Ur

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Name Proto-Germanic Anglo-Saxon Old Norse *Ûruz/Ûram Ur; Yr Úr "aurochs" / "water" "aurochs"; ? "dross"/"rain" Shape Elder Futhark Futhorc Younger Futhark Unicode ᚢ U+16A2 ᚢ ᚣ U+16A2 U+16A3 ᚢ U+16A2 Transliteration u u; y u Transcription u u; y u, y, o, v / w IPA [u(ː)] [u(ː)], [y(ː)] [u(ː)], [y(ː)], [ɔ(ː)], [w] Position in rune-row 2 2; 27 2

The reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark u rune ᚢ is *Ūruz meaning "wild ox"^[1] or *Ûram "water". It may have been derived from the Raetic alphabet character u as it is similar in both shape and sound value. The name of the corresponding letter in the Gothic alphabet is urus.

Rune poems

It is recorded in all three rune poems, and it is called Ur in all, however with different meanings:

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 (cf. the Kalevala, where iron is compared to milk).

Because of this, it is difficult to reconstruct a Proto-Germanic name for the Elder 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: as the name of the letter 𐌿 u is urus.

References