Ancient Tongue
- "...swirling interlaced designs, like a tangle of Deepwoods thorns."
- —Linius Pallitax, describing the writings in the Blackwood Chamber[1]
The Ancient Tongue was the language used by the First Scholars of Sanctaphrax. It was used for barkscrolls, as well as the carvings covering the walls of the Blackwood Chamber in the Palace of Shadows. It was in use at the same time as Old Woodscript.
The script was made up of angular symbols, written in swirling lines, similar to thorns on a bush.[1]
In 87 ᴇ.ʏ., while transcribing an ancient barkscroll, Xanth Filatine referred to the original as the "ancient tongue". This, however, was not the same as the Ancient Tongue, as what he was reading was simply an archaic dialect, not a completely separate language like the one used in the Blackwood Chamber.[2]
The original read:
"Et syth thit lyghtninge bleue slamme to thit steyne stryke-nard, yereby to makke sund."[2]
This was then translated as:
"And so the blue lightning strikes the stricken stone, thereby making it [not translated]."[2]