Luis (letter)
Luis (ᚂ) is the second letter (Irish "letter": sing."fid", pl."feda") of the Ogham alphabet, derived either from "luise" "flame" or from "lus" "herb". Its Proto-Indo-European root was either *"leuk-" 'to shine' or *"leudh-" 'to grow'. Its phonetic value is [l]. If the letter name follows the same pattern as "ruise" to "ruis", it is likely that the letter was originally named from "luise", though different kennings point to both meanings. Interpretation. Although the non-arboreal primary meanings of this letter name are well established, one of the arboreal glosses for this name in the  Auraicept na n-Éces is "cairtheand" "mountain-ash", i.e. "rowan" (Modern Irish "caorthann"). The associated verse is : "lí súla" "lustre of eye" (from the "Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín"). The Auraincept interprets this as "delightful to the eye is "luis", i.e. rowan, owing to the beauty of its berries". However, the other two primary "Bríatharogaim" do not easily fit this arboreal association. While this kenning may be based on the association with "luise" ("flame") due to the bright berries, the other kennings are likely based on the association with "lus" ("herb, plant"), hence food for cattle. In line with these kennings , the elm tree (Old Irish "lem") is another arboreal gloss for "luis" from the "Auraicept": "Cara ceathra, friend of cattle, to wit, elm. Cara, to wit, dear to the cattle is the elm for its bloom and for down". Bríatharogaim. In the medieval kennings, called "Bríatharogaim" (sing. "Bríatharogam") or "Word Oghams" the verses associated with "Luis" are: lí súla - "lustre of the eye" in the "Bríatharogam Morann mic Moín" carae cethrae - "friend of cattle" in the "Bríatharogam Mac ind Óc" lúth cethrae - "sustenance of cattle" in the "Bríatharogam Con Culainn". Notes. While medieval and modern neopagan arboreal glosses (i.e. tree  names) for the Ogham have been widely popularised (even for fade whose names do not translate as trees), the Old Irish "In Lebor Ogaim" (the "Ogam Tract") also lists many other word values classified by type (e.g. birds, occupations, companies) for each fid. The "filí" (Old Irish "filid", sing. "fili") or poets of this period learned around one hundred and fifty variants of Ogham during their training, including these word-list forms. Some of the notable Old Irish values of these for "Luis" include: Enogam/Bird-ogam: "lachu" "duck" Dathogam/Colour-ogam: "liath" "grey" Ogam tirda/Agricultural ogam: "loman" "rope  Danogam/Art-ogam: luamnacht" "pilotage" Ogam Cuidechtach/Company Ogam: "Laichesa" "Heroines"