116v

[-JKP-]

The word "tar" is one of the words I find most difficult to figure out. The "a" looks quite similar to the "a" or "ei" in gasmich or geismich. They do not look like normal a's and I wonder if they should be read as "ei", "ai" or something else.
 There are too many strokes just to read "tar".

...

I would agree with René and searcher and anyone else who's proposed it, that tar is a sensible interpretation (maybe even the most likely one). IMO, the end character looks more like an "r" than a "v" (the "v" shapes on the last line curl in a little and the "r" doesn't appear to do that) and it can certainly be a slightly too-large and slightly-differently-slanted "a" in the background, plus the first letter has a slight tick in the curved stroke but...

I like to propose alternatives because 1) t and c were often written interchangeably in medieval documents and more importantly 2) it seems wise to keep the door/mind open, to add to the pool of possibilities, until something more definite is known.


The "ahia" word fits into the same category...

I mentioned it could possibly be a "k" because some scribes wrote an "h" with an added leg rather than the conventional small-looped "k" of the time. That doesn't mean I think that "k" is the most likely reading, I think it's a long shot and that it's probably "hi", but... knowing that there were several ways to write a "k" and knowing that the figure-8 shape is already unconventional, I like to keep the door open to other readings.



And speaking of ahia, I don't know if anyone has mentioned this (it's hard to come up with original observations for something that's been studied for centuries) but Ahia is an old testament prophet and biblical names and first-letter references were often included in charms. Since something that looks like "maria" with an interposed cross (ma+ria) comes next and maria is the later interpretation of mariam or miriam, then invoking Ahia and Maria in the same line, especially so close together, would not be out of place "if" it's a charm or a healing charm. Just a thought.