Whispering Woods Ogham Course – Lesson Six – The Fordeda’s

Whispering Woods Ogham Course – Lesson Six 
The Fordeda’s  

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Fifth Aicme (Consonants) Forfedas
The Forfedas (extra letters) were invented in the Old Irish period (725 CE to about 950 CE), several centuries after the peak of Ogham usage. They appear to have represented sounds felt to be missing from the original alphabet.

They are not found in any stone inscriptions. It is thought that the Benedictine monks added the forfedas in an effort to make ogham a more literary alphabet with which to record in.
The five forfeda are given as an additional vocalic aicme, with the values, found in Auraicept na n-Éces, (De dúilib feda) and In Lebor Ogaim.

It should be noted that the five forfeda are only known from manuscript tradition, which attributes to them a variety of values.

 

(ch / k) Éabhadh   (EHV-uh)

Aspen (True Tree)
Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main states:
Snamchain feda, most buoyant of wood, that is ebad, aspen, with him, for fair swimming is wood; that is a name for the great raven. Hence it was put for the letter named the Ogham ebad, for e is a name for salmon, and it is written by ea like the alphabet of the fauna:
From the word-oghams of Mac ind Oic:
Comainm carat, synonym for a friend, aspen, e, in the forest. Hence for its synonymous Ogham letter.
Cosc lobair, corrective of a sick man, woodbine for the Ogham letter, which has taken a name other than it, ebad, aspen, ea.

 
oi (th) Ór    (Oir)

Ivy
Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main states:
Sruitem aicdi, most venerable of structures, i.e., oir, oi, spindle tree, according to fact. Hence it was put for the letter owing to the identity of the name that is between them, to wit, oir is the name of each of them.
From the word-oghams of Mac ind Oic:
Silad clann, growing of plants, that is ur, heath, u with him, for it is uir, the soil of the earth, that causes the growing of the plants that are put into it. Growing of plants, again, said of the soil of the earth, is said of the Ogham letter which has taken the same name with it, each of them is ur.

 
ui (io, ph) Uilleann    (Uilen)

Honeysuckle
Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main states:
Tutmur fid uilleann, juicy wood is woodbine, that is woodbine with him, for it is a name for honeysuckle. Hence it was put for the Ogham named woodbine, ui; for hence was woodbine put for it, for it is a name for honeysuckle.
From the word-oghams of Mac ind Oic:
Cubat n-oll, great equal-length, woodbine, i.e., honeysuckle. Hence for the Ogham letter which it has taken from it, woodbine, ui.

 
ia (p / pe) Ifín     (Iphín)

Gooseberry
Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main states:
Millsem feda, sweetest of wood, that is gooseberry with him, for a name for the tree called pin is millsem feda. Gooseberries are hence named. Hence it was put for the letter named pin, for hence pin, or ifin, io, was put for it.
From the word-oghams of Mac ind Oic:
Amram blais, most wonderful of taste, pin or ifin, gooseberry. Hence for the letter that has taken its name from it, pin or iphin, io.

 
ae (x / xi) Eamhancholl    (Emancholl)

Phagos
Word Ogham of Morann Mac Main states:
Luad soethaig, expression of a weary one, i.e., ach, ah! uch, alas! that is emancoll, ae, with him, for emancoll is taken for ach, though it may be taken for something else. Finit WordOgham of Morann.
The name Eamhancholl means “twinned C”, referring to the shape of the letter, and gives no indication of sound value.
Quiz:
1. The Forfedas were invented in the ___   _____ period.
2. Comainm carat, is which Ogham?
3. Honeysuckle is called?
4. The name Eamhancholl means ________   __.

 

 

Source: Researcher & Author: Crick

Website: The Whispering Woods