Dagaz
The twenty-third Elder Futhark rune, transliterated d. Its name means "day". Whether it or othala comes last depends on which ancient futhark row you read.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛞU+16DE
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER DAGAZ DAEG D
- Alphabet
- Elder Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 150 – 800 (Roman Iron Age to the beginning of the Viking Age)
- Position
- 23, ætt 3
- Transliteration
- d
- Sound value
- /d/
- Name
- *dagaz: dayReconstructed
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| *dagaz | Proto-Germanic | day | Reconstructed |
| dæg | Old English | day | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Straightforwardly "day", from the root that gives English "day" and German Tag. The Old English poem confirms the name, and no competing reading has ever been seriously proposed, which makes dagaz one of the more secure reconstructions in the alphabet.
Sound value
A /d/. The Younger Futhark has no d-rune; /d/ is written with the t-rune instead.
Historical use
The position of dagaz and othala at the end of the futhark varies. The Kylver stone gives the order ...ŋ d o, while the bracteates give ...ŋ o d: Vadstena and Mariedamm from a single die, and Grumpan independently, so two witnesses rather than three. Modern convention follows Kylver here, against both. It does the opposite with the other disputed pair: on eihwaz and perthro Kylver has ...j p ï z, where every other row that preserves the positions puts ï before p, and there modern convention follows the majority. Only Vadstena–Mariedamm also witnesses the z (Grumpan is damaged just there, and the Breza and Charnay rows break off), so the full ...j ï p z sequence rests on one die. Kylver is the outlier in both places, and the standard order is a hybrid of the surviving rows rather than a copy of any one of them.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Dæg byþ drihtnes sond, deore mannum, mære metodes leoht, myrgþ and tohiht eadgum and earmum, eallum brice.Day is the Lord's sending, dear to people, the glorious light of the Ruler, a joy and a hope to the prosperous and the poor, of use to everyone.(our translation)
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
Twenty-third position, but the Vadstena bracteate puts this rune last instead.
- The other early futhark rowsSweden, Bosnia and Burgundy · c. AD 500–600
The Mariedamm and Grumpan bracteates both end ...ŋ o d, putting othala ahead of this rune. Modern charts follow Kylver instead: the one place where the convention sides with Kylver against the bracteates.
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
Read as a decisive change for the better: dawn, clarity, the moment a situation turns. Usually given no reversed reading.
Where this comes from: A direct extension of the attested name. The Old English stanza treats daylight as a gift available to rich and poor alike, which modern readings usually keep.
Common misconceptions
Claims about this rune that circulate widely and do not hold up.
Any source that presents a single fixed Elder Futhark order as "the" order is smoothing over a real disagreement among the earliest futhark rows. They differ in two places, not one (d/o at the end and eihwaz/perthro in the middle), and the Kylver stone stands against every other witness on both. The order in universal modern use, including on this site, resolves the two in opposite directions: Kylver for d/o, the majority for eihwaz/perthro. It therefore reproduces no ancient row exactly.
The same rune in other alphabets
Runes descended from the same original character, so you can follow it through time.
The rest of ætt 3
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.