Sól
The eleventh Younger Futhark rune, transliterated s, and the last of the second ætt. Its name means "sun" in every tradition.
At a glance
- Rune
- ᛋU+16CB
- Unicode name
- RUNIC LETTER SIGEL LONG-BRANCH-SOL S
- Alphabet
- Younger Futhark
- In use
- c. AD 800 – 1100 (The Viking Age)
- Position
- 11, ætt 2
- Transliteration
- s
- Sound value
- /s/
- Name
- sól: sunAttested
Names
How the rune is called in each tradition, and how securely each name is recorded.
| Form | Language | Meaning | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| sól | Old Norse | sun | Attested |
An asterisk marks a reconstructed form: a word linguists have worked backwards to, not one that appears in any surviving source.
Etymology
Continues Elder Futhark *sōwilō. Every tradition agrees on "sun", and the Icelandic poem gives it three kennings: shield of the clouds, shining ray, and the lifelong sorrow of ice.
Sound value
A plain /s/. The long-branch and short-twig forms are strikingly different, the short-twig version reduced to little more than a short stroke.
Variant forms
Alternative shapes for the same rune across regions and periods.
Short-twig sól
U+16CC
A markedly reduced short-twig form.
Historical use
Common, and the last rune of the second ætt. The sharply different long-branch and short-twig shapes make this a useful diagnostic for identifying which tradition a carver was working in.
Rune-poem evidence
The medieval verse that records this rune's name. Original text plus our own translation.
Sól er landa ljóme; lúti ek helgum dóme.The sun is the light of the lands; I bow to the holy judgement.(our translation)
Sól er skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok ísa aldrtregi.The sun is the shield of the clouds and a shining ray and the lifelong sorrow of ice.(our translation)
Manuscript tags: rota ("wheel") and siklingr ("king").
Sigel semannum symble biþ on hihte, ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ, oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande.The sun is always a hope to seafarers, when they carry themselves over the fish's bath, until the sea-steed brings them to land.(our translation)
Attested in
Objects and monuments where this rune can actually be seen.
Long-branch forms throughout, characteristic of Danish monumental carving.
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 Younger Futhark separately. Inventing a reading for Sól 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.