Gyfu

Gyfu is the name for the g-rune ᚷ in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning 'gift' or 'generosity':

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem:[1] English Translation:

ᚷ Gẏfu gumena bẏþ gleng and herenẏs,
ƿraþu and ƿẏrþscẏpe and ƿræcna gehƿam
ar and ætƿist, ðe bẏþ oþra leas.

Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one's dignity;
it furnishes help and subsistence
to all broken men who are devoid of aught else.

NameProto-GermanicOld English
*GebōGyfuGār
'gift''gift'"spear"
ShapeElder FutharkFuthorc
Unicodeᚷ
U+16B7
ᚷ
U+16B7
ᚸ
U+16B8
Transliterationgȝg
Transcriptiongȝ, gg
IPA[ɣ][g], [ɣ], [ʎ], [j][g]
Position in
rune-row		7733

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 [s]).

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 ⟨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 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 ⟨ᚷ⟩) could express either /j/ or /g/ (see yogh). The ger unambiguously expressed /j/, and the newly 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

References
  1. Original poem and translation from the Rune Poem Page Archived 1999-05-01 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. J.H. Looijenga, Runes Around the North Sea and on the Continent Ad 150-700, PhD diss. Groningen 1997, p. 56. Download PDF
  3. The Runic Tarot. Gebo has no murkstave. By Caroline Smith, John Astrop. Page 24. Macmillan, Feb 1, 2005. 9780312321925
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