Meaning

1. the twenty-(seventh/eigth) and final letter of the Old English runic alphabet, representing the sounds /æ͜ɑ(ː)/ and pronounced ēar

   byþ eġle eorla ġehwylċum þon fæstlīċe flǣsċ onġinnaþ hrāw cōlian, hrusan ċēosan, blāc tō ġebeddan; blēda ġedrēosaþ, wynna ġewītaþ, wera ġeswīcaþ.

   The grave is grim to every nobleman When quickly begins the flesh, The corpse, to cool -- the livid one, to choose The earth for bed-companion; blossoms fall, Joys pass away, and treaties are broken.

   1967, Frederick George Jones, Jr., The Old English Rune Poem, An Edition, pages 78, 84: