Council of the Wise · Seat 4

The Seat of Tengwar

Fëanor and Rúmil

The first Elvish letters were made in Valinor by Rúmil, the sage of Tirion. Fëanor, greatest in skill of the Noldor, took them further: "In his youth, bettering the work of Rúmil, he devised those letters which bear his name, and which the Eldar used ever after." These are the Tengwar, the flowing script of the Elves. When the Noldor went into exile they carried Fëanor's letters back to Middle-earth, and in time they were used to write Sindarin as well as Quenya, and even the tongues of Men. They run all through The Lord of the Rings. The words on the West-gate of Moria are Sindarin written in Fëanor's letters. The verse on the One Ring is in them too: "The letters are Elvish, of an ancient mode," Gandalf tells Frodo, "but the language is that of Mordor." This seat guards the Tengwar as Lammath teaches them: which letter stands for each sound, how each mode is spelled, and every inscription on the site.

Sources: The Silmarillion, Of Eldamar and Of Fëanor; The Fellowship of the Ring, The Shadow of the Past and A Journey in the Dark; Appendix E.

Held by Lady Anna (Council of the Wise)