ᛖᚱᚨᚠᚨᛉ

Proto-Norse

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *erfaz. Possibly related to Old Norse jarpr (“brown”), Old English eorp (“brown; dark, dusky”), from Proto-Germanic *erpaz (“light brown”), in which case from Proto-Indo-European *h₁erbʰ-, cognate with Ancient Greek ὀρφνός (orphnós, “dark brown”).

Noun

ᛖᚱᚨᚠᚨᛉ (erafaz /erᵃfaz/) m

1. wolverine (Gulo gulo)
   • 5th century, Hogganvik runestone:

     […] ᛖᚲᚾᚨᚢᛞᛁᚷᚨᛊᛏᛁᛉ ¶ ᛖᚲᛖᚱᚨᚠᚨᛉ […]
     […] eknaudigastiz ¶ ekerafaz […]

     ek Naudigastiz, ek erᵃfaz

     I, Need-guest, I the Wolverine

Usage notes

• Names/nicknames connected with certain (especially predatory) animals were common in Germanic society, compare ᚺᚼᚦᚢᚹᛟᛚᚼᚠᛦ, ᚺᚼᚱᛁᚹᛟᛚᚼᚠᛦ, ᚺᚨᚱᚨᛒᚨᚾᚨᛉ (harabanaʀ).

Descendants

• Old Norse: jarfr
  • Faroese: jarvur
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: jerv
  • Norwegian Bokmål: jerv
  • Swedish: järv