- Name
- *gebō
- Meaning
- gift
- Name known from
- Old English gyfu/geofu 'gift' (rune poem); Gothic letter name geuua in Codex Vindobonensis 795 (compare Gothic giba 'gift'); no Scandinavian name survives because the rune went out of use there
- Transliteration
- g
- Sound
- /g/, with [ɣ] (a fricative g) between vowels
- Unicode
U+16B7runic letter gebo gyfu g
Line of descent
History
g is a simple X. Handbooks usually take it as identical in form to the Latin and Old Italic X, though in those alphabets X did not stand for g, so the shape was borrowed but not its value. The rune has no stave, and it stays the same through the whole period of the Elder Futhark.
The name *gebō "gift" depends on the English and Gothic evidence. The Old English poem praises gyfu as an honour to the giver and a living for the outcast. The Gothic letter name in the Vienna manuscript, geuua, belongs to the same word. The Scandinavian tradition has nothing to compare, because the rune dropped out of the Norse row during the 8th-century reduction. From then on the Younger Futhark wrote g with the kaun rune.
Elder Futhark examples include the personal name hlewagastiz on the Gallehus horn (early 5th century) and [go]dagastiz on the Einang stone. Both contain the name element -gastiz "guest". The Kragehul spear-shaft from Funen has a much-discussed sequence gagaga, written as bind-runes, and the English Undley bracteate has a similar gægogæ. Neither has been convincingly explained.
In England the rune continued as gyfu. After g developed a fronted (palatal) pronunciation there, Northumbrian carvers made a modified form, gar, to mark the back sound.
In the rune poems
wraþu and wyrþscype and wræcna gehwam
ar and ætwist, ðe byþ oþra leas.
a prop and an honour; and to every outcast
who has nothing else, help and a living.
Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.
Where it is found
- Gallehus horn (DR 12): hlewagastiz
- Einang stone (N KJ63): [go]dagastiz
- Kragehul spear-shaft (DR 196): gagaga (bind-runes)
On inscriptions described on this site
Sources
- Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata), signa DR 12, N KJ63, DR 196
- Dickins (1915), note to Old English rune poem l. 19 (Gothic geuua)
- Wikipedia, 'Elder Futhark' and 'Gyfu' (checked 2026-10-26)