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What is the name of this (in my opinian tyronian) sign?
(in "The Gospel according to Saint Matthew in Anglo-Saxon and Northumbrian Versions",
Matthew 5:36)
enter image description here

fev
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HungarianMan
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    Can you give more details, like what the source of the image is? It looks like an interlinear translation of Latin to ... is that really Old English? Also the font looks older... the strange symbol in question may be more easily understood if we knew the date of publication and the font name. – Mitch Jul 06 '23 at 21:42
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    The "aut" means "or," so this is probably some sort of abbreviation for the English "or." – alphabet Jul 06 '23 at 21:55
  • The tironian sign looks sort of like a 7 and means "and" – TimR Jul 09 '23 at 00:26

1 Answers1

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It is an abbreviation mark used in Anglo-Saxon manuscripts particularly of religious texts presented with parallel linear translation called gloss:

A triple gloss for the Latin word “dormitationem” (Ps. 131:4) in the Arundel Psalter. The three glosses are separated with the abbreviation mark “ł” which stands for Latin “uel” [or]. (THIJS PORCK)

It's used in multiple glossed versions (different translations of the same word) of written texts like the Psalter for example.

The Latin words are provided with two different English translations, which the scribe separates using the symbol ł, the abbreviation for Latin vel meaning ‘or’ (a kind of Anglo-Saxon slash /, if you like). (Medieval English).

For example in this picture:

enter image description here

you can actually see the Latin adferte ‘bring’ being translated by the scribe by OE berað ‘bear, carry’ but also bringað ‘bring’. The two versions or glosses are separated by this abbreviation of "or".

Note: All my sources speak of uel/vel, whereas in your picture we can see aut. Both words mean or, but there is a difference:

Aut (or) excludes the alternative; vel (an old imperative of volō) and -ve give a choice between two alternatives. (Dickinson College)

fev
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