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ogham

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | Date: 2008

ogham   ogam, or ogum , ancient Celtic alphabet of one of the Irish runic languages. It was used by the druids and abandoned after the first few centuries of the Christian era. The ogham runes remain only in gravestone inscriptions found mostly in W Ireland and also in England, Scotland, and the Shetland Islands. The origin of ogham is uncertain; it contained 25 letters formed of straight lines and may have been adapted from a sign language . A treatise on ogham, The Book of Ballymote (15 cent.), confirms that it was a secret, ritualistic language.

Bibliography: See R. A. Macalister, The Secret Languages of Ireland (1937).



Author not available, OGHAM., The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition 2008



The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press

Related newspaper, magazine, and journal articles from HighBeam Research

The Ogham Stone. (Anthologies).(Book Review)
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Must-Have: Unique items available nearby or online
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Antiquity; 12/1/1993; O'Floinn, Raghnall; 2647 words ; ... to support the arguments advanced. Take ogham, for example. The isolationist opinions ... 1961) are quoted as gospel. The view that ogham 'was a code which could not be read if ... absurd. The only early portable example of ogham cited in support of this is the rather ... Read more
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