Eolh

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. An Old English rune, named for the elk, that stood for a protective sign ; a marsh sedge known in Old English as elk-sedge
2. The name of an Old English rune symbol used as a ward against harm ; an old English term for a sedge plant that grows in marshy ground
3. A protective symbol in the Old English rune row ; the Old English name for a wetland sedge associated with the elk

Etymology: Standalone, "eolh" is an Old English word that has all but vanished from English. It survives mainly in the rune name for the symbol ᛉ, "eolhx", and in plant names such as "eolhsecg", literally "elk-sedge." Scholars usually gloss the word as "elk," which fits the compound's first element, though some plant and rune meanings remain debated. The word is Germanic, not Latin or French. Its cognates include Old Norse "elgr" and modern German "Elch," all tracing back to a reconstructed Proto-Germanic "*elhaz." Because the rune's exact sense is uncertain, the word's oldest surviving English record is mostly in such glosses and compounds, not in continuous use.