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, Template:Lang (Template:Lang, from Proto-Indo-European Template:Lang), continued in Old English as Template:Lang (also Template:Lang), and Template:Lang (Template:Lang, from Proto-Indo-European Template:Lang), continued in Old English as Template:Lang (whence English yew). The latter is possibly an early loan from the Celtic, compare Gaulish Template:Lang, Breton Template:Lang, Welsh Template:Lang, Old Irish Template:Lang. 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 {{#invoke:IPA|main}} while Connolly put forth {{#invoke:IPA|main}}). Ottar Grønvik proposed {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. Tineke Looijenga postulates the rune was originally a bindrune of Template:Runic and Template:Runic, having the sound value of {{#invoke:IPA|main}} or {{#invoke:IPA|main}}.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Bengt Odenstedt suggests it may have been adapted from the classical Latin alphabet's Z,<ref>Template:Citation.</ref> or YTemplate:Cn.
The rune survives in the Anglo-Saxon futhorc as Template:Runic Template:Lang or Template:Lang "yew" (note that Template:Runic eoh "horse" has a short diphthong). In futhorc inscriptions Ēoh appears as both a vowel around {{#invoke:IPA|main}}, and as a consonant around {{#invoke:IPA|main}} and {{#invoke:IPA|main}}. As a vowel, Ēoh shows up in jïslheard (Template:Runic) on the Dover Stone. As a consonant, Ēoh shows up in almeïttig (Template:Runic) on the Ruthwell Cross.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>
The Anglo-Saxon rune poem reads:
- 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
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