This extract of the Ring Poem in Black Speech, symbol of the evil power of the Ring upon which it is carved, is very progressively introduced in The Lord of the Rings. The full poem in translation is first put in epigraph of the whole work. The inscription in Elvish letters is then displayed in book II, chapter 2 “The Shadow of the Past”, with its meaning reminded but without a transcription. Only in book II, chapter 2 “The Council of Elrond” does the Black Speech version explicitly appear, on Gandalf’s lips, when the story and all the stake put on the Ring are eventually stated.

The text is transcribed in tengwar or “letters of Fëanor” according to the general use of the Third Age created by Tolkien, in its adaptation to the Black Speech illustrated by the One Ring inscription. We made use of Johan Winge’s typeface Tengwar Annatar Italic.  Open this mode in Glaemscribe