Hægl
The ninth futhorc rune, transliterated h. English standardised on the double-barred shape, which is a quick way to tell an English inscription from a Scandinavian one.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᚻU+16BB
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER HAEGL H
- Alphabet
- Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
- In use
- c. AD 400 – 1100 (Early medieval England and Frisia)
- Position
- 9, ætt 2
- Transliteration
- h
- Sound value
- /h/ , /x/
- Name
- hægl: hailAttested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| hægl | Old English | hail | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Continues *haglaz, and the poem describes hail as the whitest of grains that turns to water. All three rune poems use the grain image, which is strong evidence it is inherited rather than coincidental.
Sound value
An /h/, and a back fricative /x/ in some positions: the sound still written "gh" in "night". English standardised on the double-barred form.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Single-barred form
U+16BA
The older Elder Futhark shape, with one crossbar rather than two.
Historical use
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Hægl byþ hwitust corna; hwyrft hit of heofones lyfte, wealcaþ hit windes scura; weorþeþ hit to wætere syððan.Hail is the whitest of grains; it whirls down out of the sky, gusts of wind toss it about, and afterwards it turns to water.(our translation)
All three rune poems call hail a "grain". The image is shared inheritance rather than coincidence.
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
- Thames scramasaxRiver Thames, London · 10th century
The inlaid row shows the English double-barred form.
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 Anglo-Saxon Futhorc separately. Inventing a reading for Hægl 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.
The same rune in other alphabets
Runes descended from the same original character, so you can follow it through time.
The rest of ætt 2
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.