Os
The fourth futhorc rune, transliterated o, and the reason the English alphabet is called a futhorc rather than a futhark. Its name was reinterpreted as the Latin word for "mouth".
At a glance
- Rune
- ᚩU+16A9
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER OS O
- Alphabet
- Anglo-Saxon Futhorc
- In use
- c. AD 400 – 1100 (Early medieval England and Frisia)
- Position
- 4, ætt 1
- Transliteration
- o
- Sound value
- /o/ , /oː/
- Name
- os: mouth (Latin ōs), a learned substitution for the inherited "god"Attested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| os | Old English | mouth (Latin ōs), a learned substitution for the inherited "god" | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Inherited from *ansuz, "a god", but the Old English poem substitutes the Latin word ōs, "mouth", and builds a whole stanza about speech and wisdom on the pun. It is a neat demonstration of Christian-era scholars reworking pagan material rather than simply deleting it.
Sound value
An /o/. This is the rune that gives the futhorc its name: the Elder Futhark sequence f-u-þ-a-r-k became f-u-þ-o-r-c in English as the inherited a-vowel rounded.
Historical use
Central to the alphabet’s identity: the sound change that produced this rune is the reason English speakers say "futhorc" where Scandinavians say "futhark". Common throughout the corpus. Where the change happened is a separate question and an open one: os, ac and æsc are the Anglo-Frisian innovations, and the runic evidence for them is early on both sides of the North Sea. The older assumption that the Continent must have gone first is an assumption rather than a finding, and an English origin exported to Frisia is argued at least as strongly.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Os byþ ordfruma ælere spræce, wisdomes wraþu ond witena frofur and eorla gehwam eadnys ond tohiht.The mouth is the origin of all speech, the support of wisdom and a comfort to the wise, and to every noble a blessing and a hope.(our translation)
Here os is Latin ōs, "mouth": a learned reinterpretation of the inherited name *ansuz, "a god". The stanza is evidence for Christian-era wordplay, not for the rune's original meaning.
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
- Undley bracteateUndley Common, Suffolk, England · Later 5th century
Probably carries this rune, alongside æsc, which is why a 5th-century Suffolk pendant is the earliest candidate for futhorc rather than Elder Futhark writing. "Probably" is doing real work: the reading of that character is part of the argument, not an agreed starting point for it.
- Thames scramasaxRiver Thames, London · 10th century
Shows this rune in its expected fourth position, confirming the English order.
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 Os 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 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.