- Name
- eh
- Meaning
- horse, steed
- Transliteration
- e
- Sound
- /e/, /eː/
- Unicode
U+16D6runic letter ehwaz eh e
Line of descent
History
The e rune is the M-shaped form that became standard in the elder row from the 5th century. Its English name eh "horse" is the same word as Latin equus and Gothic aihwa-. This English name is the main basis for the reconstructed elder name *ehwaz. The Scandinavian poems are no help here, because the rune was dropped from the Younger Futhark and e was written with i.
The rune poem describes the horse as "the joy of princes", "proud in its hooves", around which rich men on horseback exchange talk, "and to the restless it is always a comfort". Horse and rider appear again under rad and yr, which shows how prominent mounted warfare and display were in the poem's world.
In English inscriptions e is frequent. The front of the Franks Casket has it in fergenberig, he and greut. The Undley bracteate has it in medu. On the right side of the casket a cryptic variant of e is used, encoded in Unicode as a separate character (ᛶ).
In the rune poems
hors hofum wlanc, ðær him hæleþ ymb[e]
welege on wicgum wrixlaþ spræce
and biþ unstyllum æfre frofur.
a steed proud in its hooves, where heroes around it,
wealthy men on horseback, exchange words;
and to the restless it is always a comfort.
Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.
Where it is found
- Seax of Beagnoth, position 19
- Undley bracteate (5th century): medu
- Franks Casket, front panel: fergenberig, he, greut
On inscriptions described on this site
Sources
- Dickins (1915), pp. 18–19 and note to v. 55.
- Wikipedia, 'Undley bracteate' and 'Franks Casket', checked 2026-10.