Ūruz
The second Elder Futhark rune, transliterated u. Its reconstructed name *ūruz means "aurochs", the wild ox, though the Norse rune poems had already forgotten that and read the name as "drizzle" or "slag".
At a glance
- Rune
- ᚢU+16A2
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER URUZ UR U
- Alphabet
- Elder Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 150 – 800 (Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the Viking Age)
- Position
- 2, ætt 1
- Transliteration
- u
- Sound value
- /u/ , /uː/
- Name
- *ūruz: aurochs, wild oxReconstructed
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| *ūruz | Proto-Germanic | aurochs, wild ox | Reconstructed |
| ur | Old English | aurochs | Attested |
| úr | Old Norse | drizzle (Icelandic) or slag, dross (Norwegian)The Scandinavian traditions had lost the aurochs word and reinterpreted the name. | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Reconstructed as *ūruz, "aurochs": the wild cattle species that survived in Europe until 1627. The Old English poem confirms the animal reading. Both Scandinavian poems give unrelated meanings, which is what happens when a name outlives the word behind it.
Sound value
Both short and long /u/; the Elder Futhark does not mark vowel length. In the Younger Futhark the same rune also absorbed /o/, /y/, /ø/ and /w/.
Historical use
A common rune, appearing throughout the corpus. It sits second in every attested futhark row and supplies the second letter of the alphabet's name.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned, felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.The aurochs is fierce and huge-horned, a very savage beast; it fights with its horns, a famous moor-stalker: that is a bold creature.(our translation)
Úr er af illu jarne; opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.Dross comes from bad iron; the reindeer often runs over the frozen crust.(our translation)
The Norwegian poem takes úr as "slag, dross"; the Icelandic poem takes the same rune name as "drizzle". The Old English cognate ur is "aurochs". All three readings are old.
Úr er skýja grátr ok skára þverrir ok hirðis hatr.Drizzle is the weeping of the clouds and the spoiler of the hay-harvest and a thing the herdsman hates.(our translation)
Manuscript tags: umbre and vísi ("leader"). The Latin word is the manuscript reading and it does not fit: umbra means "shadow". Editors who want it to match úr as drizzle emend to imber, "rain shower".
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
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 in modern practice as raw physical strength, vitality, and the untamed force needed to break through an obstacle.
Reversed (modern practice calls this “merkstave”)
Weakness, misdirected force, or illness. A modern convention.
Where this comes from: The strength reading follows directly from the aurochs image in the Old English poem, so it is a reasonable modern extension rather than an invention, but it is still a modern divinatory application.
Common misconceptions
Claims about this rune that circulate widely and do not hold up.
The three rune poems disagree about what this name means, and they cannot all be right. Any source that presents a single confident "original meaning" for úr is hiding the disagreement.
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.