Homework 1: Runes and Tolkien

LilyFlower

Runes and Tolkien

Background: References of runes have had a constant presence in pop culture, but none more so than in J.R.R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings saga. The purpose of this exercise is to illustrate Tolkien’s use of the ancient art of runes and to gain a better understanding of why it was used.

Short Answer (10 points)

Applied Use (20 points)

Historical Reference (10 points)

In no less than 100 words and no more than 200 words, give a brief history of Tolkien’s runes in Middle Earth. Where did it originate from, who created it, and where it can be found?Extra Credit (10 points)

Pick one of these images and translate the text you find:

http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_2.jpg

http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/the_thingol_scroll.jpg

http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_3.jpg

Note: Remember to cite ALL sources.

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Alice Cullen

Runes and Tolkien

by Alice Cullen

Short Answer (10 points)
1) What is the name of the runic script used in Tolkien’s works? (2)
Tolkien’s runes in the Hobbit depict the Angle Saxon runic script called futhorc, but in Lord of the Rings a new system Cirth is created.

2) In The Hobbit who was the first creatures to use Ancient Runes? (2)
Elrond, the elf leader translates runes found on the sword stolen from the dragons cave.

3) In Tolkien’s system, what are words separated by? (2)
In Cirth, words are separated using dots rather than spaces.

4) Name two differences between Tolkien’s runes and the Anglo-Saxon runes we know? (4) Note there is more than two answers to this
Cirth is written from left to right in horizontal lines
And the phonetic value of the letter vary

Applied Use (20 points)
1) Using Tolkien’s system of runes from the trilogy, spell out your name in runes (5)

2) Using the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes, spell out your name in runes (5)

3) Explain what is different about each in no more than a 100 words (10)
The Furthark system has meanings behind the runes as well as letters/sounds. Also there was no ‘c’ sound in the furthark system so I had to replace it with‘s’ in Alice. I used ‘s’ because the phonic sound in similar when pronouncing Alice.

Historical Reference (10 points)
In no less than 100 words and no more than 200 words, give a brief history of Tolkien’s runes in Middle Earth. Where did it originate from, who created it, and where it can be found?
‘Certhas Daeron’ was created by the elf Daeron, but was later expanded into ‘Angerthas Daeron’. Cirth was later replaced by Tengwar, and both were adopted by dwarves who wrote it down. The dwarves altered it slightly for their carvings and to better suit their language Khuzdul as straight lines are more applicable to carve than curved ones. Cirth writings can be found on Balin's tomb in Moria. Cirth was also adapted, in its older and simpler form, by various kinds of Men and even Orcs. It was used by the Men of Dale and the Rohirrim and the Orcs of Moria.

Extra Credit (10 points)
Pick one of these images and translate the text you find:
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_2.jpg
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/the_thingol_scroll.jpg
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_3.jpg

I couldn’t translate any of the so sad

Sources

http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/sechard/492runes.htm
http://education.yahoo.com/homework_help/cliffsnotes/the_hobbit/4.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirth
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cirth.htm
http://www.acondia.com/fonts/cirth/info/index.html

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Elana

Short Answer (10)

1) What is the name of the runic script used in Tolkien’s works? (2)
The runic script used by JRR Tolkien is called Cirth, which is based on Norse and Anglo-Saxon runes.

2) In The Hobbit who was the first creatures to use Ancient Runes? (2)
The first to use Ancient Runes in The Hobbit was Elrond.

3) In Tolkien’s system, what are words separated by? (2)
In Cirth, like many other runic alphabets, words are separated by one or more dots.

4) Name two differences between Tolkien’s runes and the Anglo-Saxon runes we know? (4) Note there is more than two answers to this
- The Anglo-Saxon Furthark runes carry individual meanings.
- The Anglo-Saxon Furthark alphabet lacks a rune for "a."

Applied Use (20)

1) Using Tolkien’s system of runes from the trilogy, spell out your name in runes (5)

2) Using the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes, spell out your name in runes (5)

(The site I used did not have an Anglo-Saxon Furthark rune for "a" so I improvised and used "e.")

3) Explain what is different about each in no more than a 100 words (10)
While Cirth is always written from left to right horizontally, other runic alphabets were written in different ways before settling into the left to right way. Cirth also has more runes than Anglo-Saxon Furthark that have combined letter sounds. Cirth runes are generally more intricate than those of the Anglo-Saxon Furthark, but the latter have meanings for each rune while Cirth does not.

Historical Reference (10 points)
In no less than 100 words and no more than 200 words, give a brief history of Tolkien’s runes in Middle Earth. Where did it originate from, who created it, and where it can be found?
The first runes used in Middle Earth were created by the Sindarian Elves. These runes were made to be easily engraved into hard surfaces, and so were very abrupt. Near the end of the First Age, Cirth (the runes developed by the Sindarian Elves) was altered and became known as Angerthas Daeron and was used by the Gray Elves. Another Elvish group, the Deep Elves, adapted these scripts as well. The Dwarves of the Second Age were the next to use runes, calling their runic script Angerthas Moria. The runes of Middle Earth are most commonly found in engravings, for the Tengwar system is used for other writing.

Extra Credit (10)
--> http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_2.jpg

I tried the first line, the one directly below the picture, and got gibberish, but I'll write it down anyway XD

"thigel anaghaal ngweldhgeth siigesgalduingw gediongw"

Sources
http://www.omniglot.com/index.htm
http://www.acondia.com/fonts/index.html

(Just a reminder in case you want to change them: points for classes can go up to 100 )

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IfYouveGotEnoughNerve

Runes and Tolkien

Short Answer (10 points)
1) What is the name of the runic script used in Tolkien’s works? (2)
“Cirth” is the name of the runic script that Tolkein used. While still vastly different, many of the shapes of the letters are similar to those found in the Futhark.

2) In The Hobbit who was the first creatures to use Ancient Runes? (2)
The elves were the first creatures to use Ancient Runes. Elrond, in particular, showed skill in being able to translate Ancient Runes when he read the ones inscribed on two swords, as well as the dwarven moon-letters, which are also based on the Futhark, on the Thrór's Map.

3) In Tolkien’s system, what are words separated by? (2)
Dots are used to separate the words in Tolkien’s Cirth writing system.

4) Name two differences between Tolkien’s runes and the Anglo-Saxon runes we know? (4) Note there is more than two answers to this
~The runes can not only carry significance as the letters they signify, but could also mean their names. An example from http://www.tolkiensociety.org/ed/study_02.html:

Quote:
Example: æ, its name was æsc, meaning 'ash-tree'. It could refer to an ash-tree, or be used in a word that needed the 'a' sound we say in words like 'hat'.

~Every letter and two-letter sound-such as “oo”-in the English alphabet has it’s own rune, although a few sounds are written with the same rune; this is the case with “A” and “O”.

Applied Use (20 points)
1) Using Tolkien’s system of runes from the trilogy, spell out your name in runes (5)

I used my middle name, since I don't like my first name XD

2) Using the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes, spell out your name in runes (5)

3) Explain what is different about each in no more than a 100 words (10)
Well, the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes for my name-especially the “r” (raido), the “c” (kaunaz), and the “h” (hagalaz) look much more similar to the way my name is written in “English". But, in the Cirth version of my name, the phonetic sound that “ch” makes has its own separate rune, the Futhark runes required two to make that one sound. This comes from the fact that the Futhark is has much fewer runes than Cirth; this is most likely due to the fact that the Futhark was meaning based, while Cirth is based on the phonetic sounds each rune is intended to convey.

Historical Reference (10 points)
In no less than 100 words and no more than 200 words, give a brief history of Tolkien’s runes in Middle Earth. Where did it originate from, who created it, and where it can be found?
In elvish Sindarin, cirth means “runes”. It should be no surprise, then, that the Sindar, created Cirth as a written form of their language.
The most ancient forms of Cirth are missing some sounds. This suggests that it was written for a more archaic form of Sindarin, which didn’t carry some of the sounds either. However, some sounds are still missing. One of the many theories is that a form of Cirth simply hasn’t survived the centuries, therefore making it difficult to complete a full “Certhas” (runic alphabet). Another theory is that vowels, such as “a” were meant or implied, and others “shared” runes.
The forms of the Cirth letters are angular and straight because when the Sindar first began using the certhas by carving them onto hard surfaces. It was thus very difficult for them to form curves. They assigned the values of the cirth randomly, their shapes did not signify their meanings.
The oldest form of Cirth gave way to “Certhas Daeron”, which in turn became “Angerthas Daeron”. Tengwar largely replaced Cirth, but the dwarves disliked Tengwar’s curly letters, so they adapted Cirth themselves to write down their language, Khuzdul, in “Angerthas Moria” and “Angerthas Erebor”.

Extra Credit (10 points)
Pick one of these images and translate the text you find:

Sources
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Cirth#History
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Elrond
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cirth.htm
http://www.forodrim.org/daeron/runes-eng.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirth
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Sindarin

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Clafin

Short answer (10 points)
1) What is the name of the runic script used in Tolkien’s works? (2)
J.R.R. Tolkien created Cirth Runes in his books, and based it off of Anglo-Saxon and Norse Runes.

2) In The Hobbit who was the first creatures to use Ancient Runes? (2)
In The Hobbit, Elrond is the first to use Ancient Runes.

3) In Tolkien’s system, what are words separated by? (2)
Tolkien used dots to separate words in many of his adaptations of Ancient runes.

4) Name two differences between Tolkien’s runes and the Anglo-Saxon runes we know? (4)
-Cirth is written to be read from left to right.
-Cirth runes, unlike Anglo-Saxon, have more than one meaning to each character.

Applied Use (20 points)
1) Using Tolkien’s system of runes from the trilogy, spell out your name in runes (5)
Since my name starts with a C but is pronounced as a K, I used the Cirth ruin for K.

2) Using the Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes, spell out your name in runes (5)

3) Explain what is different about each in no more than a 100 words (10)
Well, I found that Tolkien’s Cirth Ruins had no symbol for the letter C with the sound of a K. Whereas Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes did. Also, the Anglo-Saxon Futhark Runes look more similar to how my name would be spelled in English than Cirth does. Personally, I like Cirth runes more, because they don’t appear to be as simplistic as Anglo-Saxon Futhark runes.

Historical Reference (10 points)
In no less than 100 words and no more than 200 words, give a brief history of Tolkien’s runes in Middle Earth. Where did it originate from, who created it, and where it can be found?

Certhas Daeron, or Cirth runes, was first created by Daeron in Doriath (realm of the Sindar). It was later known as Angerthas Daeron and evenutally replaced by Tengwar. However, Cirth runes were also used by men, dwarves, and orcs. It can be found on Moria and Rohirrim.

Extra Credit (10 points)
Pick one of these images and translate the text you find:
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_2.jpg
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/the_thingol_scroll.jpg
http://www.elvish.org/gwaith/loback/thingol_scroll_3.jpg
I couldn’t get anything but gibberish on these

Sources:
http://www.omniglot.com/writing/cirth.htm
http://tolkiengateway.net/wiki/Elrond
http://www.forodrim.org/daeron/runes-eng.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cirth