Old Hungarian small letter e

It is an Old Hungarian vowel letter, not a rune. Inside a word, it writes the vowel e. The wider script is called rovásírás, a Hungarian writing tradition whose name means roughly “incised writing.”

The script's exact origin is debated, though it is linked to Turkic writing traditions. The English label “Hungarian Runic” is in use, but resemblance to Germanic runes does not establish historical descent. Surviving evidence includes short inscriptions from the 12th–13th centuries, a written account mentioning the script by the late 13th century, and the first surviving alphabetic list from around 1500.

Why does the script carry cultural weight?

Choosing Old Hungarian writing can signal heritage, study, or identity. A reader familiar with the revival may read 𐳉 as a vowel; another may notice the historical script more than its sound.

After its inscriptional use, the script appeared in humanist alphabets and reference works, then in decorative writing and cipher-like uses. In modern revival, it appears in books, magazines, teaching, calligraphy, and cultural events. A 2024 study argues that surviving monuments chiefly mark identity rather than everyday information.

Why can 𐳉 look reversed?

Text direction can make the glyph appear mirrored. Old Hungarian is primarily written right to left. A left-to-right override may cause a text engine to mirror the glyph; in some historical cipher use, writers instead reverse character order without mirroring each letter. Check direction and font support before assuming it is a different letter.