J.R.R. Tolkien invented the Tengwar writing system for his Middle-earth languages from The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit, most prominently Elvish. A phonetic alphabet, each letter derives its shape from the particular way or position the corresponding sound is made, forming an interrelated system of signs. It is a writing system I’ve known and loved since fifth grade. Here I phonemically transcribe the poem “Memory of France” by Paul Celan (translated by Michael Hamburger) from the Latin alphabet to Tengwar:
“Together with me recall: the sky of Paris, that giant autumn crocus…
We went shopping for hearts at the flower girl’s booth:
they were blue and they opened up in the water.
It began to rain in our room,
and our neighbor came in, Monsieur Le Songe, a lean little man.
We played cards, I lost the irises of my eyes;
you lent me your hair, I lost it, he struck us down.
He left by the door, the rain followed him out.
We were dead and were able to breathe.”