Re: New conlang/conculture: Antarctican Orcs

>>From: Padraic Brown <pbrown@...>
>
>>Er. The Nazgul were Men, at least three Numenoreans. Perhaps you
>>mean the Uruk-hai.
>
>Yeah, that's it.  Or whoever spoke Black Speech.  (I like their style of
>writing Tengwar myself...)
Sauron spoke the Black Speech, and so did the Nazgul (a.k.a. Ringwraiths,
Black Riders) and a few trolls.  Orcs in the service of Sauron and the Nazgul
spoke a form of Black Speech, or else Orkish with liberal borrowings from
Black Speech (Tolkien mentions "ghash" = "fire" as a common borrowing).

As for writing Black Speech in tengwar:  If you're referring to the
Ring Inscription, that was fashioned by Sauron.  Black Speech was not
normally written in tengwar.  Those Orcs who could write (very few)
used runes.  It's not recorded whether the Nazgul wrote in Black Speech,
or if they did, what alphabet they used.  (Presumably they could read
and write the Common Speech and Adunaic, since they were corrupted
Numenoreans.)

Matt.
(wearing his Tolkien-geek hat)