Rune:Odal

The Elder Futhark Odal rune represents the o sound. Its reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *ôþalan. The corresponding Gothic letter is o, called oþal. Variations of the name include Othila and Othala. The letter may be derived from a Raetian o letter variant, ultimately cognate with Greek Omega|.

The rune is encoded in Unicode at codepoint U+16DF

The term oþal (Old High German uodal) is a formative element in some Germanic names, notably Ulrich and variants. Edmund and other English names with the "ed" prefix (from Old English ead), German Otto and various Germanic names beginning with adal- or od- are also connected to Odal.

Futhorc Ethel
The Odal rune is often associated with property and inheritance, wealth and prosperity. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, the name appears as ethel (ēðel). In English runology this letter is sometimes transliterated œ.

Scandinavian property law
Odal was associated with the concept of inheritance in ancient Scandinavian property law. Some of these laws are still in effect today, and govern Norwegian property. These are the Åsetesrett (homestead right), and the Odelsrett (allodial right).

In runic inscriptions on objects, placing the Odal rune prior to a person's name would indicate that the object belonged to that person.

Nazism and Neo-Nazism
The Odal rune was the emblem of ethnic Germans (Volksdeutsche) of the 7th SS Volunteer Mountain Division Prinz Eugen operating during World War II in the Nazi Germany-sponsored Independent State of Croatia.

The Odal rune has been used by Stefano Delle Chiaie's neofascist group Avanguardia Nazionale in Italy, by the Neo-Nazi Wiking-Jugend in Germany, and in South Africa by the Anglo-Afrikaner Bond, the terrorist, white-supremacist group Boeremag, and the Blanke Bevrydingsbeweging. Odal was also the name of a monthly Nazi periodical. The Young BNP in the United Kingdom and the Nationalist Coalition in America have taken up the symbol.

Germanic Neopaganism
As with other runes, the Odal rune is also used as a symbol by Germanic Neopagans without a political association. The Odal rune is in the banner and name of the Theodish organization Œðelland.