Tengwar Translator & Transcriber
Tengwar is a writing system, not a single Elvish language. Lamethir selects a writing mode from the language being transcribed, so English, Sindarin, Quenya, and Mode of Beleriand do not all use the same letter values or vowel placement.
Try English in Tengwar- English
- Orthographic mode; vowel tehtar normally sit on the following consonant
- Sindarin
- General Use by default; vowel tehtar sit on the following consonant
- Sindarin alternative
- Mode of Beleriand; vowels are written as independent letters
- Quenya
- Classical mode; vowel tehtar normally sit on the preceding consonant
Translation and transcription are different
Translation changes the language while preserving meaning. Transcription keeps the language and changes the writing system. Writing the English word friend in Tengwar is still English; translating friend to Sindarin mellon and then writing mellon in Tengwar performs two separate operations.
Lamethir supports both workflows. Select English as both source and target for direct English transcription, or translate into Sindarin or Quenya first and enable Tengwar on the result.
Four language-aware modes
A Tengwar mode is a convention that assigns sounds or letters to tengwar and tehtar. The same visible tengwa can carry a different value in another mode, so a generic letter-for-letter substitution is not enough.
| Lamethir mode | Used for | Defining behavior |
|---|---|---|
| English Orthographic Mode | English and fallback languages | English spelling heuristics; vowels on the following consonant |
| Sindarin General Use Mode | Sindarin and Neo-Sindarin | Sindarin consonants and diphthongs; vowels on the following consonant |
| Sindarin Mode of Beleriand | Optional Sindarin style | Full vowel letters, andaith for long vowels, and mode-specific diphthongs |
| Quenya Classical Mode | Quenya and Neo-Quenya | Quenya consonant series; vowels on the preceding consonant |
Designed for usable artwork
- Copy the text rendering for ordinary use.
- Copy or download a PNG with transparent, card, resolution, and color options.
- Export SVG for scalable vector artwork that no longer depends on the font.
- Export PDF for printing and layout workflows.
- Use the stencil preset as a starting point for high-contrast artwork.
What the English mode can and cannot know
Lamethir’s English mode is orthographic: it analyzes spelling rather than consulting a pronunciation dictionary. It handles common distinctions such as voiced th, soft c, silent final e, several ch and gh patterns, long marked vowels, and base-12 Tengwar numerals.
English spelling contains many exceptions, personal names are unpredictable, and Tolkien used more than one convention. For permanent artwork, verify the intended language, pronunciation, and mode with a specialist before finalizing the design.