Gyfu
Gyfu is the name for the g-rune in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning ‘gift’ or ‘generosity’:
| Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem: | English Translation: |
Gyfu gumena byþ gleng and herenys, ƿraþu and ƿyrþscype and ƿræcna gehƿam ar and ætƿist, ðe byþ oþra leas. | Generosity brings credit and honour, which support one’s dignity; it furnishes help and subsistence to all broken men who are devoid of aught else. |
The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is ? g, called giba. The same rune also appears in the Elder Futhark, with a suggested Proto-Germanic name *gebô ‘gift’. J. H. Looijenga speculates that the rune is directly derived from Latin Χ, the pronunciation of which may have been similar to Germanic g in the 1st century, e.g., Gothic *reihs compared to Latin rex.
The gyfu rune is sometimes used as a symbol within modern mysticism, particularly amongst those interested in Celtic mythology. It’s described, for example, in the book The Runic Tarot as a representation of the giving-receiving balance in friendships.
Anglo-Saxon ''gār'' rune
In addition to gyfu, the Anglo-Saxon futhorc has the gār rune, named after a species of medieval spear. It is attested epigraphically on the Ruthwell Cross, and also appears in 11th-century manuscript tradition. Phonetically, gār represents the /g/ sound. It is a modification of the plain gyfu rune.Old English ‘gār’ means ‘spear’, but the name of the rune likely echoes the rune names ger, ear, ior: due to palatalization in Old English, the original g rune could express either /j/ or /g/. The ger unambiguously expressed /j/, and the newly introduced gar rune had the purpose of unambiguously expressing /g/.
Gār is the 33rd and final rune in the row as given in Cotton Domitian A.ix.