ᚹᚨᛚᚺᚨᚲᚢᚱᚾᛖ

Proto-Norse

Etymology

Kenning of *ᚹᚨᛚᚺᚨᛉ (*walhaʀ, “Gaul, Roman; southern foreigner”) +‎ *ᚲᛟᚱᚾᚨ (*korna, “grain”).

Noun

ᚹᚨᛚᚺᚨᚲᚢᚱᚾᛖ (walhakurne /walhakurnē/) n (dative singular)

1. gold
   • 450-500, Tjurkö 1 bracteate

     ᚹᚢᚱᛏᛖᚱᚢᚾᛟᛉᚨᚾᚹᚨᛚᚺᚨᚲᚢᚱᚾᛖ··ᚺᛖᛚᛞᚨᛉᚲᚢᚾᛁᛗᚢᛞᛁᚢ···
     wurterunozanwalhakurne··heldazkunimudiu···

     wurtē runōz an walhakurnē, Heldaz Kunimundiu

     Heldaz wrought the runes on the Roman grain for Kunimunduz.

Usage notes

• This word is a kenning, a poetic circumlocution commonly employed in early Germanic poetry. The "Roman grain" refers to gold, the material of which the bracteate bearing the inscription was made. Specifically, it may refer to the Germanic melting of Roman solidi and aurei coins. Compare the Old Norse gold-kenning Vala malmr ‘Roman ore’, and the Old High German phrase cheisuringu gitan ‘made of the Emperor's coins’, referring to an arm-ring.