Othala

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  • Othala

Othala ( ᛟ ) is the 24th and last rune of the older Futhark (the eighth rune in the third Ætt ) with the sound value "O". It is missing in the Old Norse runic alphabet . The reconstructed ancient Germanic run name goes back to * ōþalan (cf. ahd. Uodil ). It probably means "hereditary property, family property, hereditary property within the clan" (cf. Odal and Kleinod ). The rune appears in the rune poems as Old English ēþel (meaning "home") or Gothic utal .

The rune is coded in Unicode with U + 16DF: ᛟ . (HTML: & # 5855;).

Name and etymology

The primitive Germanic tribe ōþala- or ōþila- (inheritance) is an ablaut variant of the tribe aþal-. This consists of a root aþ and the suffix - ala or -ila . The second variant of the suffix explains e.g. B. the umlaut form ēþel .

An etymological connection from Odal to nobility is obvious, but also discussed. This term includes social privilege through ancestral rank, larger land holdings and fortified places.

Germanic aþal‑ roughly means "descent, origin, species", also "nobleman, prince" (old English atheling ). Its etymology is not clear, but there could be a proximity to Gothic atta (father) (see affectionate Attila ), which ultimately led to a root from the infant language .

The term oþal (Old High German uodal ) is a basic word in some Germanic or German names, especially Ulrich and its variants. The tribe aþal is common in Gothic names: Athalarich, Ataulf etc. Also names like Adalbert, Edmund , Otto and others.

Odal was associated with inheritance law in ancient Scandinavia. Some of this inheritance law is still in force today and regulates e.g. B. Aspects of property in Norway (the Åsetesrett , ancestral seat right, and the Odelsrett ( allod right)).

heraldry

Coat of arms of Klein Oschersleben

In heraldry , the Othala rune occurs in various forms as a so-called " house brand ", a common figure .

Symbol of National Socialism

Odal “rune” as a symbol of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen”

time of the nationalsocialism

The newer "Odal rune" appears for the first time during the Nazi era . There it was used by the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division “Prinz Eugen” , the Hitler Youth (HJ) and the Race and Settlement Main Office as a label.

Neo-Nazism

Flag of the South African African Studentebond

The student organization Afrikaner Studentebond , also known as Afrikaanse Studentebond , founded in 1948 , also used the Odal rune in the fictional form after Guido von List and in the conventional and original form (without the "feet") for their banner.

The Odal rune was the badge of the Wiking-Jugend, founded in 1952, and the student organization Bund Nationaler Studenten (BNS), founded in 1956 . The BNS was banned in 1961 and the Wiking-Jugend in 1994 according to Section 3 of the Association Act. The prohibition of an association also extends to the use of its symbols (Section 9 Association Act).

The songbook of the Wiking-Jugend contained the wandering bird song Hohe Tannen haben die Sterne , with an additional stanza with right-wing extremist content, in which the rune is conjured up:

Odal rune on blood-red cloth,
woe ahead us to the hardest quarrel.
Odalrune, you sign of all free people,
be dedicated to the struggle of our lives.

The song " Hohe Tannen" show the stars was first published in 1923 in the song book The Young People of the Association of German Ring Scouts . It was in the 1934 Hitler Youth song book Uns does not go down , but without the Odalrune verse. In the new edition a year later, the song was no longer included. The quatrain about the Odal rune is not contained in any of the songbooks from the time of National Socialism that are accessible in online archives. This verse only appeared in right-wing songbooks after World War II.

The Odal rune is still a common symbol in the neo-Nazi scene. Since 2016 it has appeared on the flag of the National Socialist Movement in the USA.

Web links

Commons : Odal (rune)  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Klaus Düwel : Runenkunde (= Metzler Collection. Vol. 72). 3rd, completely revised edition. Metzler, Stuttgart a. a. 2001, ISBN 3-476-13072-X .
  2. ^ Thesaurus of Indo-European Text and Language Materials
  3. ^ Friedrich Kluge: Etymological Dictionary of the German Language , 24th edition 2002; Wolfgang Pfeifer: Etymological Dictionary of German , 3rd edition 1997
  4. ↑ Köbler, Gerhard, Gothic Dictionary, (4th edition) 2014: A , at www.koeblergerhard.de accessed on October 10, 2018
  5. ^ Walter Leonhard : The great book of heraldic art. Development - elements - motifs - design. Bechtermünz, Augsburg 2003, ISBN 3-8289-0768-7 .
  6. ↑ 1948: Stigting van die Afrikaanse Studentebond
  7. ↑ Both variants on Historical Flags of Our Ancestors
  8. ^ Association law: § 9 ban on license plates
  9. ↑ Ute Daniel , Jürgen Reulecke : History (s) of, with and in popular songs. Notes on a cultural-historical triangular relationship. In: John A. McCarthy, Walter Grünzweig, Thomas Koebner (Eds.): The many faces of Germany. Transformations in the study of German culture and history. Festschrift for Frank Trommler. Berghahn Books, New York NY a. a. 2004, ISBN 1-57181-034-X , p. 163 f.
  10. ↑ a b c Volksliederarchiv
  11. ↑ a b German songs. Bamberg anthology
  12. ↑ Hohe Tannen museenkoeln.de