Everything about The Undley Bracteate totally explained
The
Undley bracteate, a
5th century bracteate found in Undley Common, near
Lakenheath,
Suffolk . It bears the earliest known inscription that can be argued to be in
Anglo-Frisian Futhorc (as opposed to Common Germanic
Elder Futhark).
The image on the bracteate is an adaptation of an
Urbs Roma coin type issued by
Constantine the Great, conflating the helmeted head of the emperor and the image of
Romulus and Remus suckled by the wolf on one face. With a diameter of 2.3 cm, it weighs 2.24 grams. It may have originated in northern Germany or southern Scandinavia, and brought to England with an early
Anglo-Saxon settler.
The inscription reads:
» g͡æg͡og͡æ – mægæ medu,
The
o being the earliest known instance of an
os rune contrasting with
æsc .
The
mægæ medu is interpreted " for a ", maybe in the sense "reward for a relative" referring to the bracteate itself. The
gægogæ appears to be some magical invocation or battle cry, comparable to the
g͡ag͡ag͡a on the
Kragehul I lance-shaft: in both cases the
ga (
gæ,
go) are written as
bindrunes, that's the X shape of the
gyfu has side-twigs attached for the vowel. Since the entire difference of
æ vs.
o consists in slightly bent twigs, in a context of a magical chant or cry rather than actual words, the inscription presents only tenuous evidence of incipient
Anglo-Frisian brightening.
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