and northern Germany. A "West Germanic hypothesis" suggests transmission via Elbe Germanic groups, while a "Gothic hypothesis" presumes transmission via East Germanic expansion. Runes continue to be used in a wide variety of ways in modern popular culture. Name Etymology The name stems from a Proto-Germanic form reconstructed as , which may be translated as 'secret, mystery; secret conversation; rune'. It is the source of Gothic (, 'secret, mystery, counsel'), Old English ('whisper, mystery, secret, rune'), Old Saxon ('secret counsel, confidential talk'), Middle Dutch ('id'), Old High German ('secret, mystery'), and Old Norse ('secret, mystery, rune'). The earliest Germanic epigraphic attestation is the Primitive Norse (accusative singular), found on the Einang stone (A.D. 350–400) and the Noleby stone (A.D. 450). The term is related to Proto-Celtic ('secret, magic'), which is attested in Old Irish ('mystery, secret'), Middle Welsh ('mystery, charm'), Middle Breton ('secret wisdom'), and possibly in the ancient Gaulish (< 'confident'; cf. Middle Welsh , Middle Breton , Middle Irish 'shared secret, confidence') and (< 'sacred secret'), as well as in Lepontic (< * 'belonging to the secret'). However, it is difficult to tell whether they are cognates (linguistic siblings from a common origin), or if the Proto-Germanic form reflects an early borrowing from Celtic. Various connections have been proposed with other Indo-European terms (for example: Sanskrit 'roar', Latin 'noise, rumor'; Ancient Greek 'ask' and 'investigate'), although linguist Ranko Matasović finds them difficult to justify for semantic or linguistic reasons. Because of this, some scholars have speculated that the Germanic and Celtic words may have been a shared religious term borrowed from an unknown non-Indo-European language. Related terms In early Germanic, a rune could also be referred to as , a compound of and ('staff; letter'). It is attested in Old Norse , Old English , and Old High German . Other Germanic terms derived from include ('counsellor'), and ('secret, mystery'), ('trial, inquiry, experiment'), ('secret of the mind, magical rune'), and ('witch, sorceress'; literally '[possessor of the] Hel-secret'). It is also often part of personal names, including Gothic (), Frankish , Old Norse , , , , , Old English , and Lombardic . The Finnish word , meaning 'poem', is an early borrowing from Proto-Germanic, and the source of the term for rune, , meaning 'scratched letter'. The root may also be found in the Baltic languages, where Lithuanian means both 'to cut (with a knife)' and 'to