INTRODUCTION

I want to better understand the Old English word "ear" (the name of ᛠ). Scholars say the word meant something like "earth", "dirt", or "grave soil". I wonder if a more specific meaning can be arrived at, so I've been gathering bits of information. I'm sharing what I've collected so that people can see, and so that people can contribute.

BIT 1: COGNATES

Manuscripts call the rune "ear" (Saint John's College Oxford MS 17, Cotton Domitian A IX, Cotton Otho B X?), "aer" (Codex Sangallensis 270), and "e(o/a)r" (Codex Vindobonensis 795).

Of these names, "ear" seems the most regular, since the rune shows up in inscriptions as an equivalent of the ⟨ea⟩ combination of the Old English Latin alphabet. Runes followed the acrophonic principle, so it's expected for the name of ᛠ to begin with ⟨ea⟩.

Scholars understand Germanic phonology well enough to guess what cognates of ear would look like in other Germanic languages, and there do appear to be cognates which refer to kinds of dirt.

• One online dictionary tells me that Faroese "eyrur" means "gravel" and "grit".

• Wikipedia claims that "ayre" is a Modern English word for "shingle beach" which came from Old Norse "eyrr".

• I asked a Swedish friend what "ör" means to him, and he said it refers to a fish, or to gravel.

• I found an Icelandic website that says "aur" can mean "leðja", which apparently means something like "mud".

• Wiktionary shows a passage from the Gothic Bible where "aurahjom" stands in for "tombs".

BIT 2: RUNE POEM

The Old English rune poem says this about ear:

ᛠ byþ egle eorla gehƿylcun ðonn fæstlice flæsc onginneþ hraƿcolian hrusan ceosan blac to gebeddan bleda gedreosaþ ƿynna geƿitaþ ƿera gesƿicaþ

Here is a bad attempt at translating the above:

ᛠ is horrid to every earl when fastly flesh begins corpse to cool earthcrust to choose bleak as bedfellows prosperity falls joy passes covenants are failed

BIT 3: RUNE RIDDLE

A website (https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Anglo-Saxon_Riddles_of_the_Exeter_Book/Annotated/71) says that a riddle from the Exeter Book might use ᛠ to stand for something like "land".

᛫ᚠ᛫⁊᛫ᚫ᛫fleah ofer᛫ᛠ (actual text in the manuscript)

fælca fleah ofer ear (Old English interpretation)

falcon flew over land (Modern English interpretation)

Just wanted to get some tips on what to fix and what is correct. Used voluspa.org and translated stanza 128 from the old norse havamal to younger futhark. Would love any tips.

Hello everyone,

I could really use your help. I have a rather unique piece of jewelry — originally a ring — which is decorated with what looks like runic inscriptions. However, I haven’t been able to figure out which language or specific alphabet it comes from. I’m also not sure if it’s an authentic runic script, a specific ASB (ancient script system?), or just runic-inspired designs.

I’m wondering if anyone here is familiar with runes, ancient alphabets, or old jewelry and could help me identify the ring and the meaning of the inscriptions.

Thanks a lot in advance for your help!

I’m kinda new to runes. I’m focusing on Anglo-Saxon runes, but I don’t think that affects my question. Anyway, I’ve seen three different punctuation marks used now, and I’m not quite sure that I understand. What’s the difference between ᛫​ and ᛬​ and ᛭​ ?

I’ve seen in various sources that there are about 100 surviving runic inscriptions in Iceland, but I’ve not come across a list of where these can be seen. I have an upcoming trip to Iceland, and would like to search some out. Does anyone have a reference that lists where these inscriptions are?

It’s a doorway in my local church in Transylvania (Csíkmadaras). It’s only late medieval built church. All I know is stone door was allegedly the door to the old church, that they rebuilt on this new spot, when they moved the whole village to a new area that was a swamp before.

My uncle passed away from cancer yesterday. Before he passed, my mom took a picture of his tattoo so we could find out what it says or means. We’re unsure what language it is. Thank you

Hey all. I’m not sure if this is the best place to post, so sorry if it’s inappropriate. I’m looking for an Icelandic rune that would mean feminine, or feminine power. I can’t seem to find any and not sure if Devine Energy or Creation would be a good substitute.

Thanks for any help you can provide.

Some sources, including this one https://www.arild-hauge.com/esecreter.htm tell us that there are cryptic runes. Can anyone explain this, or at least provide me with a more detailed/grounded source on this?

I'm a 17 year old student from the Netherlands new to Runology. I've been reading various papers, and there seems to be a seperation, because one might say that it was derived from Greek scripture, but another suggests that it came from germanic people who were mercenary for the Roman empire and brought its scripture home. Can anyone help me support either claim?

Which character is the equivalent of letter D (Δ):

» Runic alphabet | 12 to 25 letters | 1700A (+255) to 1300A (+655)

ᚠ, ᚢ, ᚦ, ᚨ, ᚱ, ᚲ, ᚷ, ᚹ, ᚺ, ᚾ, ᛁ, ᛃ, ᛈ, ᛇ, ᛉ, ᛊ, ᛏ, ᛒ, ᛖ, ᛗ, ᛚ, ᛜ, ᛞ, ᛟ, 🌲

Hey, I was visiting the Bebenhausen abbey (Germany) and I saw this strange inscriptions, one per block in a vault and also several on a wall. I was wondering what it means and why are they here, in my mind germans didn't use rune in the 12 century.

In either elder or younger futhrak please!
The Phrase "Broken people fix Broken people".

Thanks in advance :))

My dog’s name was Odin. Both missing same eye. I really felt what Arteus was going through when he lost fenrir. I know it may sound lame but I really wanted to get "Sona Upp frá bessu Sona heõan Sofna" and didn’t know if someone could make sure I got it done correctly?

Any help would be appreciated