<p>You are likely having a hard time reading these tengwar because of <a href="http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_general_black_speech.htm" rel="noreferrer">three big problems</a>:</p>

<ol>
<li>the style itself is such that the tengwar are <a href="http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_calligraphy.htm#ring" rel="noreferrer">slanted and written 
calligraphically</a></li>
<li>the mode used to write them is <a href="http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_general_black_speech.htm#vowels" rel="noreferrer">unusual and not common</a> for Elvish languages</li>
<li>there are no spaces between words!</li>
</ol>

<p>The page linked should provide assistance; the issue is that the tengwar and tehtar behave (like in several modes) as in an abugida: the vowels are diacritics to the "host" consonants, and a null consonant is used for vowel-initial words (even when the words aren't separated by spaces).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-10-08T19:05:41.773Z
(2) In particular, no attested Elvish language has /ʃ/ as in _ash_. But the title pages use tengwar and cirth for English; if you decipher those, you can confirm that (as mentioned in the Appendix) the columns of tengwar that represent _t, p, k, kw_ and their kin in Elvish are used in English and Black Speech for _t, p, č, k_ and their kin, respectively.  Thus _ash_ is written with the tengwa that in Elvish would stand for /kh/, while _nazg_ and _–uk_ use the tengwar for /gw/ and /kw/.
Anton Sherwood
CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-06T21:12:42.907Z
2018-02-06T21:12:42.907Z
Darkgamma
<p>The following <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring#Inscription" rel="nofollow noreferrer">inscription appears on the One Ring</a> in <em>The Fellowship of the Ring</em> book:</p>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/nrAvt.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/nrAvt.png" alt="Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them." /></a></p>
<p>Which in Black Speech can be written down as:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,</p>
<p>Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>However, the inscription is using different letters. I've checked <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengwar" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tengwar</a>, but I can't find any of the words (e.g. <em>ash</em>, <em>nazg</em>, etc.).</p>
<p>How should the inscription be read exactly, in other words, how it's transformed from the above fiery letters into latin letters?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2018-02-06T21:09:43.203Z
There's an article on [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Speech) with list of known words. (The ring inscription section). Unless you mean the pronouncation
RedClover
<tolkien-black-speech><tengwar>
How to read One Ring inscription?
# How to read One Ring inscription?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-02-06)

The following [inscription appears on the One Ring](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Ring#Inscription) in *The Fellowship of the Ring* book:

[![Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul. One ring to rule them all, one ring to find them, One ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.](https://i.sstatic.net/nrAvt.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/nrAvt.png)

Which in Black Speech can be written down as:

> Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul,
>
> Ash nazg thrakatulûk agh burzum-ishi krimpatul.

However, the inscription is using different letters. I've checked [Tengwar](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tengwar), but I can't find any of the words (e.g. *ash*, *nazg*, etc.).

How should the inscription be read exactly, in other words, how it's transformed from the above fiery letters into latin letters?

**Tags:** tolkien-black-speech, tengwar

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: There's an article on [Wikipedia](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Speech) with list of known words. (The ring inscription section). Unless you mean the pronouncation  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2018-02-06. Score: 5 | Accepted answer

You are likely having a hard time reading these tengwar because of [three big problems](http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_general_black_speech.htm):

1. the style itself is such that the tengwar are [slanted and written
   calligraphically](http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_calligraphy.htm#ring)
2. the mode used to write them is [unusual and not common](http://at.mansbjorkman.net/teng_general_black_speech.htm#vowels) for Elvish languages
3. there are no spaces between words!

The page linked should provide assistance; the issue is that the tengwar and tehtar behave (like in several modes) as in an abugida: the vowels are diacritics to the "host" consonants, and a null consonant is used for vowel-initial words (even when the words aren't separated by spaces).

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: (2) In particular, no attested Elvish language has /ʃ/ as in _ash_. But the title pages use tengwar and cirth for English; if you decipher those, you can confirm that (as mentioned in the Appendix) the columns of tengwar that represent _t, p, k, kw_ and their kin in Elvish are used in English and Black Speech for _t, p, č, k_ and their kin, respectively.  Thus _ash_ is written with the tengwa that in Elvish would stand for /kh/, while _nazg_ and _–uk_ use the tengwar for /gw/ and /kw/.  

---

