"It is said that the Black Speech was devised by Sauron in the Dark Years and that he had desired to make it the language of all those who served him, but he failed in that purpose." - Appendix F, The Lord of the Rings
The Black Speech of Mordor is one of the fictional languages that make up the Ardalambion - the Tongues of Arda - yet it's one of the few languages Tolkien didn't flesh out a ton. However, it's arguably more famous than the tongues of Elves, Ents and Orcs (who don't actually speak the Black Speech, but a debased version) among even casual fans thanks to the One Ring's inscription:
"Ash nazg durbatulûk, ash nazg gimbatul, ash nazg thrakatulûk, agh burzum-ishi krimpatul"
Drop has added another keyboard to their collection of Lord of the Rings-themed keyboards, this time celebrating the Black Speech of Mordor. But because the Black Speech had no written language, it was oftentimes scratched down using a variant of the Elvish script Tengwar. And here that's carried on with keycaps adorned with the Tengwar itself, yet the body itself reminds you exactly who is always watching.
Specifications
- Drop + The Lord of the Rings
- 87 keys
- Layout: TKL
- Case: Black ENTR anodized aluminum case
- Pad-printed case artwork (by OSHETART)
- Switches: Holy Panda X Switches (soldered)
- Keycaps: Drop + The Lord of the Rings Black Speech Keycap Set (Training Elvish Base Kit, with selections from Magma Kit and added novelties)
- Drop Phantom Stabilizers
- White backlighting
- Connectivity: USB-C
- Price: $169 on Drop website
Drop + The Lord of the Rings ENTR Black Speech Keyboard Impressions
I spent the first few paragraphs setting the tone for this because other than the Sauron eye etched onto the space above the arrow keys, you might be remiss in thinking this was an Elvish-flavored keyboard. But because the Black Speech itself has no written language, and the only example we really do have in the LotR Lore is the Ring Inscription, the use of Tengwar here makes sense.
However, looking closely at the two keycaps, you'll see while the Elvish Drop keyboard has a classical Tengwar font, the script on the Black Speech looks more like the Elvish cursive we see on the Ring inscription. It fits the theme of the keyboard so well, and it's reinforced not by the Eye of Sauron on the right-hand side of the board itself, but by the spacebar.
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Regardless of which spacebar you choose - the keyboard comes with extra keycaps from Drop's Magma collection - the One Ring inscription is emblazoned there for all to see. The keyboard itself comes set up with a grey and black colorway with its keycaps, but the keyboard really pops when you swap in the few Magma red keycaps the board comes with standard.
The accents on the Drop ENTR Black Speech keyboard fit the theme nicely, with an Eye of Sauron escape key, Nazgul Windows key and the Shards of Narsil on the Enter key itself. However, like the Elvish keyboard, it does feel weird to have the thing that cut the Ring from Sauron's hand on the keycaps celebrating Sauron's side itself. Maybe instead of Narsil they can throw a winged Fell Beast on there?
I will say, though the dark aluminum board mixed with the grey, black and magma keycaps really pops in a way that the Dwarvish and Elvish keyboards don't. It immediately draws the eye to it when using it, making it a great showpiece for collectors and a conversation starter for someone using the keyboard around friends.
One area where the look of the keyboard falls dramatically short is the LED lighting on each key. It's so dim that at times I wondered if it was even turned on. There is no way to adjust the color, nor is it programmable. I mean, white LED? Surely Drop could have done a color that better fits the theme here as well - maybe an Eye of Sauron Orange flame animation? Something?
How Does The Drop + The Lord of the Rings Keyboard Type, Though?
If you're familiar with the Drop ENTR keyboard, you'll broadly know what you're getting here. Equipped with Holy Panda X Switches, this mechanical keyboard feels rather good to type on with smooth actuation and a satisfying sound.
However, the MT3 profile might not be for everyone. This keyboard itself takes some getting used to if you've never used an MT3 profile before. I know for myself, I've gone back to my slim, low-profile keyboards and found the transition back to the MT3 on the Black Speech keyboard a bit challenging at first.
The MT3 is hard to go back from after you've used it, though. The sloped profile of each keycap comfortably sits the pads of my fingers, making touch typing so much faster than normal. It does, however, make it harder to type using my new Deltahub Carpio 2.0 wrist rests versus a standard sized rest. Since the keyboard doesn't come with its own wrist rest too, you'll need to make sure you can find something that fits the profile, whether the keyboard is propped up on its feet or laying flat on your desk. It's a shame that the rest doesn't come standard, as Drop sells quite a few good ones. However, that likely would increase the price of the keyboard to an uncomfortable amount.
Also disappointing is the fact that the switches are soldered to the board rather than being hot swappable. That means that if you don't like the Holy Panda X switches, you're pretty much out of luck unless you're handy unsoldering things. Thankfully, the key caps are sold separately if you have a keyboard that supports hot swapping, but bear this in mind when deciding which way to go.
Like the Elvish and Dwarvish keyboards before it, the Drop + The Lord of the Rings ENTR Black Speech keyboard is also laid out using the fantasy font stylings of Matt3o, meaning if you're a fan of fantasy fonts on your PC, the Tengwar script on the keys aren't just there for show - they match up perfectly with the fonts built by Dan Smith.
Conclusion
I said this in my review of the Elvish and Dwarvish keyboards, but the Drop + The Lord of the Rings keyboards are a treasure. I absolutely adore that these keyboards exist. For someone like myself who spent hours in middle and high school, plucking away learning Quenya and how to write Elvish because, you know, I'm a nerd, these are keyboards I dreamed of growing up. While I know some might hang up on a keyboard celebrating the Dark Lord and his speech itself, I think it fits the theme of what Drop is doing here.
The Black Speech keyboard itself is a great board to type on, and it's USB-C port makes it compatible with higher end keyboard cables should you choose to use one. The ENTR keyboard types well and is sturdy enough that you're not going to have the base move around much, if at all, while typing.
Some might be upset that it's a 10-keyless board, but given that most gaming keyboards nowadays are, I suspect it'll be a rare complaint. The bigger complaint is surely going to be with the fact that the switches are soldered to the board, making hot swapping near impossible.
That said, as a collector piece, this keyboard pops in a way that the Elvish and Dwarvish colorways just don't. The inclusion of the Magma keycap selections really brings a lot of life to the otherwise ashen colorway, and the custom art of the Eye of Sauron might be my favorite of the three Drop keyboards so far.
The Drop + The Lord of the Rings Black Speech ENTR keyboard is a great collector's items for those Tolkien die-hards out there, but if you're also just looking for a unique keyboard to use, it's worth the money. At $169, it's more expensive than some other keyboards out there with more RGB and features, but it more than makes up for it with its unique look, stylings and collector's value.And given that the keycaps alone run about $130 and don't include stylings from the other set - or even the ENTR board to use them on, the $169 price right now feels like a value.
It's definitely worth a look if you've been itching to make your set up just a bit more unique. Now just make sure not to inscribe any magic Rings while using it.
Full Disclosure: The products described in this review were provided by the manufacturer for the purposes of this review.
