The original Runes, or Cirth, were invented by Daeron, the great loremaster of Doriath in Beleriand. His original system was known as the Certhas Daeron, designed specifically to represent the sounds of the Sindarin language. The Runes seem to have been little appreciated by the Sindar of Doriath, but visiting Dwarves esteemed Daeron's work more highly.
The assignment of sounds in the original Certhas Daeron was relatively arbitrary, and later developments extended the Runes to the more sophisticated form known as the Angerthas Daeron. Tradition said that these further developments were the work of Daeron himself, but more likely they were devised by loremasters in Eregion during the Second Age. The association between Eregion and the Dwarves of Khazad-dûm explains how the Dwarves were able to incorporate the Angerthas Daeron into their Runes, going on to develop further systems of their own such as the Angerthas Moria.
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Dating the emergence of the Angerthas Daeron is made difficult by the fact that this version of the Alphabet of Daeron had two alternative histories. Tradition said that Daeron himself had devised this improved version of his own work, though in fact the structure of the changes suggest that this was not the case. Daeron created his original Certhas Daeron to record the sounds of his native language of Sindarin, whereas the Angerthas Daeron shows non-Sindarin adaptations, and was therefore unlikely to have been Daeron's work. It is generally thought to have been produced by the Noldor in Eregion, and this supposition is the basis of the dates given above.
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- Updated 25 June 2022
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