Eihwaz
Template:Short description Template:More citations needed Template:Infobox rune Template:Contains special characters Eiwaz or Eihaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the rune Template:Runic, coming from a word for "yew". Two variants of the word are reconstructed for Proto-Germanic, *īhaz (*ē2haz, from Proto-Indo-European *eikos), continued in Old English as Script error: No such module "Lang". (also Script error: No such module "Lang".), and *īwaz (*ē2waz, from Proto-Indo-European *eiwos), continued in Old English as īw (whence English Script error: No such module "Lang".). The latter is possibly an early loan from the Celtic, compare Gaulish ivos, Breton ivin, Welsh ywen, Old Irish ēo. The common spelling of the rune's name, "Eihwaz", combines the two variants; strictly based on the Old English evidence, a spelling "Eihaz" would be more proper.
Following the convention of Wolfgang Krause, the rune's standard transliteration today is ï, though this designation is somewhat arbitrary as the rune's purpose and origin are still not well understood. Elmer Antonsen and Leo Connolly theorized that the rune originally stood for a Proto-Germanic vowel lost by the time of the earliest known runic inscriptions, though they put forth different vowels (Antonsen put forth Script error: No such module "IPA". while Connolly put forth Script error: No such module "IPA".). Ottar Grønvik proposed Script error: No such module "IPA".. Tineke Looijenga postulates the rune was originally a bindrune of ᛁ and ᛃ, having the sound value of Script error: No such module "IPA". or Script error: No such module "IPA".. [1] Bengt Odenstedt suggests it may have been adapted from the classical Latin alphabet's Z,[2] or YScript error: No such module "Unsubst"..
The rune survives in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc as Template:Runic Ēoh or Īh "yew" (note that ᛖ eoh "horse" has a short diphthong). In futhorc inscriptions Ēoh appears as both a vowel around Script error: No such module "IPA"., and as a consonant around Script error: No such module "IPA". and Script error: No such module "IPA".. As a vowel, Ēoh shows up in jïslheard (ᛡᛇᛋᛚᚻᛠᚱᛞ) on the Dover Stone. As a consonant, Ēoh shows up in almeïttig (ᚪᛚᛗᛖᛇᛏᛏᛁᚷ) on the Ruthwell Cross.[3]
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem reads:
- Template:Runic Script error: No such module "Lang".
- Script error: No such module "Lang".
- Script error: No such module "Lang".
- The yew is a tree with rough bark,
- hard and fast in the earth, supported by its roots,
- a guardian of flame and a joy on native land.
See also
- Wolfsangel, similar shape to the Eihwaz rune
References
Script error: No such module "Navbox".