Raidō
The fifth Elder Futhark rune, transliterated r. Its name *raidō means a ride or journey (the same root as English "ride" and "road"), and all three rune poems agree.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᚱU+16B1
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER RAIDO RAD REID R
- Alphabet
- Elder Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 150 – 800 (Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the Viking Age)
- Position
- 5, ætt 1
- Transliteration
- r
- Sound value
- /r/
- Name
- *raidō: a ride, a journey; a wagonReconstructed
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| *raidō | Proto-Germanic | a ride, a journey; a wagon | Reconstructed |
| rad | Old English | riding | Attested |
| reið | Old Norse | riding; a carriage | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
From the root that gives English "ride" and "road". All three traditions agree on the sense of riding or a journey, making this one of the least controversial rune names.
Sound value
A trilled /r/. In the older period this rune is distinct from algiz, which wrote a separate r-like sound conventionally transliterated ʀ; the two merged during the Viking Age.
Historical use
Common throughout the corpus, since /r/ is a frequent sound. It is also one of the most stable runes there is: the shape and the sound value both pass from the earliest inscriptions through to the medieval period essentially untouched.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Rad byþ on recyde rinca gehwylcum sefte ond swiþhwæt, ðamðe sitteþ on ufan meare mægenheardum ofer milpaþas.Riding is easy for any warrior indoors, and very strenuous for the one who sits astride a powerful horse out on the long roads.(our translation)
Ræið kveða rossom væsta; Reginn sló sværðet bæzta.Riding is said to be worst for horses; Reginn forged the finest sword.(our translation)
Reið er sitjandi sæla ok snúðig ferð ok jórs erfiði.Riding is a blessed sitting and a swift journey and the toil of the horse.(our translation)
Manuscript tags: iter ("journey") and ræsir ("ruler").
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
One of the longest early Norwegian inscriptions, recording an inheritance. Its reading has been debated for over a century.
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 in modern practice as a journey, physical or otherwise, and as taking the reins of a situation rather than being carried by it.
Reversed (modern practice calls this “merkstave”)
Disrupted plans, a delayed or ill-advised journey. A modern convention.
Where this comes from: This is one of the modern readings that follows straightforwardly from the attested name.
The same rune in other alphabets
Runes descended from the same original character, so you can follow it through time.
The rest of ætt 1
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.