Ýr
The sixteenth and last Younger Futhark rune, transliterated ʀ. Its shape is the algiz rune inverted, but its name (ýr, "yew") comes from somewhere else entirely.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛦU+16E6
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER LONG-BRANCH-YR
- Alphabet
- Younger Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 800 – 1100 (The Viking Age)
- Position
- 16, ætt 3
- Transliteration
- ʀ
- Sound value
- /ʀ/
- Name
- ýr: yewAttested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| ýr | Old Norse | yew | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
The shape is the Elder Futhark algiz rune turned upside down, but the name is not inherited: ýr means "yew", and appears to have been transferred from elsewhere in the tradition. This is a rune whose form and name have separate histories.
Sound value
Writes the ʀ sound (an r-like consonant descended from Proto-Germanic *z), which occurred at the ends of words and gradually merged with ordinary r during the Viking Age. Once the merger was complete the rune was repurposed, often for /y/.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Short-twig ýr
U+16E7
The short-twig form.
Icelandic ýr
U+16E8
An Icelandic variant used in the medieval period.
Historical use
The gradual merger of ʀ with r is one of the most useful dating criteria in Scandinavian runology. Carvers in different regions abandoned the distinction at different times, so how an inscription uses this rune helps place it in both time and space.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Ýr er vetrgrønstr viða; vænt er, er brennr, at sviða.The yew is the greenest of woods in winter; when it burns, there is apt to be singeing.(our translation)
Ýr er bendr bogi ok brotgjarnt járn ok fífu fárbauti.Yew is a bent bow and brittle iron and the Fárbauti of the arrow.(our translation)
Manuscript tags: arcus ("bow") and ynglingr ("king"). Fárbauti is a giant's name; the kenning is obscure.
Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme, blode breneð beorna gehwylcne ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.Elk-sedge most often has its home in the fen; it grows in the water and wounds grimly, burning with blood every person who makes any grab at it.(our translation)
The Old English name refers to a sedge or reed, not to the elk itself, despite the compound. The relationship between eolh-secg and the reconstructed Elder Futhark name *algiz is disputed.
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
A transitional-period curse inscription in which the ʀ sound is prominent.
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
Why this entry has none.
None is given here. Modern rune divination is built almost entirely on the Elder Futhark, and no established modern tradition reads the Younger Futhark separately. Inventing a reading for Ýr to fill the space would be exactly the kind of fabrication this site exists to flag, so the field is left empty rather than filled. Its Elder Futhark ancestor is linked further down and does carry a modern reading, labelled as modern. How modern rune meanings were arrived at is a separate discussion.
Common misconceptions
Claims about this rune that circulate widely and do not hold up.
This rune is the algiz shape inverted, but it is not "reversed algiz" in any meaningful sense. It is a distinct character with its own name and sound, and the modern idea of a reversed rune has nothing to do with it.
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.