Ur (rune)

Ur

The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the u rune ᚢ is *Ûruz "aurochs" or *Ûram "water". It may have been derived from Raetic u as it is similar in both shape and sound value. It is called Ur in all three rune poems, however with different meanings:

• Norwegian

ᚢ er af illu jarne;

opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.

Dross comes from bad iron;

the reindeer often races over the frozen snow.

• Icelandic

ᚢ 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.

• Anglo-Saxon

ᚢ byþ anmod ond oferhyrned,

felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum

mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.

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.

The Icelandic word for "rain" and the Anglo-Saxon for "aurochs" go back to two different Proto-Germanic words, ûruz and ûram (although possibly from the same root). The Norwegian meaning "dross, slag" is more obscure, but may be an Iron Age technical term derived from the word for water (c.f. the Kalevala, where iron is compared to milk). The name of the corresponding letter in the Gothic alphabet was urus. Because of this, it is difficult to reconstruct a Proto-Germanic name for the Old Futhark rune. It may have been ûruz "aurochs" (see also Bull worship), or ûram "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: the name of the letter 𐌿 u is urus.