Ger
The twelfth futhorc rune, transliterated j. English kept the inherited /j/ sound here, where the Younger Futhark let the same rune drift to /a/.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛄU+16C4
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER GER
- Alphabet
- Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
- In use
- c. AD 400 – 1100 (Early medieval England and Frisia)
- Position
- 12, ætt 2
- Transliteration
- j
- Sound value
- /j/
- Name
- ger: year, harvestAttested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| ger | Old English | year, harvest | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Continues *jēra. The English stanza credits God with letting the earth give bright fruits to rich and poor alike, which is a Christian reworking of what was presumably an older agricultural sense.
Sound value
The /j/ of modern English "year". English kept the inherited sound value here, where Scandinavia lost it and let the rune drift to /a/.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Elder Futhark jeran
U+16C3
The older shape, quite different from the English form.
Historical use
The English shape diverged sharply from the Elder Futhark original, so much so that the two are not obviously the same character. Comparing the futhorc and Younger Futhark descendants of this one rune is a good demonstration of how far apart the traditions drifted.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Ger byþ gumena hiht, ðonne God læteþ, halig heofones cyning, hrusan syllan beorhte bleda beornum ond ðearfum.Harvest is the hope of people, when God, the holy king of heaven, lets the earth give bright fruits to rich and needy alike.(our translation)
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
- Thames scramasaxRiver Thames, London · 10th century
Shows the distinctive English form of the rune.
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 Ger 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 2
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.