Happy International Day of Og(h)am!
July 8, 2022 4:38 AM Subscribe
Today is the first International Day of Og(h)am, an Irish alphabet mainly found on Ogham stones (pdf) and the subject of two projects using digital tools to understand more. Ogham in 3D was an Irish project which produced 3D images of some of the Irish Ogham inscriptions, whereas OG(H)AM is an ongoing collaboration between the University of Glasgow and Maynooth University, which expands the scope to outside Ireland, and beyond stone monuments.
Og(h)am is also found in manuscripts and other objects (and has also turned up in Assassin's Creed). An explanation of both the spelling(s) and the pronunication(s) of og(h)am can be found here.
The 8th of July was chosen as it was the birthday of RAS Mcalister, who was an important early scholar of ogham. The #ShowUsYourOgham hashtag on twitter is celebrating ogham in all it's forms, both historic and modern.
Og(h)am is also found in manuscripts and other objects (and has also turned up in Assassin's Creed). An explanation of both the spelling(s) and the pronunication(s) of og(h)am can be found here.
The 8th of July was chosen as it was the birthday of RAS Mcalister, who was an important early scholar of ogham. The #ShowUsYourOgham hashtag on twitter is celebrating ogham in all it's forms, both historic and modern.
Awesome! I was just starting a new project today with Ogham for my newest nephew.
posted by MrBobaFett at 6:51 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
posted by MrBobaFett at 6:51 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Young people of metafilter: for boasting imperious slogans to carve on the kitchen door-frame, try ogham transliterators here and voici. It's also neat to remember that each letter is associated with a native tree to adopt as part of your heraldic paraphernalia.
ᚁ B Beith birch Betula
ᚂ L Luis later rowan Sorbus
ᚃ F Fearn alder Alnus
etc.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:27 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
ᚁ B Beith birch Betula
ᚂ L Luis later rowan Sorbus
ᚃ F Fearn alder Alnus
etc.
posted by BobTheScientist at 7:27 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
ᚆᚐᚚᚚᚔ ᚔᚅᚈᚓᚏᚅᚐᚈᚔᚑᚅᚐᚂ ᚇᚐᚔ ᚑᚃ ᚑᚌᚆᚐᚋ!
posted by Nelson at 7:31 AM on July 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
posted by Nelson at 7:31 AM on July 8, 2022 [4 favorites]
I knew I forgot something earlier - there's an episode of the Amplify Archaeology podcast about ogham featuring Dr. Nora White, for anyone who prefers podcasts to a lot of text.
posted by scorbet at 8:03 AM on July 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by scorbet at 8:03 AM on July 8, 2022 [2 favorites]
Neat!
I have heard extremely learned classicists express the opinion that Old Irish is the most fiendishly difficult of all languages for a modern Western person to learn.
posted by praemunire at 8:22 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
I have heard extremely learned classicists express the opinion that Old Irish is the most fiendishly difficult of all languages for a modern Western person to learn.
posted by praemunire at 8:22 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]
Obligatory Tom Scott: Ogham and Unicode (SLYT)
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:16 PM on July 8, 2022
posted by Mutant Lobsters from Riverhead at 2:16 PM on July 8, 2022
You can find the tree associations, as well as a ton of other related links, on Omniglot's Ogham page. And if you enjoy writing systems, you can lose many, many hours there exploring.
posted by duien at 2:23 PM on July 8, 2022
posted by duien at 2:23 PM on July 8, 2022
I like Ogham and the may ideas and theories around it - ah that there were more sources. I actually use a variant of this for my personal website and email, based on Pratchett's reference in Lords and Ladies, a book I have read at least two dozen times:
There was a runic inscription underneath.
“Anyone ever worked out what that says?” said Casanunda.
Nanny Ogg nodded.
“It’s a variant of Oggham,” she said. “Basically, it means ‘I’ve Got a Great Big Tonker.’”
“Oggham?” said the dwarf.
“My family has been in these, how shall I put it, in these parts for a very long time,” said Nanny.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:13 PM on July 9, 2022
There was a runic inscription underneath.
“Anyone ever worked out what that says?” said Casanunda.
Nanny Ogg nodded.
“It’s a variant of Oggham,” she said. “Basically, it means ‘I’ve Got a Great Big Tonker.’”
“Oggham?” said the dwarf.
“My family has been in these, how shall I put it, in these parts for a very long time,” said Nanny.
posted by dorothyisunderwood at 11:13 PM on July 9, 2022
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posted by nkknkk at 6:08 AM on July 8, 2022 [1 favorite]