sibling. The bit about Aranarth’s tracking ability was borrowed from Middle-earth Role Playing. Arahael was born decades after his father’s inheritance (unusual for the Dúnedain, but Aranarth was particularly young when Arvedui died); technically Aranarth gave the heirlooms of Arnor to Elrond shortly after Angmar was destroyed, but after reading this excellent fic by @nikosheba I’ve adopted the headcanon that instead that happened when Aranarth’s wife arrived in Rivendell. The circumstances of Arahael’s birth are mostly headcanon, though he was born and raised in Rivendell, as were all his heirs after him.
Arahael
Arahael, Avorniel (OC), Aranuir, Bellassamdir (OC), Aravir, Daerís (OC), Aragorn I, Galadil (OC), Araglas, Aeneth (OC)
We know basically nothing about everyone in this edit, except that Aragorn I was indeed killed by wolves. Everything else is headcanon.
Arahad I
ft. Arahad I, Silivreneth (OC), Aragost, Alphalas (OC), Aravorn, Sírdhem (OC), Arahad II, Ellother (OC), Arassuil, Glórineth (OC)
I’m not sure if it’s clear in the caption, but Celebrían was wounded during Arahad’s rule, not Aragost’s; however, Aragost was a grown man at the time and I imagined him taking an active role under his father’s jurisdiction. The Rangers as a group canonically fought back against the invasion of orcs into Eriador at this time, though Arassuil was not mentioned individually. All the major events in this edit are canonical, but any involvement of the Chieftains and their families is headcanon.
Arathorn I
ft. Arathorn I, Dravoriel (OC), Argonui, Eithiar (OC)
Arathorn was indicated to have died violently, but we don’t know the specifics of this death, and it happened near the end of his natural lifespan anyway. The War of the Dwarves and Orcs did happen at this time, which affected the politics of the area, but any involvement of the Dúnedain is headcanon.
Argonui
ft. Argonui, Theriel (OC), Arador, Malríneth (OC), Arathorn II
The events mentioned here are canonical, but most of how these characters reacted to them is headcanon. Arador’s death is canon, though the reason he was out in the Coldfells is unknown.
Eithiar
ft. Eithiar (OC), Farion (OC), Dírhael, Gilbarad, Ivorwen, Gilraen
Argonui having a sibling is entirely my idea; I decided it would be interesting if Gilraen and Arathorn II were more closely related than simply both being descendants of Aranarth. Everything about Gilbarad is headcanon except for his name and relation to Ivorwen. The story of Dírhael and Ivorwen’s disagreement over Gilraen’s marriage is canon, but has been embellished; the story of their own marriage is headcanon.
Arathorn II
ft. Arathorn II, Gilraen, Aragorn II
This is mostly based in canon, but the details have been embellished. Aragorn and Arwen are the only characters in this series that I used movie faceclaims for, just because I think they work really well.
Aragorn II Elessar
ft. Aragorn II Elessar, Arwen Undómiel, Eldarion, Erthoril (OC), Eliominal (OC), Evrindil (OC)
Everything about Aragorn is canon. This guy did a LOT of stuff. Arwen did indeed make the Standard of Elendil, but it is a headcanon (that I think I first got from @jaz-the-bard) that she reforged Andúril, and also that she was waiting to find the right people to be mortal with (that was also from Jaz, lol). Naturally, everything about their kids is headcanon except for the most basic information about Eldarion. Aragorn and Arwen canonically had several daughters; I made one actually be nonbinary because I felt like it. Eliominal is derived from elia “to bless” and menel “heavens”; it should properly be Eliormenel but I changed the spelling for aesthetic purposes, and also a nod to the common tongue (minal is the Adûnaic version of Q./S. menel). “Evrin” is an alteration of “Ivrin” which I translate as “crystal.”
Tolkien Gateway says that Eldarion had at least one son but I went through their sources in Peoples of Middle-earth and found no mention of this. It is stated that it was prophesied he would rule a great kingdom that would last “a hundred generations of Men after him,” but the same text admits that it is unknown if that is true, and even that statement is not necessarily indicative that those “hundred generations” would be his direct descendants. It is equally likely that his kingship passed to a child of one of his sisters and that he himself was childless. Personally, I ship Eldarion with Elboron, so I’m choosing that version of events instead.
