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The Mode of Beleriand was a mode of Tengwar which used full letters for vowels instead of tehtar.

History

The history of this mode is not known but the name suggest it evolved in the First Age, on Beleriand, when the Noldor came to Middle-earth; we are told that they were forbidden by King Elu Thingol to use Quenya[1]and were forced to adopt Sindarin.

Normally, they adapted Tengwar to their new language, taking advantage of their inherent flexibility to other sounds, imitating maybe the way the Falmari of Eldamar represented the Telerin sounds that didn't exist in Quenya. For some obscure reasons we do not know, they found the most usual tehta-mode inappropriate for Sindarin, and they took therefore also example of the original Fëanorian Quanta-Sarmë, using distinct tengwar for vowels.

The Mode of Beleriand seems to have been held "traditionally" by the Noldor who were established in Eregion during the Second Age, as seen on the West Gate of Moria Inscription written by Celebrimbor[2]. After Eregion was destroyed in Second Age 1697, the Noldor migrated to Imladris[3], where the Mode of Beleriand was perhaps used even till the Third Age[4].

Structure

It seems that Sindarin speakers found use only for 3 of the 5 témar. Of the Quessetéma, only Wilya is attested, as a final -u (spelled -w by Tolkien, in tîw). There is also an a-tengwa, not corresponding with any of the older ones known from Quenya. We don’t know if it was a new invention or imported from a Quenya semivowel unknown to us, but more probably it is the a-letter from Fëanor’s Quanta-Sarme.

Since the vowels were separate letters, the carriers took vowel values too. The short carrier was for i, while in the King’s Letter, written in the later 'General Use with full writing', used in Arnor, we see the long carrier for the semiconsonantal initial sound y- (spelled i- by Tolkien, as in Ioreth). We don’t know if the latter was an Arnorian employment or was used even back in the original Beleriand Mode.

In the same text, we also find the w-tehta used over consonants as well for labialisation (edwen, which would be written here as l2èl6), since the Quessetéma was discarded. A tilde is used before stops for nasalisation, since Anto, Ampa etc. took different values.

Diphthongs were expressed by tehtar. Two overdots, maybe a remnant of the Tyelpetéma, used for -i in the diphthongs ai, ei and ui. Similarly for au (spelled -aw finally by Tolkien), we assume the w-tehta was used (caun, a]é6). ae is attested written with the separate letters for a and e, and maybe the same applies to the diphthong oe too. Another tehta was used to indicate long vowels, an acute accent called Andaith (á, ]R)

A well-known tehta that indicates long consonants, the under-tilde, wasn’t used. Long m and n were written with Malta and Númen (i.e., doubling of the lúva), while in the Moria Gate Inscription, other long consonants were written with two letters, so maybe this under-tilde wasn’t used earlier in Aman either, but is a later device.

In the King’s Letter, the letter of lenited m (mh) appears, which is a “nasal variant of v” or “spirant m”, but we don’t know its form in this mode.

Table

Parmatéma Tincotéma Calmatéma Quessetéma
q p
Parma
1 t
Tinco
a k
Calma
z
w b
Umbar
2 d
Ando
s g
Anga
x
e f
Formen
3 th
Thúle
d ch
Charma
c
r v
Ampa
4 dh
Anto
f gh?
Anca
v
t mm
Malta
5 nn
Númen
g -ng?
Ngoldo
b
y m
Vala
6 n
Óre
h o
Anna
n -w
Wilya
Additional Tengwar:
7 r
Rómen
u rh
Arda
j l
Lambë
m lh
Alda
8 s
Silmë
i y
Silmë nuquerna
k ss?
Essë
, œ?
Essë nuquerna
9 h
Hyarmen
o chw?
Hwesta Sindarinwa
l e
Yanta
. u
Úrë
~ i-? ` i ] a
Osse
y+ mh?
½
Gasdil

Notes

Tengwar Names: Even if we assume the names we know from Appendix E were the original ones used back in Aman, it is sure that the Sindarin users of the Sindarin modes changed their names, like any other race did according to their system. However, since those names are unknown, their known Quenya names will be used for these annotations.

Malta/Númen: Because of their doubled lúvar, those tengwar were considered as lenghtened forms of Vala and Órë, which had the values of m and n, respectively.

Unque: This letter is not attested in any Sindarin text, neither is the sound it theoretically represented, but we can theorize that this sound existed in very early Sindarin (g dissappeared in the middle of words via this sound. Cf. early Quenya 3). If the Noldor came to Middle-earth when this sound still existed, it is likely that they represented it by this tengwa, before finally disappearing. See also Gasdil.

Gasdil: The lenited g sound was indicated by a sign called Gasdil, which is an elaboration of the letter Halla. It is used like Tolkien uses the apostrophe, to indicate a missing g: galadh, “tree”, but i ‘aladh, “the tree”.

Noldo: This letter is neither attested, but it is easy to assume that it represented the sound ñ, which Tolkien transcribed as ng. This sound (that existed initially in Quenya) in Sindarin occurs only in nasal mutations and finally (like in ang), and was different from medial ng (like in ungol). So, if both weren’t written with a tilde over an Anga, Noldo was most likely used for the former, like it was in Quenya.

Wilya: Maybe for prevocalic and final w (e.g., tawarwaith, tiw). Shouldn’t be used for the diphthong au (finally spelled -aw).

Arda/Alda: Tolkien states that these letters were used for the initial soft sounds rh and lh (spelled hr and hl in Quenya).

Silmë Nuquerna: It is not known if this tengwa existed in Aman or if it is a Beleriandic invention. In tehtar-modes, however, it was used when a tehta should be placed over Silme. In this mode, the sound it represents is the vowel y (not to be confused with the consonantal Quenya y in yulma).

Essë: This letter (previously Ázë) is found in the King’s Letter (and in 3rd Age Quenya texts) to have the value of ss. But it is not known which took it from which. There are two probabilities:

  • Sindarin didn’t possess the z sound, so the Noldor gave it the value of ss. Quenya imitated this Sindarin mode and gave the value of ss to that letter, which had till that time the value of r.
  • The King’s Letter is a 4th Age Sindarin text. Maybe the value ss of this tengwa was an attribute borrowed from the Quenya mode of that time.

Essë Nuquerna: We lack a letter for the umlaut sound œ found in early Sindarin (later becoming e), but a wild guess is that perhaps Essë nuquerna was used, similarly like Silmë nuquerna was used for y.

Hyarmen: Sindarin didn’t possess palatalised sounds. hy had became h. Hyarmen was employed for this soft sound, not to be confused with ch.

Hwesta Sindarinwa: This mysterious letter, said to have the value hw, had never appeared in any of the Sindarin texts. It is unknown why was it employed instead of Hwesta and when. It was probably used much later by the mannish modes, where Hwesta was used for the sound ch or chw.

Examples

The best known sample of the Mode of Beleriand is of course the Moria Gate Inscription, written by Celebrimbor of Eregion, a Noldorin place where this Mode was preserved.

- l5I6 2.7`6 ]7]6 yh7`] - ql2h yljjh6 ] y`5h -


- `y 6]7r` 9]Ö6 ld]1p - aljlw7`wPh7 h l7ls`h6 1lÕ3]1p ` 3`n 9`6 -

Ennyn Durin Aran Moria. Pedo mellon a minno.
Im Narvi hain echant. Celebrimbor o Eregion teithant i-thiw hin.

Tolkien has written the hymn of Imladris, A Elbereth Gilthoniel, in this mode. Imladris, inhabited by the refugees of Eregion, is one of the places that might have kept the Mode of Beleriand, even in the 3rd Age.

] ljwl7l3 s~j3h6lj A Elbereth Gilthoniel
8~j~r7l6 ql5] 6~V7lj silivren penna míriel
h yl6lj ]sj]7 ljl6]3 o menel aglar elenath!
6]d]l7l2 q]j]62~V7lj Na-chaered palan-díriel
h s]j]47lt~6 l5h7]3 o galadhremmin ennorath,
e]6.Öjh8 jl j5]3h6 Fanuilos, le linnathon
6lr ]l]7 8~V 6lr ]l]7h6 nef aear, sí nef aearon!