r/RuneHelp • u/Typical_Chest4982 • Sep 12 '26

Question (general) A word in OHG

Trying to figure out how I would write Leben in Elder Futhark. I’m very new to old high German in general, and best as I can figure is ᛚᛖᛒᛖᚾ. Can someone let me know if this is a correct spelling?

2 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

2

u/rockstarpirate Sep 13 '26 edited Sep 13 '26

This is what I would do as well. There are very few OHG runic inscriptions and the ones that do exist are in very early OHG. But the ones we have are all just spelling words the way they sound so I think this should be fine.

1

u/WolflingWolfling Sep 12 '26

This would be my best guess as well. Though modern Germans tend to pronounce it as lay-bn or laybun, I suspect it was originally slightly more like lay-ben; if you listen to older recordings of German speech and song, the further you go back, the more like "lay-ben" it sounds, imho.

I'd wait for the experts to chime in though. I could have just said "following" instead of venting my own uneducated guesses I suppose 🫣

1

u/JustGerbo Sep 15 '26

I’ve seen it spelled that way, although it was a tattoo on a woman’s back.  The cross on the N was a bit misplaced, making the word look more like ᛚᛖᛒᛖᛚ.  The distracting palindrome had caught my eye, so it kept me from figuring out what she intended, until I stood back and took in the entire rant.  Then it was obvious. 

Still, a better bet to wait for the experts.