Friday, September 19, 2014

word of the day: futhark

The word of the day is futhark:

n.
1851, historians' name for the Germanic runic alphabet; so called from its first six letters, on the model of alphabet. (dictionary.com)

"But I remember a seed,
a dandelion sphere, which I blew on once, and its
silvery runes poured forward.  It's as if -
until now - I thought that I would never
fade, or fail, or fall silent, or die.
I trusted that I had it coming to me,
without cease, the firework of language.
Futhorc!  Let me cry out, again!"
 
 - Sharon Olds, "Bop after hip op", 11 & 18 August 2014 The New Yorker

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