Algiz
The fifteenth Elder Futhark rune, transliterated z. Modern practice knows it as the protection rune, but its name and meaning are disputed, and the Old English poem describes a marsh plant.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛉU+16C9
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER ALGIZ EOLHX
- Alphabet
- Elder Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 150 – 800 (Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the Viking Age)
- Position
- 15, ætt 2
- Transliteration
- z
- Sound value
- /z/
- Name
- *algiz: elk, or protectionContested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| *algiz | Proto-Germanic | elk, or protectionThe reconstruction and its meaning are both disputed. | Contested |
| eolh-secg | Old English | elk-sedge, a marsh plant with cutting leaves | Attested |
| ýr | Old Norse | yewThe Younger Futhark inherited the shape but not the name. | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
The Old English name means a marsh sedge, not an elk. The widely used name "algiz" is a modern reconstruction whose meaning (elk, or protection) has been argued both ways for a century without resolution.
Sound value
Conventionally transliterated z, this rune wrote a sound descended from Proto-Germanic *z that became an r-like sound in Norse, transliterated ʀ. It appears almost exclusively at the ends of words. In the Younger Futhark the inverted form continued to write ʀ until it merged with ordinary r.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Younger Futhark yr
U+16E6
The same rune inverted. In the Younger Futhark it writes the ʀ sound and is called ýr, "yew".
Historical use
Because *z occurred at the ends of words, this rune is a useful dating tool: its behaviour tracks a sound change that separates the earliest inscriptions from later ones.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
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.
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.
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
A curse inscription in which the ʀ sound is prominent; among the most-discussed texts in the older corpus.
The longest older-futhark text there is, cut just as the alphabet was turning into the Younger Futhark, so its rune forms, this one included, sit between the two systems.
Three ʀ-runes together in the repeated sequence, following the run of eight a-runes.
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
How this rune is read in contemporary divination, which is a separate question from what it meant historically.
Upright
By far the most popular "protection rune" in modern practice, usually explained as splayed antlers, an open hand, or a person with raised arms.
Reversed (modern practice calls this “merkstave”)
Vulnerability, or defences that have been dropped. A modern convention.
Where this comes from: The protection reading rests on the disputed "elk" etymology, not on any inscription in which the rune is used protectively. It is the clearest example on this site of a modern meaning that has completely eclipsed an uncertain historical one.
Common misconceptions
Claims about this rune that circulate widely and do not hold up.
There is no historical inscription in which a lone algiz rune is used as a protective charm. The idea is a 20th-century development.
If you are considering a tattoo
Practical notes for anyone about to make this permanent.
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.