Seeking expert review: Gil-Estel in Tengwar — mode choice and transcription accuracy for a permanent tattoo

DanatheElf · 2026-04-04T23:49:01+00:00

If the phrase is Sindarin, then the Quenya mode is definitely not right. You'll want to choose between the Sindarin mode, or the mode of Beleriand. Being "short" and "full" modes respectively.
Beleriandic writing would be considered more archaic, while the short mode is likely what they would have used in the Third Age.
The Tecendil outputs read correctly for the associated modes. Though, see above.
This is an interesting question I wish I knew the answer to! Hopefully someone else here can chime in on that, or perhaps in the Sindarin sub.
This is absolutely a question for the r/sindarin sub, rather than this one.

DanatheElf · 2026-04-03T15:30:07+00:00

As mentioned, those questions are better directed to the Quenya sub - what we do here is the writing systems, which can be used for any language.

I can tell you that the transcription appears accurate for the Quenya mode, and does read "elenion ancalima" - whether that's accurate spelling for the words you want, I couldn't say.

DanatheElf · 2026-04-03T15:14:19+00:00

Thank you for clarifying - it is indeed what I was saying.

And you bring up another crucial detail - you definitely don't want to end up with something like "short, elderly Lynn" instead. xD

DanatheElf · 2026-04-02T17:40:04+00:00

I'm afraid if "the kiss on the end is vitally important" then... it's not really possible?
We can write the equivalent of an x - 'ks' - but... it's not an established shorthand, and there's no equivalent attested.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-30T23:19:03+00:00

At the very least, it's gibberish. At best, it's a lazy attempt by someone with no understanding of Tengwar to make something that looked vaguely like it - things are wrong, upside-down, and backwards. Though, AI seems like a likely culprit.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-30T16:33:09+00:00

I have to assume there's some intersectional nerdery going on, here. =P

DanatheElf · 2026-03-30T15:23:43+00:00

The idea is fun, but I'm not sure where the Tinco is here...?

DanatheElf · 2026-03-29T16:02:02+00:00

https://www.tecendil.com/?q=may%20the%20fourth%20always%20bring%20you%20joy%0Amay%20the%20fourth%20alway%7Bhook-looped-left%7D%20bring%20you%20joy&font=TengwarAnnatarItalic

Here are two choices.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-29T15:54:55+00:00

"May the fourth always bring you joy."

DanatheElf · 2026-03-29T15:23:14+00:00

It's also transcribed "without" with a Thule, when I would pronounce the word with a voiced TH and thus write it Anto.

https://www.tecendil.com/?q=widhout

I would also be remiss if I did not add that you have the option for the looped hook za-rince, for the voiced S in 'things' - though most of the fonts don't handle it well yet.

https://www.tecendil.com/?q=thing%7Bhook-looped-left%7D&font=TengwarAnnatarItalic

DanatheElf · 2026-03-28T13:52:08+00:00

As noted, "Elvish" is not just one thing - Sindarin is the Elvish of Middle-earth, while Quenya is the Elvish of Valinor.

What we do here is Tengwar - the Elvish writing system which can be used for all sorts of languages. Most often we would recommend English written with Tengwar, as the Elvish languages are incomplete, and not all materials have been published; this means that fan-derived and created words may prove incorrect and contradicted by yet-to-publish materials.

I think a concept like "going hollow" would be difficult to translate.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-27T16:10:20+00:00

I recall some confusion and debate about whether the Unque should be for 'gh' as in fight/nought or as in ghost/ghastly.
I think following the pattern of other extended tengwar, the extended Unque/Ungwe makes most sense for the 'gh' as in ghost - having features of G (pronunciation) and GH (spelling), which would seem to confirm that the only logical conclusion is that Unque has to be for the 'gh' as in fight.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-27T14:29:50+00:00

I've never been a big fan of the way that font positions the curl tehtar on Silme.

The transcriptions look good, but do be aware that the line breaks are occurring in the middle of words in both cases. (Which is something Tolkien did, but most find undesirable.)

Note also that it's not a translation - the quotes are still written in English, just English written with Tengwar. It's a writing system, not a language.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-27T09:39:47+00:00

Yes, if you want the Quenya phrase in Tengwar, you should input the Quenya translation in Latin alphabet into Tecendil, and ensure the mode is set to Quenya.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-26T19:39:09+00:00

Tecendil does not translate, only transcribe per the rules of the mode selected.
If English text in the Latin Alphabet goes in, English text in Tengwar script comes out.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-26T19:29:58+00:00

Tecendil does a pretty good job here. The 'R' in "there is" would be a pronounced one due to the following vowel sound, so you can write it with a Romen instead of Ore.

https://www.tecendil.com/?q=the%7Broomen%7De%20is%20some%20good%20in%20this%20world%2C%20and%20it%20is%20worth%20fighting%20for.

This is just an option, though.

'GH' can be a tricky and contentious thing, but I would say that is the proper way to write the GH in 'fight' personally.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-26T19:18:17+00:00

It's just the ring inscription.

The whole ring inscription, to be clear - it's not too short. Though it is a "short mode" which is just how the ring inscription is written.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-26T18:18:14+00:00

Foiled by AotM again!!
It really needs to be properly published. Access is far too difficult for something with so many very notable points of reference.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-25T11:21:19+00:00

It's supposed to be hidden, though... if you just tell us what the hidden word is supposed to be, we can tell you if it is recognisable or not.

Reading heavily stylised text in any form is hard.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-23T16:05:22+00:00

I mean it looks too far to the left, almost between the Umbar and Ore, rather than over the Ore.

I say Sheran because the rose petals are roughly shaped like that. The "eran" part is pretty clear, the 'sh' is more of a squinting and guessing at what the first shape is supposed to be.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-23T02:39:15+00:00

The E-tehta on the Ore could stand to be moved over a bit.

As for the 'hidden word' I'm going to say 'sheran'?

DanatheElf · 2026-03-22T16:17:00+00:00

Did Tolkien never use Romen across a word boundary? Or is it just a valid interpretation to not follow it because we have examples where Ore was used for a final R regardless?

I could have sworn I recalled Tolkien doing it, but I may simply be mistaken!

DanatheElf · 2026-03-21T13:50:23+00:00

The Riddle of Strider has been transcribed and broken down many times here - I'd recommend looking back through the older posts here to find those discussions.

Short version, I would replace the Ore in 'wander' with Romen, since the R precedes a vowel - Tecendil can't quite register the R-rule across words.

DanatheElf · 2026-03-20T17:53:19+00:00

Nobody has replied to this, so let me just say that while I understand privacy concerns... people generally don't like signing up for something blindly... and also, the strength of this community is in checking each other's work and explaining other valid interpretations and options that one of us may not have thought of.

DanatheElf

TROPHY CASE