Ogham celtic tree alphabet

Ogh what? I hear you say.

Ogham was predominantly used to write the early Irish language and from the 6th century was used in the Gaelic Kingdom of Dalriada covering what is now Argyll, West Lochaber and the Inner Hebrides as well as the northern tip of Ireland. Whilst the Ogham Alphabet has 20 letters and 20 trees associated with it, the Gaelic Alphabet has 18 letters and 18 trees. These tall straight trees are associated with perspective and height. The kind of elm that grows most widely in Scotland is Wych Elm. As wood from the Elm is very flexible it consequently does not make a good material to construct buildings from. However, like Alder it does withstand water very well, so it has been popular in making boat hulls, bridges and wheels. Like Scots Pine, hollowed out Elm has previously been used as water piping before the advent of metal water pipes.

Ogham celtic tree alphabet

There are roughly surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern Munster. For this reason, ogam is sometimes known as the Celtic tree alphabet. The etymology of the word ogam or ogham remains unclear. Egyptian hieroglyphs 32nd c. It is generally thought that the earliest inscriptions in Ogham date to about the 4th century AD, [10] but James Carney believed its origin is rather within the 1st century BC. The largest number of scholars favour the Latin alphabet as this template, [14] [15] although the Elder Futhark and even the Greek alphabet have their supporters. The Latin alphabet is the primary contender mainly because its influence at the required period 4th century is most easily established, being widely used in neighbouring Roman Britannia , while runes in the 4th century were not very widespread even in continental Europe. In Ireland and in Wales, the language of the monumental stone inscriptions is termed Primitive Irish. The transition to Old Irish , the language of the earliest sources in the Latin alphabet, takes place in about the 6th century. There are two main schools of thought among scholars as to the motivation for the creation of ogham. Scholars such as Carney and MacNeill have suggested that ogham was first created as a cryptic alphabet, designed by the Irish so as not to be understood by those with a knowledge of the Latin alphabet. With bilingual ogham and Latin inscriptions in Wales, however, one would suppose that the ogham could easily be decoded by at least an educated few in the Post-Roman world.

Oak has been valued for its strength and durability, and was commonly used in construction of homes and the bark has historically been used in the tanning industry. The letters are linked together by a solid line.

No discussion of trees in Irish folklore and history would be complete without mention of the letters in the Ogham alphabet. This alphabet is the ancient Irish alphabet, many examples of which are still to be found on standing stones across the whole of the island. These inscriptions mainly date from the 3rd to the 5th century AD. Ogham stone photo D. The alphabet was an exception to the largely oral nature of early Irish society.

There are roughly surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern Munster. For this reason, ogam is sometimes known as the Celtic tree alphabet. The etymology of the word ogam or ogham remains unclear. It is generally thought that the earliest inscriptions in Ogham date to about the 4th century AD, [10] but James Carney believed its origin is rather within the 1st century BC. The largest number of scholars favour the Latin alphabet as this template, [14] [15] although the Elder Futhark and even the Greek alphabet have their supporters. The Latin alphabet is the primary contender mainly because its influence at the required period 4th century is most easily established, being widely used in neighbouring Roman Britannia , while runes in the 4th century were not very widespread even in continental Europe. In Ireland and in Wales, the language of the monumental stone inscriptions is termed Primitive Irish.

Ogham celtic tree alphabet

Ogham is an alphabet that appears on monumental inscriptions dating from the 4th to the 6th century AD, and in manuscripts dating from the 6th to the 9th century. Ogham is also known as or ogham craobh tree ogham beth luis fearn or beth luis nion , after the first few letters. Ogham probably pre-dates the earliest inscriptions - some scholars believe it dates back to the 1st century AD - as the language used shows pre-4th century elements.

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Pilgrims often used to make staffs from Hazel, providing a sturdy walking stick and a means of self-defence. He proposes that the order of Ogham letters form a calendar of tree magic, with each letter corresponding to a Celtic month. Traditionally, it was said that the best protection for a home was obtained by having a Rowan tree by the front door and an Elder tree at the back door. In folklore, the Holly was King of the Woods for half the year, ruling from the Summer to the Winter Solstices, at which time Holly was defeated by the Oak King who ruled until the Summer Solstice again. This site lists the letters and their new age pagan meaning. It was thought that if you burned the wood from the Elder, you would see the Devil, but if you planted Elder by your house it would keep the Devil away. As a child I was told that it was derived from a Viking term for spear maker perhaps by my Grandmother, but she also told me I was a quarter Cherokee so not to be totally believed! However horizontal script is also found, written from left to right, mostly in manuscripts. Retrieved 16 January Because of this, ogham is frequently referred to as the Celtic tree alphabet. Comhar Feasta An tUltach Tuairisc. Celtic druids also believed that men were forged from the Ash tree and women from the Rowan contributing to its association with masculinity, strength and rebirth. Ogh what? See Forsyth, K. The Ogham Alphabet consists of twenty symbols, some of which are immediately transliterated into letters and others of which are more closely related to sounds.

In secluded fields, on the walls of churches, and beneath construction sites, stones have been found with intricate markings that rise from the lower left up to the center and then down to the lower right.

As previously mentioned when describing Beith, in Celtic Mythology birch was traditionally associated with birth, love and purity. We may never know the true origins of ogham and all its uses. As well as its use for monumental inscriptions, the evidence from early Irish sagas and legends indicate that ogham was used for short messages on wood or metal, either to relay messages or to denote ownership of the object inscribed. August is known as the Hazel Moon as this is when Hazel nuts appear on the trees. CE Old Hungarian c. Filed under Celtic. Related Products. The Auraicept itself is aware that not all names are known tree names: "Now all these are wood names such as are found in the Ogham Book of Woods, and are not derived from men", admitting that "some of these trees are not known today". As far as what ogham was used for, Dr. Bardic students learnt these basic names and used the ogham sequences to create lists for memorisation. Jurchen Khitan large script Sui Tangut. History of writing Grapheme Hieroglyph. American Braille obsolete.