Eh
The nineteenth futhorc rune, transliterated e. Its name is a poetic Old English word for a warhorse, cognate with Latin equus.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛖU+16D6
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER EHWAZ EH E
- Alphabet
- Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
- In use
- c. AD 400 – 1100 (Early medieval England and Frisia)
- Position
- 19, ætt 3
- Transliteration
- e
- Sound value
- /e/ , /eː/
- Name
- eh: warhorse, steedAttested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| eh | Old English | warhorse, steed | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Continues *ehwaz, cognate with Latin equus. Old English eh is a poetic word for a horse, distinct from the ordinary hors, and appears mainly in verse.
Sound value
Short and long /e/. English kept this rune where the Younger Futhark dropped it.
Historical use
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Eh byþ for eorlum æþelinga wyn, hors hofum wlanc, ðær him hæleþ ymbe welege on wicgum wrixlaþ spræce and biþ unstyllum æfre frofur.The horse is, in front of nobles, the joy of princes, a steed proud in its hooves, where wealthy warriors on horseback exchange talk about it; and to the restless it is always a comfort.(our translation)
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
- Thames scramasaxRiver Thames, London · 10th century
Nineteenth in the inlaid row.
Signatures follow the Scandinavian Runic-text Database so you can look each inscription up directly. Each name links to the object's own entry.
Modern meaning
Why this entry has none.
None is given here. Modern rune divination is built almost entirely on the Elder Futhark, and no established modern tradition reads the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc separately. Inventing a reading for Eh to fill the space would be exactly the kind of fabrication this site exists to flag, so the field is left empty rather than filled. Its Elder Futhark ancestor is linked further down and does carry a modern reading, labelled as modern. How modern rune meanings were arrived at is a separate discussion.
The same rune in other alphabets
Runes descended from the same original character, so you can follow it through time.
The rest of ætt 3
Sources for this entry
Full references are on the sources page. If you think something here is wrong, our corrections policy explains how to say so.