1899.] 



on Runic and Ogam Characters, etc. 



171 



The origin of the Ogam symbols (Fig. 8) — for letters they cannot 

 be called — is lost in an obscure past. In this respect they arc in a 

 position veiy different from that of Runes, where the only question 

 is from which of two closely related classes of alphabet the actual 

 Runic letters are derived ; that is, the early Italian form or the early 



4fe^'>) 



Fie,. 5. 



Greek form of the Phoenician alphabet. It is usual to say of the 

 Ogams that they have evidently been invented for the sake of ease in 

 cutting upon wood or stone. That view can scarcely be maintained 

 in face of the facts that the letter i, which in the alphabets connected 

 with the Phoenician is as simple as a letter can be, is in the Ogam 

 script one of the four most laborious symbols, the three which share 



