Futhork

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The runic alphabet used by the Anglo-Saxons in England, an extended form of the older Germanic futhark
2. A set of runic letters developed in early medieval England, expanding the older futhark with additional characters
3. The Old English runic writing system, an adapted version of the futhark used for inscriptions and manuscripts

Etymology: The name of the Anglo-Saxon runic alphabet is a spelling-out of its own opening letters, much like "ABC" is for the Latin alphabet. "Futhorc" is built from the sounds of the first six runes: fehu (ᚠ, "f"), uruz (ᚢ, "u"), thurisaz (ᚦ, "th"), ansuz (ᚩ, "o"), raido (ᚱ, "r") and kaunan (ᚳ, "c"). Run them together and you get "f-u-th-o-r-c", which is the word. The same pattern gives the older Germanic "futhark", named for the first six letters of the Elder Futhark, the runic alphabet used in Scandinavia. The Anglo-Saxon version, with its extra runes for sounds that English needed, is the "futhorc" form. Both spellings, "futhork" and "futhorc", are in use, with "futhorc" being the more common.