Ingwaz
The twenty-second Elder Futhark rune, transliterated ŋ. It is named after the god Ing, and its Old English stanza preserves one of the few pieces of actual legend in the rune poems.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛜU+16DC
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER INGWAZ
- Alphabet
- Elder Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 150 – 800 (Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the Viking Age)
- Position
- 22, ætt 3
- Transliteration
- ŋ
- Sound value
- /ŋ/
- Name
- *Ingwaz: the god Ing, or YngviReconstructed
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Ingwaz | Proto-Germanic | the god Ing, or Yngvi | Reconstructed |
| ing | Old English | the hero or god Ing | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
A divine name. The Old English poem describes Ing as a figure who departed eastward over the sea with a wagon behind him, an image usually connected with the Norse god Freyr, whose other name is Yngvi and whose cult involved a wagon procession.
Sound value
The "ng" sound of English "sing". A relatively rare rune, since the sound is uncommon at the start of words.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Lantern form (ing)
U+16DD
A common variant with the diamond set on a vertical stave. The two forms are interchangeable.
Historical use
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Ing wæs ærest mid East-Denum gesewen secgun, oþ he siððan est ofer wæg gewat; wæn æfter ran; ðus Heardingas ðone hæle nemdun.Ing was first seen by people among the East Danes, until he afterwards went east over the wave; his wagon ran behind him. That is what the Heardingas called that hero.(our translation)
One of the very few places where a rune poem preserves what looks like pre-Christian legendary material.
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
Twenty-second position in the futhark row.
Signatures follow the Scandinavian Runic-text Database so you can look each inscription up directly. Each name links to the object's own entry.
Modern meaning
How this rune is read in contemporary divination, which is a separate question from what it meant historically.
Upright
Read as stored potential coming to fruition: energy gathered and then released. Usually given no reversed reading.
Where this comes from: The fertility reading comes from the identification with Freyr, a fertility god, rather than from anything the rune itself does in inscriptions.
The same rune in other alphabets
Runes descended from the same original character, so you can follow it through time.
The rest of ætt 3
Sources for this entry
Full references are on the sources page. If you think something here is wrong, our corrections policy explains how to say so.