Tengwar

SWG Tengwar challenge banner - parchment with two bands of tengwar calligraphy. In between is the text "Silmarillion Writers' Guild Challenge Tengwar April 15 - May 15 2024"

The Tengwar are one of the delights of visiting Middle-earth as a fan of Tolkien's work. Whether a serious student of the letters; dabbling with them, Appendix open, on a lazy afternoon; or simply admiring the way they flow across a title page (or the One Ring …), most Tolkien fans find them beautiful and packed with meaning beyond what it seems should be contained within a single letter.

This month (and a bit beyond!), we will feature a prompt per day taken from the Tengwar chart. The prompt will include a graphic of the tengwa and its name in Quenya and English. You can use any part of the prompt: the tengwa itself, the name, the English translation, the graphic, or some other creative interpretation we haven't even dreamed up yet! You may do as many or as few of the daily prompts as you would like. One prompt is worth as much as challenging yourself to do them all, so work at the level and pace that is comfortable for you. (However, there may be a special reward for anyone ambitious enough to try them all!)

Prompts will be posted daily at midnight UTC on our website, Tumblr, Dreamwidth, and the #monthly-challenges channel on our Discord. You do not need to do the prompt on the day it was posted; you can go back and do prompts you missed or do them out of order.

Thank you to Cuarthol and Anérea for the gorgeous banners and stamps this month!

This challenge opened in .

Prompts

Choose your prompt from the collection below.

View Prompts
calma tengwa with colorful lamps in the background April 15
calma (lamp)
ungwe tengwa with dewdrop-covered spiderweb in the background April 16
ungwë (spider's web)
alda tengwa with two trees silhouetted against a colorful sunrise April 17
alda (tree)
numen tengwa with gray night sky and sea with a light sheen of moonlight April 18
númen (west)
unque tengwar carved into reddish earth April 19
unque (hollow)
aha tengwar with red sun, collapsing mountain, storm clouds, lava in background April 20
aha (rage)
esse tengwar being written with a fountain pen April 21
essë (name)
esse-nuquerna tengwar over a woman with no face and her hands on her head April 22
essë nuquerna (name reversed)
parma tengwa on cover of a blue clothbound book held against a background of flowers April 23
parma (book)
quesse tengwa with peacock feather April 24
quessë (feather)
yanta tengwa with a photo of the Dames Point Bridge, in which the cable-stayed bridge appears to be bright yellow April 25
yanta (bridge)
formen tengwa with northern lights over snowy mountains in the background April 26
formen (north)
silmë tengwa with a backdrop of the Milky Way photographed at night April 27
silmë (starlight)
silmë nuquerna tengwa superimposed over the Event Horizon Telescope collaboration image of the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 April 28
silmë nuquerna (starlight reversed)
Lambe tengwa in bright pink superimposed on a photo of a monochrome cat licking its paw. The color of the cat's tongue matches the color of the tengwa. April 29
lambë (tongue)
anna tengwa with a pile of wrapped gifts April 30
anna (gift)

Fanworks Tagged with Tengwar

This is a Writing fanwork

Utumno by Himring

One of the earliest elven captives in Utumno, one of the Quendi finds speech slipping away.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Remnants by Grundy

Something not seen since the Years of the Trees comes to light. (A sequel of sorts to What A Tangled Web We Weave...)

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This is a Writing fanwork

Do you cut down down blossoming trees in the spring for firewood? by Himring

In western Numenor, there is an area famous for its trees and plants. But the Faithful have been banished to the east. And in the last days of Numenor, on the coast an army assembles... 

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This is a Writing fanwork

Family Gossip by StarSpray

“You,” Fingon pronounced, “are drunk. I am not going to give you anyone’s name just so you can make up a silly drunken ballad."

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This is a Artwork fanwork

"Tengwar" artworks by chrissystriped

Artworks created for the "Tengwar" challenge

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This is a Writing fanwork

Language Contact by between_thepages

Drabbles for the Tengwar challenge, featuring Elemmakil and Laegwen

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This is a Writing fanwork

"Tengwar" ficlets by chrissystriped

Fics written for the "Tengwar" challenge.

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This is a Writing fanwork

The leaves were long, the grass was green by Quente

The Giving Tree, but Beren and Luthien. Written for the Tengwar prompt, “Aldi.”

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This is a Writing fanwork

Tengwar (working title) by cuarthol

For the Tengwar prompt challenge.  To be updated as new prompts are completed.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Calma, Lambe, Lambe, Óre by sallysavestheday

Maglor prepares some Instructional Art for the Sindar to learn from at the Mereth Aderthad.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Calma by elennalore

Celebrimbor is reading a novel, but there's a distraction.

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This is a Writing fanwork

Les Mots de Sagesse by AdmirableMonster

Plusieurs petites histoires qui parle de Pengolodh et Salgant pendant des moments differents.

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