Runecarver

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A person who expertly engraves mystical symbols into surfaces for artistic or ritualistic purposes
2. An individual who customarily carves ancient script into materials, often for decoration or spiritual significance
3. Someone who inscribes runes onto objects, often for cultural or magical reasons

Etymology: Runecarver is a plain compound: "rune" joined to "carver," someone who cuts shapes into a hard surface. The older half traces back through Old Norse "rún," a secret or mystery, to Proto-Germanic "rūnō," which meant a secret whispered between people, before it came to name the angular letters of the early Germanic alphabets. Those letters were meant to be cut into wood or stone, which is why the two halves fit together so neatly. The second half, "carver," descends from Old English "ċeorfan," meaning to cut or slice, and the same root gives "carve" itself. Its agent ending, "-er," comes from Old English "-ere," which marks a person who does the action. A runecarver is therefore literally one who cuts runes.