Gyfu
Template:Infobox rune Template:Contains special characters Gyfu is the name for the g-rune Page Template:Script/styles runic.css has no content.ᚷ in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning 'gift' or 'generosity':
| Old English Rune Poem:[1] | Modern English Translation: |
|
Page Template:Script/styles runic.css has no content.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 X/𐌗 had a value of Script error: No such module "IPA".).
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 ⟨Page Template:Script/styles runic.css has no content.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 Page Template:Script/styles runic.css has no content.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 ⟨Page Template:Script/styles runic.css has no content.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
Page Template:Reflist/styles.css has no content.
- ^ Original poem and translation from the Rune Poem Page Script error: No such module "webarchive"..
- ^ 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
Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Navbox/configuration' not found. Template:Asbox
