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Ogham (also ogam and ogom, ,
Modern Irish Irish (Standard Irish: ), also known as Irish Gaelic or simply Gaelic ( ), is a Celtic language of the Indo-European language family. It is a member of the Goidelic languages of the Insular Celtic sub branch of the family and is indigenous ...
:
; , later ) is an
Early Medieval The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th to the 10th century. They marked the start of the Middle Ages of Europ ...
alphabet An alphabet is a standard set of letter (alphabet), letters written to represent particular sounds in a spoken language. Specifically, letters largely correspond to phonemes as the smallest sound segments that can distinguish one word from a ...
used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the
Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
language (
scholastic ogham Ogham (also ogam and ogom, , Modern Irish: ; , later ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish language ( scholastic ...
, 6th to 9th centuries). There are roughly 400 surviving orthodox inscriptions on stone monuments throughout Ireland and western Britain, the bulk of which are in southern areas of the Irish province of
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
. The Munster counties of Cork and Kerry contain 60% of all Irish ogham stones. The largest number outside Ireland are in
Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire ( ; ) is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. It is bordered by Carmarthenshire to the east, Ceredigion to the northeast, and otherwise by the sea. Haverfordwest is the largest town and ...
, Wales. The inscriptions usually consist of personal names written in a set formula. Many of the High Medieval '' Bríatharogaim'' (kennings for the ogham letters) are understood to reference various trees and plants. This interpretation was popularized by
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
in his book ''
The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by the English writer Robert Graves. First published in 1948, it is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazine ...
''; for this reason, Ogham is sometimes known as the Celtic tree alphabet. The etymology of the word ''ogam'' or ''ogham'' remains unclear. One possible origin is from the Irish ''og-úaim'' 'point-seam', referring to the seam made by the point of a sharp weapon.


Origins

It is generally thought that the earliest inscriptions in Ogham date to about the 4th century AD, but James Carney believed its origin is rather within the 1st century BC. Although the use of classical ogham in stone inscriptions seems to have flourished in the 5th and 6th centuries around the
Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...
, from the phonological evidence it is clear that the alphabet predates the 5th century. Indeed, the alphabet has letters representing archaic
phonemes A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
which were clearly part of the system, but which were no longer spoken by the 5th century and never appear in inscriptions, suggesting an extended period of ogham writing on wood or other perishable material prior to the preserved monumental inscriptions. They are: ''
úath Uath, Old Irish Úath, hÚath (), is the sixth letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚆ, transcribed in manuscript tradition, but unattested in actual inscriptions. The kenning "a meet of hounds is ''huath''" identifies the name as ''úath'' "horror, ...
'' ("H") and ''
straif {{Table Oghamletters Straif is the Irish name of the fourteenth letter of the Ogham alphabet, ᚎ. Old Irish spelling variants are ''straif'', ''straiph'', ''zraif'', ''sraif'', ''sraiph'', ''sraib''. The Bríatharogam kennings for the letter a ...
'' ("Z" in the manuscript tradition, but probably "F" from "SW"), and '' gétal'' (velar nasal "NG" in the manuscript tradition, but etymologically probably "GW"). It appears that the Ogham alphabet was modelled on another script, and some even consider it a mere cipher of its template script (Düwel 1968: points out similarity with ciphers of Germanic runes). The largest number of scholars favour the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
as this template, although the
Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
and even the
Greek alphabet The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BC. It was derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and is the earliest known alphabetic script to systematically write vowels as wel ...
have their supporters. Runic origin would elegantly explain the presence of "H" and "Z" letters unused in Irish, as well as the presence of vocalic and consonantal variants "U" vs. "W", unknown to Latin writing and lost in Greek (cf.
digamma Digamma or wau (uppercase: Ϝ, lowercase: ϝ, numeral: ϛ) is an Archaic Greek alphabets, archaic letter of the Greek alphabet. It originally stood for the sound but it has remained in use principally as a Greek numeral for 6 (number), 6. Whe ...
). 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 The image of Britannia () is the national personification of United Kingdom, Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used by the Romans in classical antiquity, the Latin was the name variously appli ...
, while runes in the 4th century were not very widespread even in
continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...
. In Ireland and Wales, the language of the monumental stone inscriptions is termed
Primitive Irish Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family. This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly persona ...
. The transition to
Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
, the language of the earliest sources in the Latin alphabet, takes place in about the 6th century. Since ogham inscriptions consist almost exclusively of personal names and marks possibly indicating land ownership, linguistic information that may be gleaned from the Primitive Irish period is mostly restricted to
phonological Phonology (formerly also phonemics or phonematics: "phonemics ''n.'' 'obsolescent''1. Any procedure for identifying the phonemes of a language from a corpus of data. 2. (formerly also phonematics) A former synonym for phonology, often prefer ...
developments.


Theories of origin

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 to hide their meaning from writers of the Latin alphabet. In this school of thought, it is asserted that "the alphabet was created by Irish scholars or druids for political, military or religious reasons to provide a secret means of communication in opposition to the authorities of Roman Britain." The serious threat of invasion by the Roman Empire, which then ruled over neighbouring southern Britain, may have spurred the creation of the alphabet. Alternatively, in later centuries when the threat of invasion had receded and the Irish were themselves invading western Britain, the desire to keep communications secret from Romans or Romanised Britons would still have provided an incentive. 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. The second main school of thought, put forward by scholars such as McManus, is that ogham was invented by the first Christian communities in early Ireland, out of a desire for a unique alphabet to write short messages and inscriptions in Irish. The sounds of Primitive Irish may have been difficult to transcribe into the Latin alphabet, motivating the invention of a separate alphabet. A possible such origin, as suggested by McManus (1991:41), is the early Irish Christian community known from around AD 400 at latest, attested by the mission of Palladius by
Pope Celestine I Pope Celestine I () (c. 359 – 27 July 432) was the bishop of Rome from 10 September 422 to his death on 27 July 432. Celestine's pontificate was largely spent combatting various teachings deemed heretical. He was instrumental for the condemnati ...
in AD 431. A variation is the idea that this alphabet was first invented, for whatever reason, in 4th-century Irish settlements in west
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
after contact and intermarriage with Romanised Britons with knowledge of the Latin alphabet. In fact, several ogham stones in Wales are bilingual, containing both Irish and
British Latin British Latin or British Vulgar Latin was the Vulgar Latin spoken in Great Britain in the Roman and sub-Roman periods. While Britain formed part of the Roman Empire, Latin became the principal language of the elite and in the urban areas of t ...
, testifying to the international contacts that led to the existence of some of these stones. A third hypothesis, put forward by the noted ogham scholar R. A. S. Macalister was influential at one time, but finds little favour with scholars today. He believed – because ogham consists of four groups of five letters with a sequence of strokes from one to five – that ogham was first invented as a secret system of finger signals in Cisalpine Gaul around 600 BC by Gaulish druids, and was inspired by a form of the Greek alphabet current in Northern Italy at the time. According to this idea, the alphabet was transmitted in oral form or on wood only, until it was finally put into a permanent form on stone inscriptions in early Christian Ireland. Later scholars are largely united in rejecting this hypothesis, however, primarily because a detailed study of the letters shows that they were created specifically for the Primitive Irish of the early centuries AD. The supposed links with the form of the Greek alphabet that Macalister proposed can also be disproved. A fourth hypothesis, proposed by the scholars
Rudolf Thurneysen Eduard Rudolf Thurneysen (14 March 1857 – 9 August 1940) was a Swiss linguist and Celticist. Biography Born in Basel, Thurneysen studied classical philology in Basel, Leipzig, Berlin and Paris. His teachers included Ernst Windisch and ...
and
Joseph Vendryes Joseph Vendryes or Vendryès (; 13 January 1875 – 30 January 1960) was a French Celtic linguist. After studying with Antoine Meillet, he was chairman of Celtic languages and literature at the École Pratique des Hautes Études. He founded the ...
, is that the forms of the letters derive from a numerical tally-mark counting system of the time, based around the numbers five and twenty, which was then adapted into an alphabet.


Legendary accounts

According to the 11th-century ''
Lebor Gabála Érenn ''Lebor Gabála Érenn'' (literally "The Book of Ireland's Taking"; Modern Irish spelling: ''Leabhar Gabhála Éireann'', known in English as ''The Book of Invasions'') is a collection of poems and prose narratives in the Irish language inten ...
'', the 14th-century ''
Auraicept na n-Éces ''Auraicept na nÉces'' (; "The Scholars' Primer" ) is an Old Irish text on language and grammar. The core of the text may date to the early eighth century, but much material was added between that date and the production of the earliest surviv ...
'', and other Medieval
Irish folklore Irish folklore () refers to the folktales, balladry, music, dance and mythology of Ireland. It is the study and appreciation of how people lived. The folklore of Ireland includes banshees, fairies, leprechauns and other mythological creatures, ...
, ogham was first invented soon after the fall of the
Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...
, along with the
Gaelic language The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...
, by the legendary
Scythian The Scythians ( or ) or Scyths (, but note Scytho- () in composition) and sometimes also referred to as the Pontic Scythians, were an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people who had migrated during the 9th to 8th centuries BC fr ...
king, Fenius Farsa. According to the Auraicept, Fenius journeyed from
Scythia Scythia (, ) or Scythica (, ) was a geographic region defined in the ancient Graeco-Roman world that encompassed the Pontic steppe. It was inhabited by Scythians, an ancient Eastern Iranian equestrian nomadic people. Etymology The names ...
together with Goídel mac Ethéoir, Íar mac Nema and a
retinue A retinue is a body of persons "retained" in the service of a noble, royal personage, or dignitary; a ''suite'' (French "what follows") of retainers. Etymology The word, recorded in English since circa 1375, stems from Old French ''retenue'', ...
of 72 scholars. They came to the plain of
Shinar Shin’ar ( ; ; ) is the name for the southern region of Mesopotamia used by the Hebrew Bible. Etymology Hebrew ''Šinʿār'' is equivalent to the Egyptian ''Sngr'' and Hittite ''Šanḫar(a)'', all referring to southern Mesopotamia. Some Assyr ...
to study the confused languages at
Nimrod Nimrod is a Hebrew Bible, biblical figure mentioned in the Book of Genesis and Books of Chronicles, the Books of Chronicles. The son of Cush (Bible), Cush and therefore the great-grandson of Noah, Nimrod was described as a king in the land of Sh ...
's tower (the
Tower of Babel The Tower of Babel is an origin myth and parable in the Book of Genesis (chapter 11) meant to explain the existence of different languages and cultures. According to the story, a united human race speaking a single language migrates to Shin ...
). Finding that they had already been dispersed, Fenius sent his scholars to study them, staying at the tower, coordinating the effort. After ten years, the investigations were complete, and Fenius created ''in Bérla tóbaide'' "the selected language", taking the best of each of the confused tongues, which he called ''Goídelc'',
Goidelic The Goidelic ( ) or Gaelic languages (; ; ) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages. Goidelic languages historically formed a dialect continuum stretching from Ireland through the Isle o ...
, after Goídel mac Ethéoir. He also created extensions of ''Goídelc'', called ''Bérla Féne'', after himself, ''Íarmberla'', after Íar mac Nema, and others, and the ''Beithe-luis-nuin'' (the ogham) as a perfected
writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...
for his languages. The names he gave to the letters were those of his 25 best scholars. Alternatively, the
Ogam Tract ''In Lebor Ogaim'' ("The Book of Ogams"), also known as the Ogam Tract, is an Old Irish treatise on the ogham alphabet. It is preserved in R.I.A. MS 23 P 12 308–314 (AD 1390), T.C.D. H.3.18, 26.1–35.28 (AD 1511) and National Library of ...
credits
Ogma Ogma () is a god from Irish mythology, Irish and Scottish mythology. A member of the Tuatha Dé Danann, he is often considered a deity and may be related to the Gauls, Gallic god Ogmios. According to the In Lebor Ogaim, Ogam Tract, he is the i ...
with the script's invention. Ogma was skilled in speech and poetry, and created the system for the learned, to confound rustics and fools. The first message written in ogam was seven ''b'' on a birch, sent as a warning to Lug, meaning: "your wife will be carried away seven times to the otherworld unless the birch protects her". For this reason, the letter ''b'' is said to be named after the birch, and ''In Lebor Ogaim'' goes on to tell the tradition that all letters were named after trees, a claim also referred to by the Auraicept as an alternative to the naming after Fenius' disciples.


Alphabet: the Beith-luis-nin

Strictly speaking, the word ''ogham'' means ''letters'', while the alphabet is called ''beith-luis-nin'' after the letter names of the first letters (in the same way that the modern word "alphabet" derives from the Greek letters ''alpha'' and ''beta''). The order of the first five letters, BLFSN, led the scholar Macalister to propose that a link between a form of the Greek alphabet used in Northern Italy in the 6th and 5th centuries BC. However, there is no evidence for Macalister's theory, and it has been discounted by later scholars. There are in fact other explanations for the name ''Beith-luis-nin''. One explanation is that the word ''nin'', which means ''forked branch'', was used to mean letters in general. ''Beith-luis-nin'' could therefore mean simply ''beith-luis'' letters. Another suggestion is that ''beith-luis-nin'' is a contraction of the first five letters, ie, ''beith-LVS-nin''. The ogham alphabet originally consisted of twenty letters, divided into four groups () according the stroke angle and direction. The groups were *, right side/downward strokes *, left side/upward strokes *, oblique crossing strokes *, notches or perpendicular crossing strokes Five additional letters were later introduced (mainly in the manuscript tradition), the so-called '' forfeda''. A letter for ''p'' is conspicuously absent, since the
phoneme A phoneme () is any set of similar Phone (phonetics), speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible Phonetics, phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word fr ...
was lost in
Proto-Celtic Proto-Celtic, or Common Celtic, is the hypothetical ancestral proto-language of all known Celtic languages, and a descendant of Proto-Indo-European. It is not attested in writing but has been partly Linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed throu ...
, and the gap was not filled in
Q-Celtic The Celtic languages ( ) are a branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European language family, descended from the hypothetical Proto-Celtic language. The term "Celtic" was first used to describe this language group by Edward Lhuyd in 170 ...
, and no sign was needed before loanwords from
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
containing ''p'' appeared in Irish (''e.g.'', Patrick). Conversely, there is a letter for the labiovelar ''q'' (ᚊ ''ceirt''), a phoneme lost in Old Irish. The base alphabet is, therefore, as it were, designed for Proto-Q-Celtic. Of the five '' forfeda'' or supplementary letters, only the first, ''ébad'', regularly appears in inscriptions, but mostly with the value K (McManus, § 5.3, 1991), in the word ''koi'' (ᚕᚑᚔ "here"). The others, except for ''emancholl'', have at most only one certain 'orthodox' (see below) inscription each. Due to their limited practical use, later ogamists turned the supplementary letters into a series of
diphthong A diphthong ( ), also known as a gliding vowel or a vowel glide, is a combination of two adjacent vowel sounds within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of ...
s, changing completely the values for ''pín'' and ''emancholl''. This meant that the alphabet was once again without a letter for the 'P' sound, forcing the invention of the letter ''peithboc'' (soft 'B'), which appears in the manuscripts only.


Letter names

The letter names are interpreted as names of trees or shrubs in manuscript tradition, both in ''
Auraicept na n-Éces ''Auraicept na nÉces'' (; "The Scholars' Primer" ) is an Old Irish text on language and grammar. The core of the text may date to the early eighth century, but much material was added between that date and the production of the earliest surviv ...
'' ('The Scholars' Primer') and ''
In Lebor Ogaim ''In Lebor Ogaim'' ("The Book of Ogams"), also known as the Ogam Tract, is an Old Irish treatise on the ogham alphabet. It is preserved in R.I.A. MS 23 P 12 308–314 (AD 1390), T.C.D. H.3.18, 26.1–35.28 (AD 1511) and National Library of ...
'' ('The Ogam Tract'). They were first discussed in modern times by
Ruaidhrí Ó Flaithbheartaigh Roderick O'Flaherty (; 1629–1718 or 1716) was an Irish historian. Biography He was born in County Galway and inherited Moycullen Castle and estate. O'Flaherty was the last ''de jure'' Tigerna, Lord of Iar Connacht, and the last recognised C ...
(1685), who took them at face value. 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". The Auraicept gives a short phrase or
kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...
for each letter, known as a ''Bríatharogam'', that traditionally accompanied each letter name, and a further gloss explaining their meanings and identifying the tree or plant linked to each letter. Only five of the twenty primary letters have tree names that the Auraicept considers comprehensible without further glosses, namely ''beith'' "birch", ''fearn'' "alder", ''saille'' "willow", ''duir'' "oak" and ''coll'' "hazel". All the other names have to be glossed or "translated". According to the leading modern ogham scholar, Damian McManus, the "Tree Alphabet" idea dates to the
Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic (, Ogham, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ; ; or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic languages, Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive written texts. It was used from 600 to 900. The ...
period (say, 10th century), but it postdates the Primitive Irish period, or at least the time when the letters were originally named. Its origin is probably due to the letters themselves being called ''feda'' "trees", or ''nin'' "forking branches" due to their shape. Since a few of the letters were, in fact, named after trees, the interpretation arose that they were called ''feda'' because of that. Some of the other letter names had fallen out of use as independent words, and were thus free to be claimed as "Old Gaelic" tree names, while others (such as ''ruis'', ''úath'' or ''gort'') were more or less forcefully reinterpreted as epithets of trees by the medieval glossators. McManus (1991, §3.15) discusses possible etymologies of all the letter names, and as well as the five mentioned above, he adds one other definite tree name: ''onn'' "ash" (the Auraicept wrongly has "furze"). McManus (1988, p. 164) also believes that the name ''idad'' is probably an artificial form of ''iubhar'' "yew", as the kennings support that meaning, and concedes that ''ailm'' may possibly mean "pine tree," as it appears to be used to mean that in an 8th-century poem. Thus out of twenty letter names, only eight at most are the names of trees. The other names have a variety of meanings. *Beith, Old Irish Beithe means "
birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...
-tree", cognate to Middle Welsh ''bedw''. Latin ''betula'' is considered a borrowing from the Gaulish cognate. *Luis, Old Irish Luis is either related to ''luise'' "blaze" or ''lus'' "herb". The arboreal tradition has ''caertheand'' "
rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...
". *Fearn, Old Irish Fern means "
alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...
-tree", Primitive Irish ''*wernā'', so that the original value of the letter was . *Sail, Old Irish Sail means "
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, of the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 350 species (plus numerous hybrids) of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist soils in cold and temperate regions. Most species are known ...
-tree", cognate to Latin ''salix''. *Nion, Old Irish Nin means either "fork" or "loft". The arboreal tradition has ''uinnius'' "
ash-tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...
". *Uath, Old Irish Úath means ''úath'' "horror, fear"; the arboreal tradition has " white-thorn". The original etymology of the name, and the letter's value, are however unclear. McManus (1986) suggested a value . Peter Schrijver (see McManus 1991:37) suggested that if ''úath'' "fear" is cognate with Latin ''pavere'', a trace of PIE ''*p'' might have survived into Primitive Irish, but there is no independent evidence for this. *Dair, Old Irish Dair means "
oak An oak is a hardwood tree or shrub in the genus ''Quercus'' of the beech family. They have spirally arranged leaves, often with lobed edges, and a nut called an acorn, borne within a cup. The genus is widely distributed in the Northern Hemisp ...
" (PIE ''*doru-''). *Tinne, Old Irish Tinne from the evidence of the
kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...
s means "bar of metal,
ingot An ingot is a piece of relatively pure material, usually metal, that is Casting, cast into a shape suitable for further processing. In steelmaking, it is the first step among semi-finished casting products. Ingots usually require a second procedu ...
". The arboreal tradition has ''cuileand'' "
holly ''Ilex'' () or holly is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
". *Coll, Old Irish Coll meant "
hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...
-tree", cognate with Welsh ''collen'', correctly glossed as ''cainfidh'' "fair-wood" ("hazel") by the arboreal interpretation. Latin ''corulus'' or ''corylus'' is cognate. *Ceirt, Old Irish Cert is cognate with Welsh ''perth'' "bush", Latin ''quercus'' "oak" (PIE ''*perkwos''). It was confused with Old Irish ''ceirt'' "rag", reflected in the kennings. The Auraicept glosses ''aball'' "apple". *Muin, Old Irish Muin: the kennings connect this name to three different words, ''muin'' "neck, upper part of the back", ''muin'' "wile, ruse", and ''muin'' "love, esteem". The arboreal tradition has ''finemhain'' "
vine A vine is any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent (that is, climbing) stems, lianas, or runners. The word ''vine'' can also refer to such stems or runners themselves, for instance, when used in wicker work.Jackson; Benjamin; Da ...
". *Gort, Old Irish Gort means "field" (cognate to ''garden''). The arboreal tradition has ''edind'' "
ivy ''Hedera'', commonly called ivy (plural ivies), is a genus of 12–15 species of evergreen climbing or ground-creeping woody plants in the family Araliaceae, native to Western Europe, Central Europe, Southern Europe, Macaronesia, northwestern ...
". *nGéadal, Old Irish Gétal from the kennings has a meaning of "killing", maybe cognate to ''gonid'' "slays", from PIE '. The value of the letter in Primitive Irish, then, was a voiced labiovelar, . The arboreal tradition glosses ''cilcach'', "
broom A broom (also known as a broomstick) is a cleaning tool, consisting of usually stiff fibers (often made of materials such as plastic, hair, or corn husks) attached to, and roughly parallel to, a cylindrical handle, the broomstick. It is thus a ...
" or "
fern The ferns (Polypodiopsida or Polypodiophyta) are a group of vascular plants (plants with xylem and phloem) that reproduce via spores and have neither seeds nor flowers. They differ from mosses by being vascular, i.e., having specialized tissue ...
". *Straif, Old Irish Straiph means "sulphur". The Primitive Irish letter value is uncertain, it may have been a sibilant different from ''s'', which is taken by ''sail'', maybe a reflex of or . The arboreal tradition glosses ''draighin'' "
blackthorn ''Prunus spinosa'', called blackthorn or sloe, is an Old World species of flowering plant in the rose family, Rosaceae. It is locally naturalized in parts of the New World. The fruits are used to make sloe gin in Britain and patxaran in Basq ...
". *Ruis, Old Irish Ruis means "red" or "redness", glossed as ''trom'' " elder". *Ailm, Old Irish Ailm is of uncertain meaning, possibly "pine-tree". The Auraicept has ''crand giuis .i. ochtach'', "
fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
-tree" or "
pine A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as cu ...
tree". *Onn, Old Irish Onn means "
ash-tree ''Fraxinus'' (), commonly called ash, is a genus of plants in the olive and lilac family, Oleaceae, and comprises 45–65 species of usually medium-to-large trees, most of which are deciduous trees, although some subtropical species are evergr ...
", although the Auraicept glosses ''aiten'' "
furze ''Ulex'' (commonly known as gorse, furze, or whin) is a genus of flowering plants in the family Fabaceae. The genus comprises about 20 species of thorny evergreen shrubs in the subfamily Faboideae of the pea family Fabaceae. The species are na ...
". *Úr, Old Irish Úr, based on the kennings, means "earth, clay, soil". The Auraicept glosses ''fraech'' "
heath A heath () is a shrubland habitat found mainly on free-draining infertile, acidic soils and is characterised by open, low-growing woody vegetation. Moorland is generally related to high-ground heaths with—especially in Great Britain—a coole ...
". *Eadhadh, Old Irish Edad of unknown meaning. The Auraicept glosses ''crand fir no crithach'' "test-tree or
aspen Aspen is a common name for certain tree species in the Populus sect. Populus, of the ''Populus'' (poplar) genus. Species These species are called aspens: * ''Populus adenopoda'' – Chinese aspen (China, south of ''P. tremula'') * ''Populus da ...
" *Iodhadh, Old Irish Idad is of uncertain meaning, but is probably a form of ''ibhar'' "
yew Yew is a common name given to various species of trees. It is most prominently given to any of various coniferous trees and shrubs in the genus '' Taxus'': * European yew or common yew (''Taxus baccata'') * Pacific yew or western yew ('' Taxus ...
", which is the meaning given to it in the arboreal tradition. Of the '' forfeda'', four are glossed by the Auraicept: *Eabhadh, Old Irish Ebhadh with ''crithach'' "aspen"; *Ór, "gold" (from Latin aurum); the arboreal tradition has ''feorus no edind'', "spindle tree or ivy" *Uilleann, Old Irish Uilleand "elbow"; the arboreal tradition has ''edleand'' "
honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...
" *Pín, later Ifín, Old Irish Iphin with ''spinan no ispin'' "
gooseberry Gooseberry ( or (American and northern British) or (southern British)) is a common name for many species of ''Ribes'' (which also includes Ribes, currants), as well as a large number of plants of similar appearance, and also several unrela ...
or thorn". The fifth letter is ''emancholl'' which means 'twin of hazel'


Corpus

Monumental ogham inscriptions are found in Ireland and
Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...
, with a few additional specimens found in southwest England (
Devon Devon ( ; historically also known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel to the north, Somerset and Dorset to the east, the English Channel to the south, and Cornwall to the west ...
and
Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...
), the
Isle of Man The Isle of Man ( , also ), or Mann ( ), is a self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea, between Great Britain and Ireland. As head of state, Charles III holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Govern ...
, and
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
, including
Shetland Shetland (until 1975 spelled Zetland), also called the Shetland Islands, is an archipelago in Scotland lying between Orkney, the Faroe Islands, and Norway, marking the northernmost region of the United Kingdom. The islands lie about to the ...
and a single example from
Silchester Silchester is a village and civil parish about north of Basingstoke in Hampshire. It is adjacent to the county boundary with Berkshire and about south-west of Reading. Silchester is most notable for the archaeological site and Roman town of ...
and another from
Coventry Coventry ( or rarely ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands county, in England, on the River Sherbourne. Coventry had been a large settlement for centurie ...
in England. They were mainly employed as territorial markers and memorials (grave stones). The stone commemorating
Vortiporius Vortiporius or Vortipor (, or ''Gwerthefyr'') was a king of Dyfed in the early to mid-6th century. He ruled over an area approximately corresponding to modern Pembrokeshire, and Carmarthenshire, Wales. Records from this era are scant, and virtu ...
, a 6th-century king of
Dyfed Dyfed () is a preserved county in southwestern Wales, covering the modern counties Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion and Pembrokeshire. It is mostly rural area with a coastline on the Irish Sea and the Bristol Channel. Between 1974 and 1996, Dyfed w ...
(originally located in Clynderwen), is the only ogham stone inscription that bears the name of an identifiable individual. The language of the inscriptions is predominantly
Primitive Irish Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family. This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly persona ...
; the few inscriptions in Scotland, such as the
Lunnasting stone The Lunnasting stone is a stone bearing an ogham inscription, found at Lunnasting, Shetland and donated to the Museum of Scotland, National Museum of Antiquities of Scotland in 1876. Discovery The stone was found by Rev. J.C. Roger in a cottage, ...
, record fragments of what is probably the
Pictish language Pictish is an extinct Brittonic Celtic language spoken by the Picts, the people of eastern and northern Scotland from late antiquity to the Early Middle Ages. Virtually no direct attestations of Pictish remain, short of a limited number of geo ...
. The more ancient examples are
standing stone A menhir (; from Brittonic languages: ''maen'' or ''men'', "stone" and ''hir'' or ''hîr'', "long"), standing stone, orthostat, or lith is a large upright rock (geology), stone, emplaced in the ground by humans, typically dating from the Eur ...
s, where the script was carved into the edge (''droim'' or ''faobhar'') of the stone, which formed the stemline against which individual characters are cut. The text of these "Orthodox Ogham" inscriptions is read beginning from the bottom left-hand side of a stone, continuing upward along the edge, across the top and down the right-hand side (in the case of long inscriptions). Roughly 380 inscriptions are known in total (a number, incidentally, very close to the number of known inscriptions in the contemporary
Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
), of which the highest concentration by far is found in the southwestern Irish province of
Munster Munster ( or ) is the largest of the four provinces of Ireland, located in the south west of the island. In early Ireland, the Kingdom of Munster was one of the kingdoms of Gaelic Ireland ruled by a "king of over-kings" (). Following the Nor ...
. Over one-third of the total are found in
County Kerry County Kerry () is a Counties of Ireland, county on the southwest coast of Republic of Ireland, Ireland, within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is bordered by two other countie ...
alone, most densely in the former kingdom of the
Corcu Duibne The Corcu Duibne (Modern ), which means "seed or tribe of Duibhne" (the name of a goddess), was a notable kingdom in prehistoric and medieval County Kerry, Ireland which included the Dingle Peninsula, the Iveragh Peninsula and connecting land ...
. Later inscriptions are known as "scholastic", and are post 6th century in date. The term 'scholastic' derives from the fact that the inscriptions are believed to have been inspired by the manuscript sources, instead of being continuations of the original monument tradition. Unlike orthodox ogham, some medieval inscriptions feature all five Forfeda. Scholastic inscriptions are written on stemlines cut into the face of the stone, instead of along its edge. Ogham was also occasionally used for notes in manuscripts down to the 16th century. A modern ogham inscription is found on a gravestone dating to 1802 in Ahenny,
County Tipperary County Tipperary () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. The county is named after the town of Tipperary (tow ...
. In Scotland, a number of inscriptions using the ogham writing system are known, but their language is still the subject of debate. It has been argued by Richard Cox in ''The Language of Ogham Inscriptions in Scotland'' (1999) that the language of these is Old Norse, but others remain unconvinced by this analysis, and regard the stones as being
Pict PICT is a graphics file format introduced on the original Apple Macintosh computer as its standard metafile format. It allows the interchange of graphics (both bitmapped and vector), and some limited text support, between Mac applications, an ...
ish in origin. However, due to the lack of knowledge about the Picts, the inscriptions remain undeciphered. The Pictish inscriptions are scholastic, and are believed to have been inspired by the manuscript tradition brought into Scotland by Gaelic settlers. A rare example of a Christianised (cross-inscribed) Ogham stone can be seen in St. Mary's Collegiate Church Gowran,
County Kilkenny County Kilkenny () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. It is named after the City status in Ir ...
.


Non-monumental 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. Some of these messages seem to have been cryptic in nature and some were also for magical purposes. In addition, there is evidence from sources such as ''
In Lebor Ogaim ''In Lebor Ogaim'' ("The Book of Ogams"), also known as the Ogam Tract, is an Old Irish treatise on the ogham alphabet. It is preserved in R.I.A. MS 23 P 12 308–314 (AD 1390), T.C.D. H.3.18, 26.1–35.28 (AD 1511) and National Library of ...
'', or the ''Ogham Tract'', that ogham may have been used to keep records or lists, such as genealogies and numerical tallies of property and business transactions. There is also evidence that ogham may have been used as a system of finger or hand signals. In later centuries when ogham ceased to be used as a practical alphabet, it retained its place in the learning of Gaelic scholars and poets as the basis of grammar and the rules of poetry. Indeed, until modern times the Latin alphabet in Gaelic continued to be taught using letter names borrowed from the ''Beith-Luis-Nin'', along with the Medieval association of each letter with a different tree.


Samples


Unicode

Ogham was added to the
Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
Standard in September 1999 with the release of version 3.0. The spelling of the names given is a standardisation dating to 1997, used in Unicode Standard and in Irish Standard 434:1999. The Unicode block for ogham is U+1680–U+169F.


Neopaganism

Modern
New Age New Age is a range of Spirituality, spiritual or Religion, religious practices and beliefs that rapidly grew in Western world, Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclecticism, eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise d ...
and
Neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some common simila ...
approaches to ogham largely derive from the now-discredited theories of
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
in his book ''
The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by the English writer Robert Graves. First published in 1948, it is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazine ...
''. In this work, Graves took his inspiration from the theories of the ogham scholar R. A. S. Macalister (see above) and elaborated on them much further. Graves proposed that the ogham alphabet encoded a set of beliefs originating in the Middle East in
Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...
times, concerning the ceremonies surrounding the worship of the Moon goddess in her various forms. Graves' argument is extremely complex, but in essence, he argues that the Hebrews, Greeks and Celts were all influenced by a people originating in the Aegean, called ' the people of the sea' by the Egyptians, who spread out around Europe in the 2nd millennium BC, taking their religious beliefs with them. He posits that at some early stage these teachings were encoded in alphabet form by poets to pass on their worship of the goddess (as the muse and inspiration of all poets) in a secret fashion, understandable only to initiates. Eventually, via the druids of Gaul, this knowledge was passed on to the poets of early Ireland and Wales. Graves, therefore, looked at the Tree Alphabet tradition surrounding ogham and explored the tree folklore of each of the letter names, proposing that the order of the letters formed an ancient "seasonal calendar of tree magic". Although his theories have been discredited and discarded by modern scholars (including Macalister himself, with whom Graves corresponded), they were taken up with enthusiasm by some adherents of the neopagan movement. In addition, Graves followed the BLNFS order of ogham letters put forward by Macalister (see above), with the result taken up by many New Age and Neopagan writers as the 'correct' order of the letters, despite its rejection by scholars. The main use of ogham by adherents of
Neo-druidism Druidry, sometimes termed Druidism, is a modern spiritual or religious movement that promotes the cultivation of honorable relationships with the physical landscapes, flora, fauna, and diverse peoples of the world, as well as with nature de ...
and other forms of
Neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...
is for the purpose of divination. Divination with ogham symbols is possibly mentioned in ''
Tochmarc Étaíne ''Tochmarc Étaíne'', meaning "The Wooing of Étaín/Éadaoin", is an early text of the Irish Mythological Cycle, and also features characters from the Ulster Cycle and the Cycles of the Kings. It is partially preserved in the manuscript known ...
'', a tale in the Irish
Mythological Cycle The Mythological Cycle is a conventional grouping within Irish mythology. It consists of tales and poems about the god-like Tuatha Dé Danann, who are based on Ireland's pagan deities, and other mythical races such as the Fomorians and the Fir ...
, wherein the
druid A druid was a member of the high-ranking priestly class in ancient Celtic cultures. The druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no wr ...
Dalan takes four wands of yew, and writes ogham letters upon them. Then he uses the tools for what some interpret as a form of
divination Divination () is the attempt to gain insight into a question or situation by way of an occultic ritual or practice. Using various methods throughout history, diviners ascertain their interpretations of how a should proceed by reading signs, ...
. However, as the tale doesn't explain how the sticks are handled or interpreted, this theory is open to interpretation. A divination method invented by neopagans involves casting sticks upon a cloth marked out with a pattern, such as Finn's Window, and interpreting the patterns. The meanings assigned in these modern methods are usually based on the tree ogham, with each letter associated with a tree or plant, and meanings derived from these associations. While some use folklore for the meanings,
Robert Graves Captain Robert von Ranke Graves (24 July 1895 – 7 December 1985) was an English poet, soldier, historical novelist and critic. His father was Alfred Perceval Graves, a celebrated Irish poet and figure in the Gaelic revival; they were b ...
' book ''
The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by the English writer Robert Graves. First published in 1948, it is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazine ...
'' continues to be a major influence on these methods and beliefs.


See also

*
Auraicept na n-Éces ''Auraicept na nÉces'' (; "The Scholars' Primer" ) is an Old Irish text on language and grammar. The core of the text may date to the early eighth century, but much material was added between that date and the production of the earliest surviv ...
*
Coelbren y Beirdd The Coelbren y Beirdd (English: "Bards' lot") is a script created in the late eighteenth century by the Welsh antiquarian and literary forger Edward Williams, best known as Iolo Morganwg. The script, an alphabet compared to that of Ancient Gr ...
— A similar runic alphabet based on the Celtic
vigesimal A vigesimal ( ) or base-20 (base-score) numeral system is based on 20 (number), twenty (in the same way in which the decimal, decimal numeral system is based on 10 (number), ten). ''wikt:vigesimal#English, Vigesimal'' is derived from the Latin a ...
system invented by
Iolo Morganwg Edward Williams, better known by his bardic name Iolo Morganwg (; 10March 174718December 1826), was a Welsh antiquarian, poet and collector.Jones, Mary (2004)"Edward Williams/Iolo Morganwg/Iolo Morgannwg" From ''Jones' Celtic Encyclopedia''. R ...
for the Welsh language. *
Ogham inscription Roughly 400 inscriptions in the ogham alphabet are known from stone monuments scattered around the Irish Sea, the bulk of them dating to the fifth and sixth centuries. The language of these inscriptions is predominantly Primitive Irish, but a ...
*
Primitive Irish Primitive Irish or Archaic Irish (), also called Proto-Goidelic, is the oldest known form of the Goidelic languages, and the ancestor of all languages within this family. This phase of the language is known only from fragments, mostly persona ...
*
Runic alphabet Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
*
Scottish Gaelic alphabet Scottish Gaelic orthography has evolved over many centuries and is heavily etymology, etymologizing in its modern form. This means the orthography tends to preserve historical components rather than operating on the principles of a phonemic orthogr ...
* Star Carr Pendant *
Thaana Thaana, Tãna, Taana or Tāna (  ) is the present writing system of the Maldivian language spoken in the Maldives. Thaana has characteristics of both an abugida (diacritics, vowel-killer strokes) and a true alphabet (all vowels are w ...
— Script used to write the
Maldivian language Maldivian, also known by its Endonym and exonym, endonym Dhivehi (, ''Dhivēhī'', ), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language belonging to the Indo-Iranian languages, Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages, Indo-European ...
where letters are based on numerals.


Citations


General and cited references

*Carney, James. ''The Invention of the Ogam Cipher'' 'Ériu' 22, 1975, pp. 62–63, Dublin: Royal Irish Academy * *Düwel, Klaus. ''Runenkunde'' (runic studies). Stuttgart/Weimar: Metzler, 1968. * Forsyth, Katherine. ''The Ogham Inscriptions of Scotland: An Edited Corpus'', PhD Dissertation, Harvard University (Ann Arbor: UMI, 1996). *Gippert, Jost; Hlaváček, Ivan; Homolka, Jaromír. ''Ogam. Eine frühe keltische Schrifterfindung'', Praha: Charles University, 1992. * Macalister, Robert A. S. ''The Secret Languages of Ireland'', pp. 27–36, Cambridge University Press, 1937 *Macalister, Robert A. S. ''Corpus inscriptionum insularum celticarum''. First edition. Dublin: Stationery Office, 1945–1949. *McManus, Damian. ''Ogam: Archaizing, Orthography and the Authenticity of the Manuscript Key to the Alphabet'', Ériu 37, 1988, 1–31. Dublin: Royal Irish Academy. *McManus, Damian. ''A Guide to Ogam'', Maynooth 1991. *MacNeill, Eoin. ''Archaisms in the Ogham Inscriptions'', 'Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy' 39, pp. 33–53, Dublin * *Raftery, Barry. ''A Late Ogham Inscription from Co. Tipperary'', Journal of the Royal Society of Antiquaries of Ireland 99, 1969. *Swift, C. ''Ogam Stones and the Earliest Irish Christians'', Maynooth: Dept. of Old and Middle Irish, St. Patrick's College, 1997. * Ranke-Graves, Robert von. ''Die Weisse Göttin: Sprache des Mythos'' (''
The White Goddess ''The White Goddess: a Historical Grammar of Poetic Myth'' is a book-length essay on the nature of poetic myth-making by the English writer Robert Graves. First published in 1948, it is based on earlier articles published in ''Wales'' magazine ...
''), , several re-editions, but rarely available. Editions available in German and English. *Sims-Williams, Patrick. ''The Celtic Inscriptions of Britain: Phonology and Chronology, c. 400–1200. (Publications of the Philological Society 37)'' Oxford : Blackwell Publishing, 2003. *Stifter, David and White, Nora. 'Early Literacy and Multilingualism in Ireland and Britain', ''Languages and Communities in the Late-Roman and Post-Imperial Western Provinces'', pp. 203–235. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2023. *Thurneysen, Rudolf. ''Zum Ogam'', Beiträge zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und Literatur, 61 (1937), pp. 188–208. *Vendryès, Joseph. ''L'écriture ogamique et ses origines'' Études Celtiques, 4 (1941), pp. 83–116.


External links


Description and history of the ogham script
* TITUS

& Projec




Irish Ogham Stones

The Ogham Stone



Ogham in 3D project, a collection of 3D models and meta-data of Ogham stones
{{Authority control Alphabets Obsolete writing systems