Ösku-poki

Meaning of Old Norse word "ösku-poki" (or ǫsku-poki)

As defined by the Cleasby & Vigfusson Old Norse to English dictionary:

ösku-poki (ǫsku-poki)

a, m. an ‘ash-poke,’ ash-bag. In Icel. on Ash-Wednesday, men and women, esp. the young, are all day long on the alert, being divided into two camps; the women trying to fasten small bags of ashes, by a hook or pin, on the men (hengja á þá ösku-poka), hooking the ash-bag on their backs or clothes, so as to make them carry it unawares; it a man carries it three steps or across a threshold without knowing it, the game is won. The men on their side fasten bags with small stones on the women.

Orthography: The Cleasby & Vigfusson book used letter ö to represent the original Old Norse vowel ǫ. Therefore, ösku-poki may be more accurately written as ǫsku-poki.

Possible runic inscription in Younger Futhark:ᚢᛋᚴᚢ-ᛒᚢᚴᛁ
Younger Futhark runes were used from 8th to 12th centuries in Scandinavia and their overseas settlements