Today I Learned – Tolkien and languages

I already knew Tolkien was insane about languages. We all did. Well today I wanted to do a simple decoration for my Rohan MTG deck and it sent me down a fascinating rabbit hole.

First of, what little is written in the language of Rohan (I will call Rohirric because I like it better) is writen in Cirth, same runes as the dwarves use but slightly simplified

The Cirth in their older and simpler form spread eastward in the Second Age, and became known to many peoples, to Men and Dwarves, and even to Orcs, all of whom altered them to suit their purposes and according to their skill or lack of it. One such simple form was still used by the Men of Dale, and a similar one by the Rohirrim

Return of the King Appendix E “Writing and Spelling” II: “Writing”

Now this doesn’t mean I can write in Rohirric. Tolkien substituted old english for the language of Rohan because it would sound to us as Rohirric did to the Westron speaking protagonists of LOTR.

Photo by Tomáš Malík on pexels.com

Eowyn