An alphabet of characters constructed from straight strokes, designed primarily to be carved into wood or stone. In its original form it was devised by Daeron, the loremaster of King Thingol of Doriath, and was thus known as the Certhas Daeron or Alphabet of Daeron. Among the Sindar it was little used, especially after the Fëanorian script was brought to Beleriand, but the Dwarves found it well suited to their needs, and eagerly adopted the new alphabet.
Daeron's original alphabet assigned characters to sounds in an arbitrary manner. In the Fëanorian Tengwar, however, the form of the characters followed phonetic rules, and Daeron's alphabet was later adapted in a similar manner. This more sophisticated version of the alphabet was known in Elvish as the Angerthas Daeron. Though tradition said that Daeron himself had made these adaptations, it seems more likely that the substantial changes were the work of the Noldor of Eregion in the Second Age, and it was from their version of Daeron's alphabet that the Runes of nearby Moria, the Angerthas Moria, emerged.
Notes
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Daeron's creation of his Alphabet is mentioned in the Grey Annals in volume XI of The History of Middle-earth, but even that source gives us very little detailed information. A reference to the invention of the Runes appears in a long entry for Valian Year 1350, an entry relating more directly to the arrival of Denethor and the Green-elves in Ossiriand. Assuming that the Alphabet of Daeron appeared immediately after this event, we could date it to about 1,400 (solar) years before the first rising of the Sun. However, the next annal in sequence is for Valian Year 1495, at the end of the Years of the Trees, so in principle Daeron might have completed his work at any point within the last 1,400 (solar) years before the Sun itself was made.
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- Updated 5 November 2021
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