Luis (ᚂ) is the second letter ( Irish "letter": sing.''fid'', pl.''feda'') of the

Ogham Ogham ( Modern Irish: ; mga, ogum, ogom, later mga, ogam, label=none ) is an Early Medieval alphabet used primarily to write the early Irish language (in the "orthodox" inscriptions, 4th to 6th centuries AD), and later the Old Irish langu ...

alphabet, derived either from ''luise'' "

flame A flame (from Latin '' flamma'') is the visible, gaseous part of a fire. It is caused by a highly exothermic chemical reaction taking place in a thin zone. When flames are hot enough to have ionized gaseous components of sufficient density the ...

" or from ''lus'' "

herb In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

". Its

Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. Its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-European languages. No direct record of Proto-Indo ...

root was either *''leuk-'' 'to shine' or *''leudh-'' 'to grow'. Its phonetic value is If the letter name follows the same pattern as ''ruise'' to '' ruis'', it is likely that the letter was originally named from ''luise'', though different kennings point to both meanings.

Interpretation

Although the non-arboreal primary meanings of this letter name are well established, one of the arboreal glosses for this name in the '' Auraicept na n-Éces'' is ''cairtheand'' "mountain-ash", i.e. "

rowan The rowans ( or ) or mountain-ashes are shrubs or trees in the genus ''Sorbus'' of the rose family, Rosaceae. They are native throughout the cool temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere, with the highest species diversity in the Himalaya ...

" (Modern Irish ''caorthann''). The associated verse is : ''lí súla'' "lustre of eye" (from the ''Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín''). The Auraincept interprets this as "delightful to the eye is ''luis'', i.e. rowan, owing to the beauty of its berries". However, the other two primary ''Bríatharogaim'' do not easily fit this arboreal association. While this kenning may be based on the association with ''luise'' ("flame") due to the bright berries, the other kennings are likely based on the association with ''lus'' ("herb, plant"), hence food for cattle. In line with these kennings, the

elm tree Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the flowering plant genus ''Ulmus'' in the plant family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical-montane regions of Nort ...

(

Old Irish Old Irish, also called Old Gaelic ( sga, Goídelc, Ogham script: ᚌᚑᚔᚇᚓᚂᚉ; ga, Sean-Ghaeilge; gd, Seann-Ghàidhlig; gv, Shenn Yernish or ), is the oldest form of the Goidelic/Gaelic language for which there are extensive writte ...

''lem'') is another arboreal gloss for ''luis'' from the '' Auraicept'': "Cara ceathra, friend of cattle, to wit, elm. Cara, to wit, dear to the cattle is the elm for its bloom and for down".

Bríatharogaim

In the medieval

kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech in the type of circumlocution, a compound that employs figurative language in place of a more concrete single-word noun. Kennings are strongly associated with Old Norse-Icelandic and Old English ...

s, called '' Bríatharogaim'' (sing. ''Bríatharogam'') or ''Word Oghams'' the verses associated with ''Luis'' are: lí súla - "lustre of the eye" in the ''Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín'' carae cethrae - "friend of cattle" in the ''Bríatharogam Mac ind Óc'' lúth cethrae - "sustenance of cattle" in the ''Bríatharogam Con Culainn''.

Notes

While medieval and modern

neopagan Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of North Afric ...

arboreal glosses (i.e. tree names) for the Ogham have been widely popularised (even for fade whose names do not translate as trees), the Old Irish '' In Lebor Ogaim'' (the ''Ogam Tract'') also lists many other word values classified by type (e.g. birds, occupations, companies) for each fid. The '' filí'' (

''filid'', sing. ''fili'') or poets of this period learned around one hundred and fifty variants of Ogham during their training, including these word-list forms. Some of the notable

values of these for ''Luis'' include: Enogam/Bird-ogam: ''lachu'' "duck" Dathogam/Colour-ogam: ''liath'' "grey" Ogam tirda/Agricultural ogam: ''loman'' "rope" Danogam/Art-ogam: ''luamnacht'' "pilotage" Ogam Cuidechtach/Company Ogam: ''Laichesa'' "Heroines"

References

Ogham letters {{Writingsystem-stub