Algiz

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Algiz rune

Algiz, sometimes Elhaz, is a reconstructed Proto-Germanic name for the ᛉ rune, representing Proto-Germanic final z.

[edit] Background

The rune is a special case because, like the Ing-rune, it could not be named acrophonically, since the sound it represents does not occur word-initially. Proto-Germanic z (continuing Proto-Indo-European final s) also soon became obsolete, and the rune is usually transcribed as Proto-Norse R. The sound became regular word-final r in Old Norse, and the existence of the algiz rune is the only indication that there was still a phonemic difference between the two in Proto-Norse times (roughly in the 8th century).

The name Algiz means "elk", but the reconstruction is rather uncertain. In the rune poems of the Young Futhark, the rune is already lost, but in the Gothic alphabet the letter 𐌶 z is called ezec, which could be cognate to "elk".^{[citation needed]}

The rune survives in its original shape in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc runic alphabet, as ᛉ Eolh, representing a χ-sound. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is glossed as

Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne / wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme / blode breneð beorna gehwylcne / ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.
"The Eolh-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh; it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound, covering with blood every warrior who touches it."

Eolh-secg "elk-sedge" was probably pronounced with a [χ] in sandhi. The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name algiz "elk", based on the names of Anglo-Saxon eolh (of the same shape, but with a different sound) and Gothic ezec (with a different shape but the same sound) is rather tenous, since almost any masculine noun could have been picked in Proto-Germanic to represent the word-final z-sound.

In the Younger Futhark, the rune is continued by Yr ᛦ "yew" (not to be confused with the Futhorc Yr rune, ᚣ.). The shape of the algiz rune is taken up by Young Futhark Maðr ᛘ ("man"), replacing Old Futhark ᛗ Mannaz.

Rune	Unicode	HTML
ᛦ	16E6	5862
ᛧ	16E7	5863
ᛨ	16E8	5864

Algiz

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[edit] Background

[edit] Modern use

[edit] Fascist use

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