Gyfu
Name | Proto-Germanic | Old English | |
---|---|---|---|
*Gebō | Gyfu | Gār | |
'gift' | 'gift' | "spear" | |
Shape | Elder Futhark | Futhorc | |
Unicode | ᚷ U+16B7 | ᚷ U+16B7 | ᚸ U+16B8 |
Transliteration | g | ȝ | g |
Transcription | g | ȝ, g | g |
IPA | [ɣ] | [g], [ɣ], [ʎ], [j] | [g] |
Position in rune-row | 7 | 7 | 33 |
Gyfu is the name for the g-rune ᚷ in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning 'gift' or 'generosity':
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem:[1] | English Translation: |
ᚷ Gẏfu gumena bẏþ gleng and herenẏs, | Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity; |
The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is 𐌲 g, called giba. The same rune also appears in the Elder Futhark, with a suggested Proto-Germanic name *gebô 'gift'. J. H. Looijenga speculates[2] that the rune is directly derived from Latin Χ, the pronunciation of which may have been similar to Germanic g in the 1st century, e.g., Gothic *reihs compared to Latin rex (as opposed to the Etruscan alphabet, where /𐌗 had a value of [s]).
The gyfu rune is sometimes used as a symbol within modern mysticism, particularly amongst those interested in Celtic mythology. It's described, for example, in the book The Runic Tarot as a representation of the giving-receiving balance in friendships.[3]
Anglo-Saxon gār rune
In addition to gyfu, the Anglo-Saxon futhorc has the gār rune ⟨ᚸ⟩, named after a species of medieval spear. It is attested epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross, and also appears in 11th-century manuscript tradition. Phonetically, gār represents the /g/ sound. It is a modification of the plain gyfu rune ᚷ.
Old English 'gār' means 'spear', but the name of the rune likely echoes the rune names ger, ear, ior: due to palatalization in Old English, the original g rune (i.e., the Gyfu rune ⟨ᚷ⟩) could express either /j/ or /g/ (see yogh). The ger unambiguously expressed /j/, and the newly[when?] introduced gar rune had the purpose of unambiguously expressing /g/.
Gār is the 33rd and final rune in the row as given in Cotton Domitian A.ix.
See also
- Armanen runes § Gibor, 19th-century pseudo-runes of which the 18th character's name is similar to *gebô
References
- ^ Original poem and translation from the Rune Poem Page Archived 1999-05-01 at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ J.H. Looijenga, Runes Around the North Sea and on the Continent Ad 150-700, PhD diss. Groningen 1997, p. 56. Download PDF
- ^ The Runic Tarot. Gebo has no murkstave. By Caroline Smith, John Astrop. Page 24. Macmillan, Feb 1, 2005. 9780312321925
External links
- The Futhark on www.ancientscripts.com
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Elder Futhark | ᚠ | ᚢ | ᚦ | ᚨ | ᚱ | ᚲ | ᚷ | ᚹ | ᚺ | ᚾ | ᛁ | ᛃ | ᛇ | ᛈ | ᛉ | ᛊ | ᛏ | ᛒ | ᛖ | ᛗ | ᛚ | ᛜ | ᛟ (o) | ᛞ | |||||||||||||
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Old English Futhorc | ᚠ | ᚢ | ᚦ | ᚩ (o) | ᚱ | ᚳ (c) | ᚷ (ȝ) | ᚹ | ᚻ | ᚾ | ᛁ | ᛄ | ᛇ | ᛈ | ᛢ | ᛉ (x) | ᛋ | ᛏ | ᛒ | ᛖ | ᛗ | ᛚ | ᛝ | ᛟ | ᛞ | ᚪ | ᚫ | ᚣ | ᛡ | ᛠ | ᛣ | ᛤ | ᛥ | ᚸ | |||
Younger Futhark | ᚠ | ᚢ | ᚦ | ᚬ (ą) | ᚱ | ᚴ | ᚼ | ᚾ | ᛁ | ᛦ (ʀ) | ᛋ | ᛏ | ᛒ | ᛘ | ᛚ | ᛅ | |||||||||||||||||||||
Medieval | ᚠ | ᚡ | ᚢ | ᚦ | ᚧ | ᚮ | ᚱ | ᚴ | ᚵ | ᚼ | ᚿ ᛀ | ᛁ | ᛂ | ᛕ ᛔ | ᛩ | ᛪ (x) | ᛌ | ᛐ | ᛒ | ᛘ | ᛚ ᛛ | ᚶ | ᚯ | ᛑ | ᛆ | ᛅ | ᚤ ᛦ | ||||||||||
Transliteration | f | v | u | þ | ð | a | r | k | ġ | w | h | n | i | j | ï | p | q | z | s | t | b | e | m | l | ŋ | œ | d | a | æ | y | io | ea | k | k̄ | st | g |
- See also
- Runic inscriptions interactive map
- Dalecarlian runes
- Runic inscriptions
- Rune Poems
- Runestones
- Runic magic
- Modern runic writing
- Pseudo-runes
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