Moon-letters

Moon-letters were special Dwarven runes written in ithildin that could only be revealed by the Moon at a certain time.The Hobbit, Chapter III: "A Short Rest" They are only mentioned in The Hobbit when Elrond held up Thrór's Map to read to Thorin and Company.
==Description==
Moon-letters were a system of writing invented by Dwarves - they were ordinary runes, but written in such a way that they could only be read when the light of the moon shone behind the writing. Some moon-letters could be read by any moonlight, but it was possible to make the writing even more secret. More sophisticated Moon-letters could only be read by the same shape of moon, or at the same time of year, as when they were written.
Moon-letters were written with silver pens. The substance ithildin, made the from the precious metal mithril, reflected only starlight and moonlight.The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring, Book Two, Chapter IV: "A Journey in the Dark"
An example of these moon-letters would be on the map of the Lonely Mountain and surrounding areas that Gandalf gave to Thorin Oakenshield. The moon letters were of the more secret variety, and were written on a midsummer's eve under a crescent moon. They read:
:"Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole."
==Translations==
Foreign Language 	Translated name
Afrikaans 	Maanletters
Albanian 	Mun-shkronja
Amharic 	የጨረቃ-ፊደላት
Arabic 	القمر حروف
Armenian 	Լուսնային-տառերը
Azerbaijani 	Ay-məktubları
Basque 	Ilargi letras
Belarusian Cyrillic	Месяц-літары
Bengali 	মুন অক্ষর
Bosnian 	Mjesečna slova
Breton 	Loar-lizherennoù
Bulgarian Cyrillic 	Лунни писма
Cambodian 	អក្សរព្រះច័ន្ទ
Catalan 	Lletres de lluna
Chinese 	月球 字母
Cornish 	Loor-lytherennow
Corsican 	Lettere di luna
Croatian 	Mjesec-slova
Czech 	Měsíční písmena
Danish 	Månebogstaver
Dutch 	Maanletters
Esperanto 	Lunaj literoj
Estonian 	Kuutähed
Faroese 	Mánibókstavarnir
Filipino 	Mga titik ng buwan
Finnish 	Kuukirjaimilla
French 	Lettres lunaires
Galician 	Letras de lúa
Georgian 	მთვარის ასოები
German 	Mondbuchstaben
Greek 	Σελήνης-γράμματα
Gujarati 	ચંદ્ર અક્ષરો
Hebrew 	אותיות ירח
Hindi 	चाँद पत्र
Hungarian 	Hold-betűk
Icelandic 	Tunglstafir
Indonesian 	Huruf-huruf bulan
Irish Gaelic 	Litreacha na gealaí
Italian 	Lettere di lunari
Japanese 	月文字
Kannada 	ಚಂದ್ರ ಅಕ್ಷರಗಳು
Kazakh 	Ай-әріптері (Cyrillic) Ay-äripteri (Latin)
Korean 	달 자모
Kurdish 	Nameyên heyvê (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz Cyrillic 	Мун-каттар
Laotian 	ຕົວອັກສອນດວງຈັນ
Latin 	Lunam-litterae
Latvian 	Mēness burti
Lithuanian 	Mėnulio raidės
Luxembourgish 	Mondbréiwer
Macedonian Cyrillic	Месечина буквите
Maltese 	Ittri tal-Qamar
Manx 	Litchrey geay
Marathi 	चंद्र वर्ण
Mongolian Cyrillic 	Сар-үсэг
Nepalese 	चन्द्रमाका-अक्षरहरू
Norwegian 	Månebokstaver
Persian 	حروف قمر
Polish 	Księżycowymi runami
Portuguese 	Letras da lunares
Punjabi 	ਚੰਦ ਅੱਖਰ
Romanian 	Scrisori de lună
Russian 	Лунные буквы
Sardinian 	Lìteras luna
Scottish Gaelic 	Litrichean gealach
Serbian 	Месечева слова (Cyrillic) Mesečeva slova (Latin)
Sicilian 	Littri luna
Sinhalese 	සඳ අකුරු
Slovak 	Mesiac-listy
Slovenian 	Luna-črke
Spanish 	Letras lunares
Swahili 	Barua za mwezi
Swedish 	Månbokstäver
Tajik Cyrillic 	Моҳ ҳарфҳои
Tamil 	சந்திரன் எழுத்துமூலங்கள்
Telugu 	మూన్ అక్షరాలు
Thai 	ดวงจันทร์ตัวอักษร
Turkish 	Ay-harfler
Turkmen 	Aý-harplary
Ukrainian Cyrillic 	Місячні літери
Urdu 	چاند کے خطوط
Uzbek 	Ой-ҳарфлари (Cyrillic) Oy-harflari (Latin)
Venetian 	Letares lunari
Vietnamese 	Chữ mặt trăng
Welsh 	Llythyrau lleuad
Yiddish 	לבנה-אותיות
Yoruba 	Awọn lẹta oṣupa
==References==
de:Mondbuchstaben
fr:Lettres Lunaires
ru:Лунные руны
Category:Definitions
Category:Reading and writing systems