Ur (rune)

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Name Proto-Germanic Old English Old Norse
*Ūruz/ŪrąŪrȲrÚr
"aurochs" / "water""aurochs"?"dross"/"rain"
Shape Elder Futhark Futhorc Younger Futhark
Runic letter uruz.svg Runic letter uruz.svg Runic letter yr.svg Runic letter uruz.svg
Unicode ᚢ
U+16A2
ᚢ
U+16A2
ᚣ
U+16A3
ᚢ
U+16A2
Transliteration uuyu
Transcriptionuuyu, y, o, v / w
IPA [u(ː)][u(ː)][y(ː)][u(ː)], [y(ː)], [o(ː)], [w]
Position in
rune-row		22272

The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark u rune ᚢ is *Ūruz meaning "wild ox" [1] or *Ūrą "water". It may have been derived from the Raetic alphabet character u as it is similar in both shape and sound value. The name of the corresponding letter in the Gothic alphabet is urus.

Contents

Name

The Icelandic word for "rain" and the Old English for "aurochs" go back to two different Proto-Germanic words, *ūruz and *ūrą (although possibly from the same root[ original research? ]). The Norwegian meaning "dross, slag" is more obscure, but may be an Iron Age technical term derived from the word for water (cf. the Kalevala, where iron is compared to milk).

Because of this, it is difficult to reconstruct a Proto-Germanic name for the Elder Futhark rune. It may have been *ūruz "aurochs" (see also Bull worship), or *ūrą "water". The aurochs is preferred by authors of modern runic divination systems, but both seem possible, compared to the names of the other runes: "water" would be comparable to "hail" and "lake", and "aurochs" to "horse" or "elk" (although the latter name is itself uncertain). The Gothic alphabet seems to support "aurochs", though: as the name of the letter 𐌿 u is urus.

Rune poems

It is recorded in all three rune poems, and it is called Ur in all, however with different meanings:

Rune Poem: [2] English Translation:

Old Norwegian
ᚢ Úr er af illu jarne;
opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.


Dross comes from bad iron;
the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.

Old Icelandic
ᚢ Úr er skýja grátr
ok skára þverrir
ok hirðis hatr.
umbre vísi


Rain is lamentation of the clouds
and ruin of the hay-harvest
and abomination of the shepherd.

Old English
ᚢ Ur bẏþ anmod ond oferhẏrned,
felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum
mære morstapa; þæt is modig ƿuht.


The aurochs is proud and has great horns;
it is a very savage beast and fights with its horns;
a great ranger of the moors, it is a creature of mettle.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Runes</span> Ancient Germanic letter

A rune is a letter in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages before they adopted the Latin alphabet, and for specialised purposes thereafter. In addition to representing a sound value, runes can be used to represent the concepts after which they are named (ideographs). Scholars refer to instances of the latter as Begriffsrunen. The Scandinavian variants are also known as futhark or fuþark ; the Anglo-Saxon variant is futhorc or fuþorc.

ᛈ is the rune denoting the sound p in the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. It does not appear in the Younger Futhark. It is named peorð in the Anglo-Saxon rune-poem and glossed enigmatically as follows:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elder Futhark</span> System of runes for Proto-Germanic

The Elder Futhark, also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Period. Inscriptions are found on artifacts including jewelry, amulets, plateware, tools, and weapons, as well as runestones in Scandinavia, from the 2nd to the 10th centuries.

The Fehu rune ᚠ represents the f and v-sound in the Younger Futhark and Futhorc alphabets. Its name means '(mobile) wealth', cognate to English fee with the original meaning of 'sheep' or 'cattle'. The Proto-Germanic name *fehu has been reconstructed, with the meaning of "money, cattle, wealth".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaunan</span> Rune

The k-rune ᚲ is called Kaun in both the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems, meaning "ulcer". The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is *Kauną. It is also known as Kenaz ("torch"), based on its Anglo-Saxon name.

Algiz is the name conventionally given to the "z-rune" ᛉ of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is z, understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal *z continuing Proto-Indo-European terminal *s.

Gyfu is the name for the g-rune ᚷ in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, meaning ‘gift’ or ‘generosity’:

*Raidō "ride, journey" is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the r- rune of the Elder Futhark ᚱ. The name is attested for the same rune in all three rune poems, Old Norwegian Ræið Icelandic Reið, Anglo-Saxon Rad, as well as for the corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet 𐍂 r, called raida. The shape of the rune may be directly derived from Latin R.

Jera is the conventional name of the j-rune ᛃ of the Elder Futhark, from a reconstructed Common Germanic stem *jēra- meaning "harvest, (good) year".

*Naudiz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the n-rune ᚾ, meaning "need, distress". In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as ᚾnyd, in the Younger Futhark as ᚾ, Icelandic naud and Old Norse nauðr. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌽 n, named nauþs. The valkyrie Sigrdrífa in Sigrdrífumál talks about the rune as a beer-rune and that "You should learn beer-runes if you don’t want another man’s wife to abuse your trust if you have a tryst. Carve them on the drinking-horn and on the back of your hand, and carve the rune ᚾ on your fingernail."

*Ehwaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark e rune ᛖ, meaning "horse". In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as ᛖeh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Haglaz</span> Rune

*Haglaz or *Hagalaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the h-rune ᚺ, meaning "hail".

*Laguz or *Laukaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the l-rune ᛚ, *laguz meaning "water" or "lake" and *laukaz meaning "leek". In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called lagu "ocean". In the Younger Futhark, the rune is called lögr "waterfall" in Icelandic and logr "water" in Norse.

*Isaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the i-rune ᛁ, meaning "ice". In the Younger Futhark, it is called íss in Old Norse. As a rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is called is.

Berkanan is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the b rune ᛒ, meaning "birch". In the Younger Futhark it is called Bjarkan in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem it is called beorc. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌱 b, named bairkan.

The rune ᚦ is called Thurs in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem it is called thorn, whence the name of the letter þ derived. It is transliterated as þ, and has the sound value of a voiceless dental fricative.

Uruz may refer to:

The Dev rune (ᛞ) is called dæg "day" in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem. The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet 𐌳 d is called dags. This rune is also part of the Elder Futhark, with a reconstructed Proto-Germanic name *dagaz.

Sowilo (*sōwilō), meaning "sun", is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic language name of the s-rune.

*Mannaz is the conventional name of the m-rune ᛗ of the Elder Futhark. It is derived from the reconstructed Common Germanic word for "man", *mannaz.

References

  1. ↑ Page, R.I. (2005). Runes, page 15. The British Museum Press ISBN   0-7141-8065-3
  2. ↑ Original poems and translation from the Rune Poem Page Archived 1999-05-01 at the Wayback Machine .
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