Artificial Scripts

X.X Cirth

X.X Cirth (draft by Michael Everson, 2000-04-22)

Cirth 1xx00–1xx7F
The Cirth script was invented by the philologist and author J. R. R. Tolkien as
part of the mythological world he created and was widely popularized through hiswork, The Lord of the Rings, The Silmarillion, etc. Along with a family of
artificial languages and a large corpus of etymological data describing theirrelationships, the Cirth script has attracted the attention of a community oflinguists and other enthusiasts interested in this expression of Tolkien’s expertisein historical and comparative linguistics (cirth is plural of Sindarin certh ‘rune’;the Quenya singular and plural are *certa and certar). The Cirth should be treatedas a Category D (Attested Extinct) script: there is a relatively limited corpus, anda relatively small scholarly body studying it. In order to provide a standard Cirth
character coding for both scholars and enthusiasts (many of whom create newtexts with the Cirth), it has been suggested that this character set be included inPlane 1 of the UCS. Eight columns are reserved to encode the Cirth.
The Cirth are used to write the languages Sindarin and Khuzdûl, among others.
They have also been used to write English, as on the title page of The Lord of theRings.
General Principles of the Cirth script. The Cirth are a Runic-type alphabet,although they are not connected with Germanic runes except due to a general
resemblance resulting from the constraints of letterforms carved in wood orstone. Some of the Cirth had two different forms, which seem to represent
glyphic variants; these variants are explicitly encoded because they may besignificant. The Cirth were written from left to right. One positional variant is
known to exist; this can be rendered as a ligature with the ZERO-WIDTH JOINER:
U+xx1E ž l + ZWJ + U+xx1E ž l yields ü ll. Note that a related ligature has been
encoded as a unique character Î ll.
Ordering follows the presentation of the Cirth of Eregion and Moria followed by
the earliest Beleriand runes (from The Return of the King, Appendix E, and The
Treason of Isengard, Appendix on Runes). Additional early Doriathrin andNoldorin Cirth follow these in the main sequence, as have other Cirth used forEnglish, etc. Where duplication in letter names occurs, a modifier has been added
to the name to differentiate it from the primary form. Pronouncible or meaningful
names are not known for the Cirth, so their phonetic values are used for thenames; as usual, long vowels are written doubled in the names.
Punctuation and diacritics. Little is known about punctuation marks, thoughfour have been identified: a single dot serves sometimes to separate letters orwords; two vertical dots is used to break up groups longer than a word; three orfour vertical dots are used at the beginning and ending of texts. The first three ofthese are attested in the Mazarbul texts (Tolkien 1992b). U+xx6B ë DOUBLE EMDASH is also attested in the Mazarbul texts. Vowel or consonant length issometimes indicated by a horizontal bar below the letter; U+0331 COMBINING
MACRON BELOW should be used for this. Nasality or consonant length can beindicated by the use of U+0302 COMBINING CIRCUMFLEX ACCENT.

X.X Cirth

Artificial Scripts

Numbers. Only three Cirth numbers are attested (in the Mazarbul texts); each isformed by placing a dot beneath an existing certh: þ ‘3’, ý ‘4’, ÿ ‘5’. To
indicate that a certh has numeric value, U+0323 COMBINING DOT BELOW should beused.
Sometimes word space is not used; word separation may be achieved in that casewith U+200B ZERO-WIDTH SPACE. Hyphenation is not generally used, but in one
instance where it is found (Carpenter 1981:132) the glyph has two strokes like ashort equals sign.

Sources for characters
The characters in this proposal are attested in the following sources. Page
numbers follow the UCS code positions given.
Carpenter 1981 (Letters)
xx0E:132, xx1D:132

Tolkien 1965a (Fellowship of the Ring)
xx23:2, xx3C:333, xx3D:2, xx40:333, xx6A:2

Tolkien 1965b (Return of the King)xx04:402, xx06:402, xx09:402, xx0F:402, xx12:402, xx13:402, xx16:402, xx17:402,
xx18:402, xx19:402, xx1A:402, xx1B:402, xx1F:402, xx21:402, xx24:402, xx25:402,
xx29:402, xx2D:402, xx2E:402, xx32:402, xx35:402, xx36:402, xx37:402, xx38:402,xx3B:402, xx3E:402, xx3F:402

Tolkien 1992a (Treason of Isengard)xx42:461, xx43:461, xx44:461, xx45:461, xx46:464, xx47:461, xx48:461, xx49:461,xx4A:461, xx4B:461, xx4C:464, xx4C:460, xx4F:461, xx50:461, xx53:461,xx56:461, xx58:461, xx59:461, xx5B:461, xx5C:461, xx5D:464, xx5F:461, xx60:464,xx61:461, xx62:461, xx64:461, xx65:461, xx66:461

Tolkien 1992b (Pictures)xx00:24, xx01:24, xx02:24, xx03:24, xx05:24, xx07:24, xx08:24, xx0A:2, xx0B:24,xx0C:24, xx0D:24, xx10:24, xx11:24, xx14:24, xx15:24, xx1C:24, xx1E:24, xx20:24,xx22:24, xx26:24, xx27:24, xx28:24, xx2A:24, xx2B:24, xx2C:24, xx2F:24, xx30:24,xx31:24, xx33:24, xx34:24, xx39:24, xx3A:24, xx41:24, xx4E:24, xx51:24, xx52:24,xx54:24, xx55:24, xx57:24, xx5A:24, xx5E:24, xx63:24, xx67:24, xx68:24, xx69:24,xx6B:24

Unused positions:xx6C, xx6D, xx6E, xx6F, xx70, xx71, xx72, xx73, xx74, xx75, xx76, xx77, xx78,xx78, xx7A, xx7B, xx7C, xx7D, xx7E, xx7F

Encoding Structure. The Cirth block is divided into the following ranges:
U+xx01 -> xx66
Cirth
U+xx67 -> xx6B
Punctuation
U+xx6C -> xx7F
unassigned

Unicode Character Properties(These have not been sorted out yet.)Spacing letters, category “Lo”, bidi category “L” (strong left to right)
xx00–xx65

Symbols, category “Po”, bidi category “L” (strong left to right)
xx66–xx69

References

Artificial Scripts

X.X Cirth

Carpenter, Humphrey, ed. 1965a. The letters of J. R. R. Tolkien. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 0-395-31555-7
Tolkien, J. R. R. 1965a. The Fellowship of the Ring. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
ISBN 0-395-08254-4
Tolkien, J. R. R. 1965b. “Appendix E: Writing and spelling” in The return of theKing. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. Pp. 391-404. ISBN 0-395-08256-0
Tolkien, J. R. R. 1992a. “Appendix on runes” in The treason of Isengard. (TheHistory of The Lord of the Rings; 2) London: Grafton. Pp. 307-327. ISBN 0261-10220-6
Tolkien, J. R. R. 1992b. Pictures by J. R. R. Tolkien. Foreword and notes byChristopher Tolkien. London: HarperCollins. Plate 48. ISBN 0-261-10258-3

ExamplesPresented here are typeset examples of Cirth texts as found in the references
above.

êŠºçž³‹ˆç³ƒçŠºç‹§£¢ç‡‹±•¢ž±‡½ˆç‚‹³…çŠºç‹¯ˆç•´‘çêAfter Tolkien 1965a:2þ¬¯çˆ‹³ƒºçÑ‡ç³‹‘¢ç‚‹³…çÞçœ‹Ô‡çœ±‡ºçÁçœ±‹ˆ‹´…çÁç‡´‘çÞç‚§‹¢‡ç¹±üé¬¯ç¢žÕç…¯•¨ç§•çÞç•‹§”‡ç¢ª•ç§•çÞçˆ±žºé‚ž´§ç¬±«ç‘§üºˆç•¨ç±•ç±‹‹¦ç¹¯ç¢žÕçÞçœ‹Ô‡çŒ§¯‚‡±§• ... ... ... ... ... ‚ž´§ª ¯‹çœ‹±¢¢ç•Ô‹ç…§‹‹³‹…¯‹º ... ... ... ... ... ‘±…º... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ‘º•¬¯ç‹¯€Òº‹¯ˆ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
¬¯ç¹±ƒºç‡±‘º•çÞç‡¬¯•‡¨‚§‹¢‡ç¹±üçƒç•³‹‰¯•ç‡³çˆ¬¯üç§•çŠ¯‹ºç§«çœ´ˆçÒ‹ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ‰±‡ç‘±•çÔ¢§ž¨ç•¯¬±‡Œºˆ ... ... ... ÞçŽ±‚‡ç«ç‘žÔ‹ ... ... ... ... ...
•±ž§•ç¹±¢ç¢¯‡çª€ç¹§¢ç¢Ô‡ç§•çÞçŒ±†º‹çƒç…±«±‹•ªž ... ... ... ... ... œ±Šº‹ºˆ ... ... ... ... ...
œ³žˆ ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...
... ... ... ¬³ §‹‚ªžçž²çˆª‹§•¢ç±•¯ ... ... ... ¢§ž†º‹ç¹¯ž…ç•±ž§•ç¹±¢ç‡±‘º•ç‰§…ç‚³‹ç¹§¢çÕ•ç•±ž§•çãç•Õçž³‹ˆçƒç…³‹§±é✳
✳
✳
✳
✳
✳
✳
... ... ... ... ‡³ˆÒç¬¯ç‚¦ ç‡‹ªº¢§žƒº‹ ... ... ...
... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ¬¯Î‚³‹’ºˆç¹¯ž… ...
• ... ‘Ú‡ç…Òˆç±üçƒç€ª‹¯¢‡ç…§‰‹§ž ... ... ... ...
´§•ç‡³ç¢°‘ç‚³‹çÞçª€€§‹ç±‹…¦‹§º¢çƒçÞç‰§‹ˆçˆ°€... œ³ç¬¯¢‡¬±‹ˆ¢ç‡³ç¢ ... ... ... ... ‡³ ¹³ü§• œ±‡¯äää

After Tolkien 1992b:24

ä

X.X Cirth

Artificial Scripts¬ ¯ ç ‘ ± •û ³ ‡ ç œ ¯ ‡ ç Ñ ‡ é ¬ ¯ ç ‘ ± • ³ ‡ ç œ ¯ ‡ ç Ñ ‡Š¯¨ç¹±ƒºç‡±‘º•çÞç•‹§ˆ•ºçÁç¢¯‘³

ç¹±üç‚‹±û‹çÁçž´•§çÁç•±ûž§ç‚¯üçŠ¯‹ºç•‹±ƒºž¨ç¬¹§žºçÞç‹¯¢‡ç‹¯‡‹... ... ...
…±«±‹•ªžè¬¯ç¢‡§üç¹³... ... ... ... ... ...
œ è •ª‡ç¹³€¯çª ... ... ... • ... ... ´§•¢ç€±‹‡¨ç¬¯•‡çýçˆÒ¢ç±œ³ç•ª‡ç‡³ˆÒç³•ž¨ÿç‹¯‡ª‹•ºˆèÞç€´žç«çª€ç‡³çÞç¬±ü±‡ç¬¯¢‡œ±‡ºèÞç¬±‡Œº‹ç§•çÞç¬±‡º‹ç‡´‘ ç ´ § • ë ¬ ¯ ç ‘ ± •û ³ ‡ ç œ ¯ ‡ ç Ñ ‡ è Þ ç ¯ç‘³…

¯¢ç¢´•ç¬¯ç¹Ô‹çˆ‹ª…¢çˆ‹ª…¢ç§•çÞçˆ°€Œ ªÂ — ”Å ‚ µ ‘ ® “After Tolkien 1992b:24

ˆÔ‡ç¹ª•çŠ§¢çãç•ª¢‡ç‡³ç¬§Žç¨¦ç±ç¹±€ú ¨‘À‹§¢‡…±¢ç§•çˆ¬±‹‚ç‹ª•º«éAfter Carpenter 1981:132•±ž§•‚ª §•ªžª••±ˆ‘À±•±ˆˆ«…ªç•±ž§•¢¼•³ƒ‚ª §•ž³‹ˆ³ƒ…³‹§±çAfter Tolkien 1965b:333

Proposal for the Universal Character Set

Michael Everson

TABLE XX - Row xx: CIRTHxx02xx1xx2xx3xx4xx5xx6°ÀÐàá0€ •1•‘¡± Á Ñ2‚’¢²ÂÒ â3ƒ“ £ ³Ã

Ó

4„ ” ¤ ´ Ä Ô ä

5… • ¥ µ Å Õ å

6†– ¦ ¶ Æ Ö æ7‡—§·Ç ×ãç8ˆ˜¨ ¸ È Øè

9‰™

© ¹ ÉÙéAŠ š ªºÚêB‹ ›» Ë Û ëCŒœ ¬ ¼ Ì ÜD•• - ½Í

ÝEŽž ® ¾Î

Þ

F•

Ÿ

«

¯~

¿ Ï ßxx7

G = 00
P = 01

Michael Everson

Proposal for the Universal Character Set

TABLE XX - Row xx: CIRTH
dec hex
000001002003
004005006
007
008009
010
011
012
013
014015
016
017
018
019
020
021
022
023
024
025
026
027
028
029
030
031
032
033
034
035
036
037
038
039
040
041
042
043
044
045
046
047
048
049
050
051
052
053
054
055
056
057
058
059
060
061
062
063
064
065
066
067
068
069
070
071
072
073
074
075
076
077
078
079
080
081
082
083
084
085
086
087
088

00
01
02
03
04
05
06
07
08
09
0A
0B
0C
0D
0E
0F
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
1718
19
1A
1B
1C
1D
1E
1F
2021222324
25
26
27
28
292A
2B
2C
2D
2E
2F
303132333435363738393A
3B
3C
3D
3E
3F
404142434445464748494A
4B
4C
4D
4E
4F
505152535455565758Group 00NameCIRTH LETTER P
CIRTH LETTER BCIRTH LETTER FCIRTH LETTER V
CIRTH LETTER HWCIRTH LETTER M
CIRTH LETTER MBCIRTH LETTER TCIRTH LETTER DCIRTH LETTER THCIRTH LETTER DH
CIRTH LETTER NCIRTH LETTER CH
CIRTH LETTER JCIRTH LETTER SH
CIRTH LETTER ZHCIRTH LETTER NJCIRTH LETTER KCIRTH LETTER GCIRTH LETTER KHCIRTH LETTER GHCIRTH LETTER ENGCIRTH LETTER KWCIRTH LETTER GWCIRTH LETTER KHWCIRTH LETTER GHWCIRTH LETTER NGWCIRTH LETTER NWCIRTH LETTER RCIRTH LETTER RHCIRTH LETTER LCIRTH LETTER LHCIRTH LETTER NGCIRTH LETTER SCIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL GLOTTAL STOPCIRTH LETTER ZCIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL NGCIRTH LETTER NDCIRTH LETTER EICIRTH LETTER ICIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL YCIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL HYCIRTH LETTER UCIRTH LETTER UUCIRTH LETTER WCIRTH LETTER UECIRTH LETTER UICIRTH LETTER ECIRTH LETTER EECIRTH LETTER ACIRTH LETTER AACIRTH LETTER OCIRTH LETTER OOCIRTH LETTER VARIANT OOCIRTH LETTER OECIRTH LETTER VARIANT OECIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL NCIRTH LETTER HCIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL REVERSED SCHWACIRTH LETTER SHORT REVERSED SCHWACIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL SCHWACIRTH LETTER SHORT SCHWACIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL PSCIRTH LETTER KHUZDUL TSCIRTH MODIFIER LETTER HCIRTH AMPERSANDCIRTH LETTER SPCIRTH LETTER SBCIRTH LETTER SCCIRTH LETTER SGCIRTH LETTER NDZHCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN KWCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN GWCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN KHWCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN GHWCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN LCIRTH LETTER ENGLISH NDCIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN ZCIRTH LETTER LLCIRTH LETTER IUCIRTH LETTER AICIRTH LETTER AUCIRTH LETTER AYCIRTH LETTER AECIRTH LETTER EACIRTH LETTER EWCIRTH LETTER NOLDORIN OCIRTH LETTER VARIANT NOLDORIN OCIRTH LETTER NOLDORIN OOdec hex089090091092093094095096097098099100101102103104105106107108109110111
112113114115116117118119120121122123124125
126
127

59
5A
5B
5C
5D
5E
5F
606162636465666768696A
6B
6C
6D
6E
6F
707172737475767778
797A
7B
7C
7D
7E
7F

Plane 01NameCIRTH LETTER IOCIRTH LETTER EU
CIRTH LETTER OUCIRTH LETTER NOLDORIN OE
CIRTH LETTER DORIATHRIN OCIRTH ENGLISH THE
CIRTH NOLDORIN L
CIRTH ENGLISH OF
CIRTH LETTER Y
CIRTH LETTER VARIANT YCIRTH ENGLISH ISCIRTH LETTER YYCIRTH LETTER NOLDORIN OECIRTH LETTER NOLDORIN OOECIRTH SEPARATOR SINGLE DOTCIRTH SEPARATOR DOUBLE DOTCIRTH SEPARATOR TRIPLE DOTCIRTH START OR END OF TEXTCIRTH DOUBLE EM DASH(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)(This position shall not be used)

Row xx3