The Design of the Futhark Alphabet

Joannes Richter

Abstract
In European religions the personal pronouns of the first person seem to correlate with the divine
names. These correlations have been found between Dyaus-based deities (*Iou-piter, Zeus and
Diéu, Dio, Dios,..) and the corresponding ego-pronouns iou, iéu, io, yo,...).
Strange as it may be the correlation failed in searching the corresponding the sky-deity for the Jauer
population near the Swiss city of Chur. The “jau”-pronoun merely correlated directly to the PIE-
root *Dyaus. However I had not realized there may be a much better suitable name “Janus” as the
root deity of Italic populations.
Centered around the Alps I had found a great number of personal pronouns of the first person such
as the Macedonian jac (jas), the Jauers' jau, the Provencal iéu, the Italic iou and the German ih,
which in shortened versions are known as French “je”, Slavic “ja” and Italian “io” or Spanish “yo”
and English “I”. Most of these personal pronouns of the 1 st person singular consisted of vowels, but
a few exceptions such as the Macedonian jac were found.
Studying the book “Illustrated History of Scripture ("Illustrirte geschichte der schrift) by Faulmann
I noticed the vast amount of polyphony in ancient divine names of the archaic pantheons. Especially
the Etruscan pantheon seemed to be a source for etymological correlations. Usually polyphony is
defined for music, but Faulman uses the term for the ambiguity of archaic letter symbols
The roots for the Futhark alphabet may be identified by a keyword phrase ᚠᚢᚦ (fut, vut, wut, fit, vit,
wit) or (in reversed reading mode) ᚦᚢᚠ – tuw, tuv, tuf, tiw, tiv, tif in alphabets or texts such as the
Tyrsenian language or one of the Etruscan deities or the Etruscan alphabets.
In this study I identified six possible references between Etruscan names and runes Tiw/Tuw
respectively Vut:
• A relevant inscription *teiwaz (→ Tiw) is found on one of the Negau helmets.
• I noticed the second inscription “2. Tin Θuf”of the Piacenza Liver relates to the first triad of
Futharc letters “ᚦᚢᚠ”, in a reverse order. This name corresponds to Tuw, or Tiw, the deity
“Tue” in the English word “Tuesday”.
• In a reverted reading mode the name “Θuf” is “Vuθ”, which may refer to “Vut” (“ᚠᚢᚦ”,
according to Grimm an alternative abbreviation for Voden → Odin).
• Equally the name “θufl” (in 21. θufl/θas of the Piacenza Liver) may be referring to “thuvl”
or “thuwl” (including the name “ᚦᚢᚠ” → Tuw).
• On the bottom side of the Piacenza Liver: 1. tivs (or tivr "Moon"?[1]) may refer to “tius”,
“tiws”, respectively “tiur”, “tiwr”. According to the List of Etruscan mythological figures
Tiur, Tivr, Tiv is an Etruscan deity identified with Greek Selene and Roman Luna (goddess).
• In the Archaic Triad the letter “n” in Tin or Tinia is supposed to behave like a “u” to match
“Diu” or “Divia” and (by the identity “v”→ “u”) also “Diuia”, which is another variant of
“Dyaus”. This assumption would understand the Etruscan Tin or Tinia as a PIE-sky-god
*Dyaus. The claim reduces the Etruscan Tin to “Diu” or “Ju”-piter.

The alphabet's layout has been started by inserting the Θuf- or “Diu”-keyword of the Piacenza
Liver, which symbolizes the sky-god “tuw” and the personal pronoun “wut”. The rest of the
alphabet has been distributed in an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure around the central pillar “I”. The
distribution of the Futhark alphabets may have been ruled by statistical analysis. The central “I”-
pillar is the simplest rune.
The Alps as a citadel for ancient words
Chur is a located in the most protected valleys of the Alps, where you may hide your money against
all sorts of evil forces, but the region may also be considered as the stronghold or citadel for
etymological rarities such as the Romansh dialects (Jauer, Putèr, Surmiran, Sursilvan, Vallader)
which are all using a slightly different ego-pronoun: jau (Sursilvan) jeu , (Sutsilvan) jou (Surmiran)
ia (Puter) eau and (Vallader) eu.
The etymology for jau claims a derivation “From Vulgar Latin *eo, from Latin ego, from Proto-
Indo-European *éǵh₂.”, but a more revealing source may be the divine name such as *Dyaus for
eau, Janus for jau, Ioupiter (→ Jupiter) or Jove for jou, respectively Dieu1 for eu. This concentrates
a great number of variants for the sky-god *Dyaus.
Archaeological evidence in Chur goes back as far as the Pfyn culture[3] (3900-3500 BC)2, making
Chur one of the oldest settlements in Switzerland.
This may also be valid for the personal pronoun “jau” near Chur. Jauer is usually not written; the
written standard in Val Müstair is traditionally Vallader.
Dissatisfied with the *Dyaus for eau and jau I noticed the vast amount of polyphony in the book
“Illustrated History of Scripture ("Illustrirte geschichte der schrift) by Faulmann3 (1880).
Usually polyphony is defined for music, but Faulman uses the term for the ambiguity of archaic
letter symbols, such as the letter-symbol Gamma γ alternatively symbolizing a „k“-sound and an
„s“-sound or a letter „B“ symbolizing a “b”-sound in Halicarnassus and an „e“-sound in Corinth.4
Etruscan language seems to be a non-Indo-European language. The majority consensus is that
Etruscan is related only to other members of what is called the Tyrsenian language family, which in
itself is an isolate family, that is, unrelated directly to other known language groups. Since Rix
(1998), it is widely accepted that the Tyrsenian family groups Raetic and Lemnian are related to
Etruscan.[3]

1 Dieu, diều, diệu, Diệu, điêu and điều (Etymology)

2 Schibler, J. 2006. The economy and environment of the 4th and 3rd millennia BC in the northern Alpine foreland
based on studies of animal bones. Environmental Archaeology 11(1): 49-65 – from Wikipedia: [4] in Chur
3 "Illustrirte geschichte der schrift; popular-wissenschaftliche darstellung der entstehung der schrift, der sprache und
der zahlen sowie der schriftsysteme aller volker der erde, von Karl Faulmann" (1880)
4 Die Polyphonie (Mehrdeutigkeit eines Zeichens): (1) γ symbolisiert k und s. (2) ein „B“-Symbol symbolisiert in
Halikarnassos ein b und in Korinth ein e. (3) Ein „Σ“-Symbol ist in Korinth ein i und in Athen ein s, bis sich in
Griechenland ein einheitliches System einbürgerte (10).
The alphabets of Etruscan language and the Raetic alphabet
The Etruscan alphabet
The earliest Etruscan alphabet, the Marsiliana (near Grosseto) tablet which dates to c. 700 BC, lists
26 letters corresponding to contemporary forms of the Greek alphabet which retained Digamma, san
and qoppa but which had not yet developed omega.
The direction of writing was free, which allows us to read the words in reversal mode as well.

By 400BC the full size alphabet had been reduced from 26 to 21 letters, mostly written from left to
right :

An additional sign “8”, in shape similar to the numeral 8, transcribed as F, was present in both
Lydian and Etruscan (Jensen 513). Its origin is disputed; it may have been an altered B or H or an
ex novo creation (Rix 202). Its sound value was /f/ and it replaced the Etruscan FH.

The alphabet of the Tyrsenian language family

• The alphabet of Sanzeno (also, of Bolzano) serves about 100 Raetic inscriptions.
• The alphabet of Magrè (near Schio), serves east Raetian inscriptions.
Specifically, the Raetic alphabet of Bolzano is often advanced as a candidate for the origin of the
runes, with only five Elder Futhark runes (ᛖ e, ᛇ ï, ᛃ j, ᛜ ŋ, ᛈ p) having no counterpart in the
Bolzano alphabet.[7] 5

5 Wikipedia Origins (Runes)

The teiwaz-inscription at the Negau helmet
The Negau helmets were buried in c. 50 BC, shortly before the Roman invasion of the area. On one
of the helmets ("Negau B"), there is an inscription in a northern Etruscan alphabet. The inscription
need not date to c. 400 BC, but was possibly added by a later owner in c. 2nd century BC or later. It
is read as:

1 inscription in a northern Etruscan alphabet.

'Harigast the priest' (from *teiwaz "god")

Many interpretations of the inscription have been proffered in the past, but the most recent
interpretation is by T.L. Markey (2001), who reads the inscription as 'Harigast the priest' (from
*teiwaz "god"), as another inscribed helmet also found at the site bears several names (mostly
Celtic) followed by religious titles6.

6 Negau helmet
Etymological analysis
The etymological polyphony of the letter “n” {n, v, u} in “Tinia”
Applying Faulman's etymological polyphony for Janus I studied the three (in Wikipedia7) proposed
etymologies for Janus as a link to the ego-pronoun jau:
1. The Chaos-etymology given by Paul the Deacon: hiantem, hiare, be open, from which word
Ianus would derive by loss of the initial aspirate.
2. Another etymology proposed by Nigidius Figulus is related by Macrobius:[7] Ianus would
be Apollo and Diana Iana, by the addition of a D for the sake of euphony. This explanation
has been accepted by A. B. Cook and J. G. Frazer. It supports all the assimilations of Janus
to the bright sky, the sun and the moon. It supposes a former *Dianus, formed on *dia- <
*dy-eð2 from Indo-European root *dey- shine represented in Latin by dies day, Diovis and
Iuppiter.[8] However the form Dianus postulated by Nigidius is not attested.
3. A third etymology indicated by Cicero, Ovid and Macrobius, which explains the name as
Latin, deriving it from the verb ire ("to go") is based on the interpretation of Janus as the
god of beginnings and transitions.[9]
• Modern scholars have conjectured that it derives from the Indo-European root meaning
transitional movement (cf. Sanskrit "yana-" or Avestan "yah-", likewise with Latin "i-" and
Greek "ei-".).[10] Iānus would then be an action name expressing the idea of going, passing,
formed on the root *yā- < *y-eð2- theme II of the root *ey- go from which eō, ειμι.[11]
• Other modern scholars object to an Indo-European etymology either from Dianus or from
root *yā-.[12]
The second etymology not only correlated Janus to Diana but also to Dyaus.
I remembered the three-layered divine structure of the Etruscan deities:
Three layers of deities are to be discerned in Etruscan art:
• One layer categories divinities of an indigenous origin: Catha and Usil, the sun; Tivr, the
moon; Selvans, a civil god; Turan, the goddess of love; Laran, the god of war; Leinth, the
goddess of death; Maris, Thalna, Turms and the god Fufluns, whose name is related in some
unknown way to the city of Populonia and the populus Romanus.
• Ruling over them were higher deities that seem to reflect the Indo-European system: Tin or
Tinia, the sky, Uni his wife (Juno), and Cel, the earth goddess.
• As a third layer, the Greek gods were adopted by the Etruscan system during the Etruscan
Orientalizing Period of 750/700-600 BC.[3] Examples are Aritimi (Artemis), Menrva
(Minerva; Latin equivalent of Athena), and Pacha (Bacchus; Latin equivalent of Dionysus),
and over time the primary trinity became Tinia, Uni and Menrva.

7 Wikipedia entry: Janus (→ Etymology )

The Piacenza Liver
The Piacenza Liver is a source for 42 Etruscan names for deities8.
1. tin[ia] /cil/en
2. tin[ia]/θvf[vlθas]
3. tins/θneθ
4. uni/mae uni/ea (Juno?)
5. tec/vm (Cel? Tellus?)
6. lvsl
7. neθ[uns] (Neptunus)
8. caθ[a] (Luna?[3])
9. fuflu/ns (Bacchus)
10. selva (Silvanus)
11. leθns
12. tluscv
13. celsc
14. cvl alp
15. vetisl (Veiovis?)
16. cilensl

interior:
17. tur[an] (Venus)
18. leθn (as no. 11)
19. la/sl (Lares?)
20. tins/θvf[vlθas] (as no. 2)
21. θufl/θas
22. tins/neθ (as no. 3?)
23. caθa (as no. 8)
24. fuf/lus (as no. 9)
25. θvnθ(?)
26. marisl/latr
27. leta (Leda)
28. neθ (as no. 7)
29. herc[le] (Hercules)
30. mar[is] (Mars)
31. selva (as no. 10)
32. leθa[m]
33. tlusc (as no. 12)
34. lvsl/velch
35. satr/es (Saturnus)
36. cilen (as no. 16)
37. leθam (as no. 32)
38. meθlvmθ
39. mar[is] (as no. 30)
40. tlusc (as no. 12)

Two words are on the bottom side of the artefact:

1. tivs (or tivr "Moon"?[1])
2. usils
8 List of Etruscan mythological figures
The Days of the Week and the Piacenza Liver
I restricted the 42 names of the Piacenza Liver to Etruscan names related to the Days of the Week9.
These entries may be considered as more relevant and interpretative than the unrelated entries.
1. tin[ia] /cil/en
2. tin[ia]/θvf[vlθas]
3. tins/θneθ
4. uni/mae uni/ea (Juno?)
8. caθ[a] (Luna?[3])
interior:
17. tur[an] (Venus)
20, tins/θvf[vlθas] (as no. 2)
21. θufl/θas
22. tins/neθ (as no. 3?)
29. herc[le] (Hercules)
30. mar[is] (Mars)
35. satr/es (Saturnus)
39. mar[is] (as no. 30)
On the bottom side of the Piacenza Liver:
1. tivs (or tivr "Moon"?[1])
To this list may be commented:
• On the bottom side of the Piacenza Liver the names tivs (or tivr) may refer to “tius”, “tiws”,
respectively “tiur”, “tiwr”.
• The name “tin” is listed 5 times and is spelled “tins” in three cases, which may be a plural or
a variant like “Dius” for “Diu” (?). Tinsday also may be another interpretation of Dinsday
(the Dutch translation for Tiw's day Tuesday, in which a “w” transforms to an “n” by
polyphony ?).
• The name “caθ[a]” is referring to Catha, which is defined as a lunar or solar deity.
• In the name “ tivs” or “tivr” the validity of “r” and “s” has been disputed in Piacenza Liver
and Transliteration Hanky-Panky: some read "sigma", some read "rho".
• In the list of Etruscan mythological figures the name “θufl/θas” may be referring to “Tuv” or
“Tuw”. Thufltha is declared as an unknown deity of the Piacenza Liver, which is not a
picture bilingual.[40]

9 List of Etruscan mythological figures

The keywords in the Etruscan divine names
tin(s) is considered as the highest ranking sky-god of the Etruscan pantheon. He was the
husband of Thalna or Uni and the father of Hercle.

The Etruscans believed in Nine Great Gods, who had the power of hurling thunderbolts;
they were called Novensiles by the Romans.[2] Of thunderbolts there were eleven sorts,
of which Tinia, as the supreme thunder-god, wielded three.[2]

Tinia was also part of the powerful "trinity" that included Menrva and Uni, and had
temples in every city of Etruria.[3]

Some of Tinia's possible epithets are detailed on the Piacenza Liver, a bronze model of a liver used
for haruspicy. These inscriptions have been transcribed as Tin Cilens, Tin Θuf and Tinś Θne:
1. tin[ia] /cil/en → or cilen(s), resp. celen(s) or Cel / en(s)
2. tin[ia]/θvf[vlθas]
3. tins/θneθ
There have been a number of suggestions as to their meaning, but the Etruscan language is poorly
understood and there is no scholarly consensus for the translation.
Additionally the inscription at the backside of the Piacenza Liver refers to Tius or Tiur:
Rev.: 1. tivs (or tivr "Moon"?[1])

“Θuf” → “ᚦᚢᚠ”
I noticed the second inscription “2. Tin Θuf”of the Piacenza Liver relates to the first triad of Futharc
letters “ᚦᚢᚠ”, in a reverse order. This name of course corresponds to Tuw, or Tiw, the deity “Tue” in
the English word “Tuesday”.

“Θuf” → “ᚠᚢᚦ”
In a reverted reading mode the name “Θuf” is “Vuθ”, which may refer to “Vut” (“ᚠᚢᚦ”, according to
Grimm an alternative abbreviation for Voden → Odin).

“θufl” → “thuwl”
Equally the name “θufl” (in 21. θufl/θas of the Piacenza Liver) may be referring to “thuvl” or
“thuwl” (including the name “ᚦᚢᚠ” → Tuw)

“tivs” → “tius”
On the bottom side of the Piacenza Liver: 1. tivs (or tivr?) may refer to “tius”, “tiws”, respectively
“tiur”, “tiwr”.
According to the List of Etruscan mythological figures Tiur, Tivr, Tiv is an Etruscan deity identified
with Greek Selene and Roman Luna (goddess).
The conceptual design of the Elder Futhark
Basic design of the “ᚠᚢᚦ”-keyword and an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure
The design of the Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark may have followed the same set of rules for
the structural design, which starts with a keyword “ᚠᚢᚦ” and an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure around the
central pillar “I”.

The reduction from Elder to Younger Futhark

The similarity between the Elder Futhark and Younger Futhark is illustrated by graphical
comparison of the
Elder ᚠ ᚢ ᚦ ᚨ ᚱ ᚲ ᚷ ᚹ ᚺ ᚾ ᛁ ᛃ ᛇ ᛈ ᛉ ᛊ ᛏ ᛒ ᛖ ᛗ ᛚ ᛜ ᛟ ᛞ
Futhark f u þ a r k g w h n i j æ p z s t b e m l ŋ o d
ᚢ
ᚠ u/w ᚦ ᚬ ᚴ ᛁ ᛅ ᛏ ᛒ
Younger ᚱ ᚼ ᚾ ᛦ ᛋ ᛘ ᛚ
Futhark f/ , þ, ą, o, k, — — i, a, — — t, b, — — — —
r h n ʀ s m l
v y, ð æ g e æ d p
o, ø
1 The evolution of the Futhark design from Wikipedia's section History in Younger Futhark

The identification of the Θuf- or “Diu”-keyword

The Futhark's layout has been started by inserting the Θuf- or “Diu”-keyword of the Piacenza Liver,
which symbolizes a “Teiwaz”-related sky-god “tuw”/”tiw” and the personal pronoun of the 1 st
person dual “wut”/”wit”.
The rest of the alphabet has been distributed in an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure around the central pillar
“I”. The distribution of the Futhark alphabets may have been ruled by statistical analysis. The
central “I”-pillar is the simplest rune and is surrounded by relatively uncomplicated ᚾ (“n”)- and ᛅ
(“a”)-runes.

Statistical analysis
A simplified statistical analysis has been described in Designing an Alphabet for the Runes, which
identifies S,K,U,A,H as relatively frequent compared to Æ,Th,L,M,N. The letter frequency of the
Elder Futhark (which had been designed as the master runic layout) however may have been quite
different from the Younger Futhark. In the end I decided to ignore the distribution of the consonants
between the basic “FUΘ-A...I...Ω”- layout of the Elder Futhark.

Checking boundary conditions

The following chapters document some additional checking procedures for boundary conditions
such as the names of the days of the week, the Indo-European system, the archaic trinities.
Checking the boundary conditions
The names of the days of the week
In a conventional way the links to the days of the week may be sorted according to the
corresponding Roman deities:
• caθ → Catha → Sunday or Monday (an archaic deity representing the sun and the moon).
• tivs or mar → Mars' day for the Romans, but Tuesday (Tiw's day) for Germanic people.
• Θuf → Tuv resp. (inverted) Vut (Woden) → Wednesday (?)
• tin(s) → Jupiter → Thursday
• tur10 → Venus → Friday
• satr → Saturnus → Saturday
However if we sort the links to the names of the days of the week we may get an Etruscan pantheon
for the days of the week:
• caθ → Catha → Sunday or Monday (an archaic deity representing the sun and the moon).
• tivs or tin(s) → Tinia (Jupiter) → Tinsday (Dinsdag)11 → Tiw's day (the most important
deity)
• Θuf → Tuv resp. (inverted) Vut (Woden) → Wednesday (?)
• tur12 → Turan was an Etruscan goddess of love, fertility and vitality → (Venus) → Thursday
• mar → Maris (or Mariś) was an Etruscan god (not Mars), often depicted as an infant or
child. Maris was the child of Hercle, the Etruscan equivalent of Heracles. 13
• satr → Satre (or Satres) was an Etruscan god (not Saturnus) → Saturday.

Thursday correlating to IAΩ or Jupiter

In Welsh Thursday is named dydd Iau (the day of “Iau”) and in Breton the name is Diriaou (Day of
iaou), which is relatively close to “IAΩ”, but also seems to refer to Jove / Jupiter.
Obviously the “Iau” in dydd Iau and the core iaou in Diriaou are related to “Jove”. The “Jau” in the
Jauer-dialect is a personal pronoun of the first person singular (“I”) which independently also may
be related to a sky-god *Dyaus.

Jauer-dialect
Jauer ([ˈjawər]) is a dialect of Romansh that is spoken in the Val Müstair. It is closely related to the
neighboring dialect of the Lower Engadine, Vallader as well as Putèr spoken the Upper Engadine.

10 Tur was seen as the equivalent to the Roman Venus and the Greek Aphrodite. Her name is the pre-Hellenic root of
"Turannos" (absolute ruler)
11 Usually attributed to Thing (Assembly), of which god Tyr/Ziu was the patron.
12 Tur was seen as the equivalent to the Roman Venus and the Greek Aphrodite. Her name is the pre-Hellenic root of
"Turannos" (absolute ruler)
13 No relevant keyword has been found for the Friday-entry....
The pantheon of the deities Tinia, Uni, Menrva, Tiv(r), Turan
As a pantheon the deities Tinia, Uni, Menrva, Tiv(r), Turan also have their correlating links in the
Germanic mythology:
• Tinia (also Tin, Tinh, Tins or Tina) was the god of the sky and the highest god in Etruscan
mythology, equivalent to the Roman Jupiter and the Greek Zeus.[1] He was the husband of
Thalna or Uni and the father of Hercle. Called apa, "father" in inscriptions (parallel to the
-piter in Ju-piter), he has most of the attributes of his Indo-European counterpart, with
whom some have postulated a more remote linguistic connection.[41] The name means
"day" in Etruscan. He is the god of boundaries and justice. He is depicted as a young,
bearded male, seated or standing at the center of the scene, grasping a stock of thunderbolts.
According to Latin literature, the bolts are of three types: for warning, good or bad
interventions, and drastic catastrophes.[42] Unlike Zeus, Tin needs the permission of the Dii
Consentes (consultant gods) and Dii Involuti (hidden gods) to wield the last two categories.
A further epithet, Calusna (of Calu), hints at a connection to wolves or dogs and the
underworld.[42]
• The grouping of a male god and two goddesses in the Capitoline Triad was highly unusual
in ancient Indo-European religions, and is almost certainly derived from the Etruscan trio of
Tinia, the supreme deity, Uni, his wife, and Menrva, their daughter and the goddess of
wisdom. In some interpretations, this group replaced an original Archaic Triad.[1]. Menrva
was part of a triple deity with Uni and Tinia, later reflected in the Roman Capitoline Triad of
Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva.
• In the Archaic Triad the letter “n” in Tin or Tinia is supposed to behave like a “u” to match
“Diu” or “Divia” and (by the identity “v”→ “u”) also “Diuia”, which is another variant of
“Dyaus”. This assumption would understand the Etruscan Tin or Tinia as a PIE-sky-god
*Dyaus. The claim reduces the Etruscan Tin to “Diu” or “Ju”-piter.
• Tiur, Tivr, Tiv is an Etruscan deity identified with Greek Selene and Roman Luna (goddess).
[14]
• Turan14 is an Etruscan goddess identified with Greek Aphrodite and Roman Venus. She
appears in the expression, Turan ati, "Mother Turan", equivalent to the (Roman goddess)
Venus Genetrix.[46] - the goddess of motherhood and domesticity.
• In inscriptions Tin is called apa, "father" (parallel to the -piter in Ju-piter), which may build
a parental relation to Turan as Turan ati, "Mother Turan". As a couple Tin apa & Turan ati may
have represented a parental couple15.

14 The name Turan is a noun meaning "the act of giving" in Etruscan, based on the verb stem Tur- 'to give.'
15 List of Etruscan mythological figures
The triads of Etruscan, Roman and Greek deities
Obviously from the transition Old Lat. Ausosa → Aurora the “s” and “t” letters may have been a case of
polyphony.

Early deities Indo-European system Primary triads

Sun moon dawn

Etrus- Catha Tivr Thesan Tin or Tinia, the sky Tin, Uni and Menrva
can (f.) Uni his wife (Juno) (Archaic Triad)
Cel (earth goddess) (Menrva, a child of Uni & Tinia)
Roman Sol Luna Aurora Jupiter (Jove) Jupiter, Juno and Minerva
(m.) (f.) (Old Juno (Capitoline Triad)
Lat. Minerva (goddess of wisdom) (Minerva, child of Juno & Jupiter)
Ausosa)
Grk. Helios Selene Eos Zeus Zeus, Hera and Athena
Hera (sister-wife of Zeus) (Delian triad)
Gaia (earth goddess)

Table 2 The Triads of Etruscan, Roman and Greek deities

Contents
Abstract............................................................................................................................................1
The alphabet's layout has been started by inserting the Θuf- or “Diu”-keyword of the Piacenza
Liver, which symbolizes the sky-god “tuw” and the personal pronoun “wut”. The rest of the
alphabet has been distributed in an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure around the central pillar “I”. The
distribution of the Futhark alphabets may have been ruled by statistical analysis. The central
“I”-pillar is the simplest rune......................................................................................................1
The Alps as a citadel for ancient words......................................................................................2
The alphabets of Etruscan language and the Raetic alphabet .........................................................3
The Etruscan alphabet.................................................................................................................3
The alphabet of the Tyrsenian language family..........................................................................3
The teiwaz-inscription at the Negau helmet....................................................................................4
Etymological analysis......................................................................................................................5
The etymological polyphony of the letter “n” {n, v, u} in “Tinia” ............................................5
The Piacenza Liver..........................................................................................................................6
The Days of the Week and the Piacenza Liver.......................................................................7
The keywords in the Etruscan divine names...................................................................................8
“Θuf” → “ᚦᚢᚠ”............................................................................................................................8
“Θuf” → “ᚠᚢᚦ”............................................................................................................................8
“θufl” → “thuwl”........................................................................................................................8
“tivs” → “tius”............................................................................................................................8
The conceptual design of the Elder Futhark ...................................................................................9
Basic design of the “ᚠᚢᚦ”-keyword and an “A”-”I”-”Ω”-structure............................................9
The reduction from Elder to Younger Futhark...........................................................................9
The identification of the Θuf- or “Diu”-keyword.......................................................................9
Statistical analysis.......................................................................................................................9
Checking boundary conditions....................................................................................................9
Checking the boundary conditions................................................................................................10
The names of the days of the week...........................................................................................10
Thursday correlating to IAΩ or Jupiter.....................................................................................10
Jauer-dialect..........................................................................................................................10
The pantheon of the deities Tinia, Uni, Menrva, Tiv(r), Turan.................................................11
The triads of Etruscan, Roman and Greek deities.....................................................................12