Ear

Ear is the dipthong of ea

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (from ragweedforge.com)

The grave is horrible to every knight,

when the corpse quickly begins to cool
and is laid in the bosom of the dark earth.
Prosperity declines, happiness passes away
and covenants are broken

ear is translated as grave or tomb, which is what the stanza of the rune poem indicates.

Esoterically, Ear is the Death, the grave and decay. In a reading, it shows that the quesited has reached it’s end and it is time to move on from that subject. However, in this case, it is a slow end. Much like the process of natural decay, it takes time. While it can be hurried up a little, it is still a slow and steady process. Raven Kaldera indicates that this is beneficial, for when an end needs to come, but if it came quickly, it might destroy or destabilize things that are still of benefit. So instead, things slowly rot away. Like the process of decomposition, it does return things back to the environment, that will nurture new things to replace what is and has passed away. However, Ear is the first part of that process.