*Ōþala

Elder Futhark and Anglo-Saxon rune Othala other uses Othala (disambiguation) the SS rune ᛟ Odal, or the character 𐰋 in Old Turkic script pg oe gem-x-proto *Ōþala- ang Ēþel "patrimony" "property, home" x50px|class=skin-invert-image 16DF o œ [o(ː)] [ø(ː)] Runic Runr ᛟ is a rune that is transliterated as o and œ in the Elder Futhark and the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc writing systems respectively. It is known as ang ēþel ("inheritance, home, native land") in Old English, from which hypothetical Proto-Germanic names such as gem-x-proto *ōþala have been reconstructed. As with other Elder Futhark runes, the origins of ᛟ are unclear, beyond an ultimate ancestor in the Phoenician alphabet. Various intermediate scripts and characters have been proposed, including the Greek Ω, which closely resembles it. Even more similar to the rune are some symbols representing "o" sounds in Etruscan and Alpine scripts. The rune may in turn be the origin of the Gothic letter 𐍉 ("utal"), used by Wulfila in the 4th century CE for his Gothic Bible, although Greek letters may also have been used as a source. As ᛟ does not occur in Younger Futhark, it largely disappears from the Scandinavian record around the 8th century, but its usage continued in England into the 11th century, where alongside inscriptions was also used in manuscripts as a shorthand for the word ang ēþel, similarly to how other runes were could be used at the time. Knowledge of the English form the rune continued into the 17th century due to manuscripts preserving the Old English rune poem and efforts of collectors who published copies of these. It features in the J. R. R. Tolkien's writing system of the dwarves in The Hobbit, first published in 1937. Also beginning in the 1930s, ᛟ was appropriated by Nazi occultists during the 1930s and 1940s, along with many other historical European symbols, including other runes. This became Odal, which continues to be used by neo-Nazis and far-right groups. ᛟ also continues to be used in popular culture, including in video games and Tolkien's other works, and by adherents of the new religious movement, Heathenry. Name and etymology The sole attested name of the rune is ang ēþel or ang óðel ("property, inheritance, home, native land"). The Proto-Germanic name for the rune has therefore been reconstructed as gem-x-proto *ōþala or gem-x-proto *ōþila ("patrimony, inherited possession").ÉÐELKroonen 2013 395Barnes 2022 22 It has cognates with similar meanings in other Germanic languages, including non óðal ("ancestral property", "patrimony", "inheritance"), osx ōthil ("home") and goh uodal ("ancestral property").ÉÐELKroonen 2013 395 Alternative names for the rune include *ōðilan.Looijenga 1996 109 This general meaning is found in non óðal, which refers to Scandinavian laws of inheritance which established land rights for families that had owned that parcel of land over a number of generations, restricting its sale to others. Among other aspects, this protected the inheritance rights of daughters against males from outside the immediate family.Price 2022 185 Some of these laws remain in effect today in Norway as the Odelsrett (allodial right). The tradition of Udal law found in Shetland, Orkney, and the Isle of Man, is from the same origin.January 2023 Elder Futhark ᛟ features in Elder Futhark, where it represents the /o:/ sound and is transliterated to the Latin script as o.Barnes 2022 4 As with other Elder Futhark runes, its exact origins are unclear beyond its ultimate descent from the Phoenician alphabet.Barnes 2022 10 Derivation from Latin O or Q has been proposed, however, while most Elder Futhark runes are more similar to capital Latin letters than to Greek ones, ᛟ more closely resembles Ω ("Omega").Robertson 2011 12 Barnes 2022 12-13 North Italic alphabets have also been suggested as the source, including Venetic and Lepontic, andVennemann 2015 315 Letters with very similar sounds and shape are also known in Alpine and Etruscan scripts, suggesting these as a possible origin.Barnes 2022 12-13Vennemann 2015 318Mees 2000 50 Why the runes have their order is also unclear and debated, with little correspondence between it and that of potential source scripts. A notable alignment though is between ᛟ and Ω, which are both found at the end.Vennemann 2015 308 ᛟ is used throughout the body of Elder Futhark inscriptions to denotes the /o:/ sound. This includes some of the earliest runic inscriptions such as the Hole Runestone (50 BCE-275 CE) and Vimose planer (160-400 CE).Solheim Zilmer Zawalska Vasshus 2025DR 206 It has also been suggested to be used as an ideograph representing the word "gem-x-proto *oþal" on the Ring of Pietroassa, referencing the ring as hereditary treasure.Silva 2006 396 It has been similarly proposed to denote the Thorsberg chape (210-260 CE) as the inherited possession of the inscription's writer.Williams 2001 155DR 7 Relation to the Gothic alphabet Gothic alphabet#Letter origins thumb|Gothic letter 𐍉 ("utal"), as depicted in Codex Vindobonensis 795. The letter in the Gothic alphabet 𐍉 (got utal) was used in the 4th century CE by Wulfila to represent an /o:/ sound in his Bible, and may have been derived from ᛟ.Joseph Fritz Klein 2018 880 Alternatively, it may have been derived from the Greek Ω (omega), which closely resembles both, or ο (omicron).Marchand 1973Haarmann 1991Miller 2019 As with the names of most other Gothic letters, got utal is cognate with the name of its corresponding rune, gem-x-proto *ōþala.Joseph Fritz Klein 2018 880 This name is recorded in a manuscript from around the 10th century, however, and it has been suggested that the names in general may have been created retrospectively based on rune names, long after the letters were.Barnes 2022 21 Anglo-Frisian Fuþorc Usage of ᛟ continues into the Anglo-Frisian runes, where it was used along with all the other 23 Elder Futhark runes and new innovations. Anglo-Frisian sound changes led to it taking on the sound ø, also written as ö. ᛟ in Anglo-Frisian runes is therefore transliterated into Latin script as œ, while the /o:/ sound becomes represented by the new ᚩ, from the Elder Futhark ᚨ.Barnes 2022 5-6, 37-39 When exactly these developments first took place and spread is unclear, however ᛟ seems to represent the œ vowel in all known English inscriptions that contain it and ᚩ is first attested early, on the 5th century Undley bracteate.Hines 2017 31-32 Furthermore, both ᛟ and ᚩ are found on the pre-Old English Chessel Down inscription, suggesting the changes had taken place by 525-550 when this inscription was made.Waxenberger 2017 102 In contrast, the likely Frisian skanomodo la solidus (before the mid 7th century), uses ᛟ for the /o:/ sound and there are no known Frisian inscriptions with ᚩ from before the 8th century. This absence could, however, be a result of there being very few known Frisian runic texts.Hines 2017 32 An alternative form of the rune developed in this writing system, in which it was written with a single vertical line instead of the two diagonal legs, perhaps due to its simpler form. This form is found in some manuscripts and more rarely in runic inscriptions, such as on the 10th century Seax of Beagnoth.Page 2003 40seax The rune is also used ideographically as a shorthand for the word ang ēþel or ang œþel ("ancestral property or land") in manuscripts of texts such as Beowulf, Waldere and the Old English translation of Orosius' Historiae adversus paganos.Silva 2006 393Barnes 2022 153-154 This is similar to wider practices of the time, in which runes such as ᛞ, ᚹ and ᛗ were also used as shorthands to write the name of the rune.Barnes 2022 153-154 Furthermore, a stanza based on ᛟ's name "ang eþel" forms part of the Old English rune poem, composed in the 8th or 9th century and preserved in a now lost 10th century manuscript:Looijenga 2021 396-397Shippey 1976 82-83 Old English textShippey 1976 82-83 TranslationShippey 1976 82-83ang 'Eþel' bẏþ oferleof æghƿẏlcum men, ang gif he mot ðær rihtes and gerẏsena on ang brucan on bolde bleadum oftast.To every man his home is very dear, as long as he can enjoy his rights and proper station there, in his own house, for the most part prosperously. Transition to Younger Futhark While ᛟ continued to be used in England, it largely disappeared in Scandinavia during the development of the Younger Futhark, which began to emerge shortly after 700 CE.Barnes 2022 5-6 In this new system, the /o/ phoneme became instead written in the same way as /u/ phoneme and all other rounded vowels, with ᚢ.Barnes 2022 55 The reason for the loss of ᛟ, alongside 7 other elder futhark runes, is debated but was possibly a choice to use the more simple shape of ᚢ.Barnes 2022 55 It may also have been influenced by sound changes of the rune names, with gem-x-proto *ōþila likely developing into *œðil. This vowel mutation left no rune with a name matching the /o/ sound. Furthermore, it may have not been seen as worth keeping a dedicated rune to write the rare "œ" vowel that the rune name now began with.Barnes 2012 457Liestøl 1981 253 ᛟ is found in some transitional inscriptions that use both Elder Futhark and new rune shapes, including those that would become Younger Futhark. Many of these include ᚼ, representing an /a/ sound, alongside runes elsewhere only found in Elder Futhark inscriptions, as in the 7th century Stentoften Runestone.Barnes 2012 450-451Barnes 2022 25 ᛟ is also attested on the mostly Younger Futhark Rök runestone, dating to around 800 CE. In this context, the choice to use older runes has been proposed to be an intentional reference to an event nine generations ago mentioned in the inscription.Holmberg Gräslund Sundqvist Williams 2020 7,11,19 Modern period Runes#Modern use Runology ᛟ and the rest of the fuþorc were still known in England in the 17th century due to continued knowledge of early medieval manuscripts and collectors, such as George Hickes who made copies of Old English texts such as the Old English rune poem.Looijenga 2021 397-398 Popular culture thumb|right|upright=1.8|Inscription from The Fellowship of the Ring, written in English using Tolkien's Angerthas Erebor script, in which the rune based on ᛟ represents a "u" sound. It reads left-to-right: "Balin sʌn ov Fu[nd]in lord ov Moria" Like other historical runes, ᛟ is widely used in popular culture, including by J.R.R. Tolkien on Thror's map of Erebor in The Hobbit, published in 1937. Runes such as ᛟ further form the base for the dwarvish Cirth writing systems used in The Lord of the Rings, published in 1954 and 1955, and described in Tolkien's Legendarium.Tolkien 1937Tolkien 1955 It is also used as the symbol for the "Lore" resource in Northgard, released in 2018.Northgard In Stargate SG-1, the rune is used as the symbol of the Asgard in a declaration of alliance with three other races,"The Torment of Tantalus" and "Othala" is later revealed to also be the name of one of their worlds in their home galaxy of Ida."The Fifth Race" SS-rune Odal (SS rune) thumb|100px|The "Winged Othala" used by far-right groups. ᛟ, like some other runes, was adopted as an occult symbol by German Nazi occultists and thereof in the 1930s, later being adopted by the German Schutzstaffel (SS) as an SS-rune to symbolise kinship, family and blood ties within the Aryan race. The SS modified the symbol with serifs, also called "feet" or "wings", subsequently being nicknamed "Winged Othala" and thereof in modern times. It was subsequently used by various military divisions within the German Army during World War II and also became the badge of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office, which was responsible for maintaining the racial purity of the SS.Lumsden Robin 1995 SS Regalia Edison, NJ Book Sales, Inc. 35 9780785802280 After World War II, this symbol has seen continued by Neo-Nazis and similar far-right collectives. White supremacists who use the rune often claim it symbolises the heritage or land of "white" or "Aryan" people which should be free from foreigners. Usages such as these are not attested in any source from before the modern period, being invented by members of these groups.Barnes 2022 194-196 The Anti-Defamation League notes that because it is part of the runic alphabet, ᛟ rune is often used in non-racist manners and should be interpreted in its context of use.ADL, Othala Heathenry ᛟ, along with other runes more widely, often feature prominently in the practices of Heathens,Blain 2005 181-208Harvey 1997 61Calico 2018 118 and are commonly used to decorate items and in tattoos.Calico 2018 391-392 The use of runes such as ᛟ by far-right groups has been strongly condemned by some Heathen groups, including Asatru UK which released a public statement that "[it] is categorically opposed to fascist movements, or any movements, using the symbols of our faith for hate".AUK statement References Bibliography Primary Shippey T. A. Poems of wisdom and learning in Old English 1976 Cambridge, Eng. : D. S. Brewer ; Totowa, N.J. : Rowman and Littlefield 978-0-87471-789-1 https://archive.org/details/poemsofwisdomlea0000unse/page/n5/mode/2up The Hobbit J.R.R. Tolkien J.R.R. Tolkien London: George Allen & Unwin. 1937 The Return of the King – Being the Third Part of The Lord of the Rings; Appendix E J. R. R. Tolkien J. R. R. Tolkien London George Allen & Unwin 1955 Secondary Barnes Michael P. Proceedings of the Fourth International Symposium on Runes and Runic Inscriptions in Göttingen 7 August 2012 Walter de Gruyter 978-3-11-082190-1 https://books.google.com/books?id=gdYhAAAAQBAJ de The Transitional Inscriptions Barnes Michael P. Runes: a handbook 2022 the Boydell press Woodbridge Rochester, NY 9781783276974 paperback Blain Jenny Modern paganism in world cultures: comparative perspectives 2005 ABC-CLIO Santa Barbara, Calif. 9781851096084 Calico Jefferson F. Being Viking: heathenism in contemporary America 2018 Bristol 9781781792230 118 Haarmann Harald 1991 Universalgeschichte der Schrift Frankfurt Campus 3-593-34346-0 Harvey Graham Listening people, speaking earth: contemporary paganism 1997 Hurst & Co London 978185065-2724 61 Hines John Frisians and their North Sea Neighbours: From the Fifth Century to the Viking Age 2017 Boydell & Brewer 978-1-78327-179-5 NED - New https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.7722/j.ctt1t6p55t.11?seq=1 25–42 The Anglo-Frisian Question 10.7722/j.ctt1t6p55t.11 Holmberg Per Gräslund Bo Sundqvist Olof Williams Henrik The Rök Runestone and the End of the World Futhark: International Journal of Runic Studies 2020 9-10 7–38 10.33063/diva-401040 https://www.diva-portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A1383036&dswid=3361 Imer Lisbeth M. Vasshus Krister S. K. Lost in transition: The runic bracteates from the Vindelev hoard NOWELE. North-Western European Language Evolution 19 June 2023 76 1 60–99 10.1075/nowele.00074.ime https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/journals/10.1075/nowele.00074.ime en 0108-8416 109.1.5/933070d1-acfe-4ebf-9dbf-35dcd9db066f free Handbook of comparative and historical Indo-European linguistics: Volume 2 2018 De Gruyter Mouton Berlin Boston 978311052161-0 Jared Joseph Brian Fritz Matthias Klein Kroonen Guus Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic 2013 https://archive.org/details/etymological-dictionary-of-proto-germanic/page/30/mode/2up?view=theater Liestøl Aslak The VIking runes: the transition from the older to the younger fuþark Saga-Book 1981 XX 4 247–266 http://www.vsnrweb-publications.org.uk/Saga-Book%20XX.pdf Looijenga Tineke On the origin of the Anglo-Frisian runic innovations Amsterdamer Beiträge zur Älteren Germanistik 1996 45 1 109–122 10.1163/18756719-045-01-90000012 https://www.academia.edu/33256399 0165-7305 Looijenga Tineke Aprender la escritura, olvidar la escritura: nuevas perspectivas sobre la historia de la escritura en el Occidente romano 2021 Universidad del País Vasco Vitoria 9788413193175 How the runes were lost and won... https://www.academia.edu/48142341 Marchand James 1973 The Sounds and Phonemes of Wulfila's Gothic De Gruyter Mouton Mees Bernard The North Etruscan Thesis of the Origin of the Runes Arkiv för nordisk filologi 2000 115 33–82 https://journals.lub.lu.se/anf/article/view/11611 sv 0066-7668 Miller D. 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Oktober 1994 2001 Walter de Gruyter 978-3-11-082282-3 https://books.google.com/books?id=LPr5z2IfIWoC de Williams Henrik 149–166 From Heldorf to Haithabu: some early personal names from Schleswig-Holstein ADL, Othala Othala Rune https://www.adl.org/resources/hate-symbol/othala-rune www.adl.org 5 November 2022 en AUK statement Asatru UK, In response to the Daily Telegraph article https://www.facebook.com/asatru.uk.auk/posts/2445282542368140 Facebook 13 February 2022 en Northgard Northgard - Balancing Patch 7 - July 2021 - Steam News https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/466560/view/5016431176761421493 store.steampowered.com 14 May 2022 en 20 July 2021 DR 7 Runor https://app.raa.se/open/runor/inscription?id=bbbc6569-77f2-411c-8e64-32e40e58d967 app.raa.se 19 October 2025 DR 206 Runor https://app.raa.se/open/runor/inscription?id=fefcef8c-e4cd-427f-a108-9fb69a1a3c72 app.raa.se 19 October 2025 ÉÐEL Bosworth Joseph ÉÐEL https://bosworthtoller.com/009765 An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online Faculty of Arts, Charles University 1 February 2026 en 2014 casket casket British Museum https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1867-0120-1 The British Museum 3 February 2026 en seax seax https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1857-0623-1 British Museum 3 February 2026 HarfordFarmBrooch Collections object page https://www.museumscollections.norfolk.gov.uk/collections-object-page?id=NWHCM%20:%201994.5.78 Museums Collections - Norfolk Museums Service 4 February 2026 en External links ᛟ Category:Fascist symbols Category:Heraldic charges Category:Nazi symbolism Category:Runes Category:Symbols