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Ur is the recorded name for the
rune Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...
in both
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
and
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
, found as the second rune in all
futhark Runes are the letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see '' futhark'' vs ''runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were primarily used to represent a sound value (a ...
s (runic alphabets starting with F, U, Þ, Ą, R, K), i.e. the Germanic Elder Futhark, the Anglo-Frisian Futhark and the Norse Younger Futhark, with continued use in the later
medieval runes The medieval runes, or the futhork, was a Scandinavian runic alphabet that evolved from the Younger Futhark after the introduction of ''stung'' (or ''dotted'') runes at the end of the Viking Age. These stung runes were regular runes with the add ...
, early modern runes and Dalecarlian runes. It corresponds to the letter u in the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
, but also carries other sound values, especially in Younger Futhark, were its sound values correspond to the vowels: , , and etc., and the consonants: and etc., in the Latin alphabet.


Character

The character ᚢ may have been derived from the
Old Italic scripts The Old Italic scripts are a family of ancient writing systems used in the Italian Peninsula between about 700 and 100 BC, for various languages spoken in that time and place. The most notable member is the Etruscan alphabet, which was the i ...
, as such features various characters corresponding to elder runes, including both upside and downside characters for
Upsilon Upsilon (, ; uppercase Υ, lowercase υ; ''ýpsilon'' ) or ypsilon is the twentieth letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, has a value of 400. It is derived from the phoenician alphabet, Phoenician Waw (letter), waw ...
(/u, y/): , , specifically the East Rhaetic alphabet from the Magrè-region of north-east Italy, which primarily used the downside Old Italic Upsilon. The character was later reused as the 16th letter in the
Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible. The alphabet e ...
(𐌿), the corresponding name being ''urus''.


Proto-Germanic name

The rune is recorded in all three
rune poem Rune poems are poems that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Four different poems from before the mid-20th century have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune ...
s (Old English, Norwegian, Icelandic), and it is called Ur in all, however with different meanings in each. Because of this, it is difficult to
reconstruct Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...
a
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
name for the
Elder Futhark The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark, ), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Per ...
rune. It may have been ''*ūruz'' "aurochs" (see also
Bull worship Cattle are prominent in some religions and mythologies. As such, numerous peoples throughout the world have at one point in time honored bulls as sacred. In the Sumerian religion, Marduk is the "bull of Utu". In Hinduism, Shiva's steed is Nan ...
), based on the Old English rune poem, the oldest recorded of the three, supported by the corresponding Gothic name ''uraz'', recorded by
Alcuin of York Alcuin of York (; ; 735 – 19 May 804), also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin, was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York. At the invita ...
in the 8th century, or ''*ūrą'' "water", based on the Icelandic rune poems (and to some extent the Norwegian rune poem), with both Proto-Germanic words, however, possibly stemming from the same root. The aurochs name is preferred by authors of modern runic divination systems, but both seem possible, compared to the names of the other runes: "water" would be comparable to "hail" and "lake", and "aurochs" to "horse" or "elk" (although the latter name is itself uncertain). The
Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible. The alphabet e ...
seems to support "aurochs" as the prior name, though: as the name of the letter 𐌿 ''u'' is ''urus''.


Anglo-Saxon name

In the Old English rune poem, recorded in the 8th or 9th century, the rune is named ''Ūr'',
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
for “
aurochs The aurochs (''Bos primigenius''; or ; pl.: aurochs or aurochsen) is an extinct species of Bovini, bovine, considered to be the wild ancestor of modern domestic cattle. With a shoulder height of up to in bulls and in cows, it was one of t ...
” (compare with ), stemming from a
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
word: ''*ūruz''. ;Old English rune poem


Old Norse name

The
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
name is variously recorded as ''Ur'', meaning some type of cold damp and windy precipitation weather, but the definition warries slightly between the
Nordic languages The North Germanic languages make up one of the three branches of the Germanic languages—a sub-family of the Indo-European languages—along with the West Germanic languages and the extinct East Germanic languages. The language group is also r ...
. In
Old Icelandic Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their ...
, the word ''úr'' is recorded as meaning "
drizzle Drizzle is a light precipitation which consists of liquid water drops that are smaller than those of rain – generally smaller than in diameter. Drizzle is normally produced by low stratiform clouds and stratocumulus clouds. Precipitation r ...
", "light rain" and thereof, in the sense of "cold and damp weather". In Old and Contemporary Swedish, the word (''ur'') essentially means "blustery and profuse
snowfall Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...
, sleet or
rain Rain is a form of precipitation where water drop (liquid), droplets that have condensation, condensed from Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water vapor fall under gravity. Rain is a major component of the water cycle and is res ...
" etc, if not outright "bad weather". The
Gotlandic Gotlandic () is the form of Swedish spoken on the islands of Gotland and Fårö in the Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Pola ...
variation ''starur'' ("
starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...
-ur") specifically refers to the last snowfall of the season. In Danish and Norwegian, the word (''ur'') is said to mean "northern rainclouds", or just "rainclouds", but also "cold, biting draft" and thereof etc. There is also a variant, ''ýr'' (''yr''), in all Nordic languages, meaning "drizzle" in Old Icelandic, including "fine dense snowfall" and "snowstorm" in Norwegian and Swedish. A derivative, ''yra'', a verb, also exist, meaning "to drizzle" and thereof in Old Icelandic, and "swirl, whirl, drift", in the sense of snow, sand, dust affected by the wind, in Swedish, etc. Úr is related to , "wave, sea", potentially also "
urine Urine is a liquid by-product of metabolism in humans and many other animals. In placental mammals, urine flows from the Kidney (vertebrates), kidneys through the ureters to the urinary bladder and exits the urethra through the penile meatus (mal ...
". It stems from a
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
word: ''*ūrą'', possibly begun by a w-, as found in related words (, "pus",
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
: ''wær'', "sea") and historical variants of ''úr'' (
Old Swedish Old Swedish ( Modern Swedish: ) is the name for two distinct stages of the Swedish language that were spoken in the Middle Ages: Early Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1225 until about 1375, and Late Old Swedish (), spoken from about 1375 unti ...
: ''vur''), as Proto-Germanic words starting with a ''w'', followed by ''o'' or ''u'', generally lost the ''w''-sound when evolving from
Proto-Norse Proto-Norse (also called Ancient Nordic; Danish and ; ; ; ) was an Indo-European language spoken in Scandinavia that is thought to have evolved as a northern dialect of Proto-Germanic in the first centuries CE. It is the earliest stage of a c ...
into
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
(compare , "wolf", ).


Norwegian rune poem

The Norwegian rune poem is the earliest recorded Norse rune poem, recorded in the 13th century. It records the name as ''úr'', but with a unique sense not recorded elsewhere, with the
Old Norwegian Old Norwegian ( and ), also called Norwegian Norse, is an early form of the Norwegian language that was spoken between the 11th and 14th century; it is a transitional stage between Old West Norse and Middle Norwegian. Its distinction from O ...
meaning of "
dross Dross is a mass of solid impurities floating on a molten metal or dispersed in the metal, such as in wrought iron. It forms on the surface of low- melting-point metals such as tin, lead, zinc or aluminium or alloys by oxidation of the metal. Fo ...
,
slag The general term slag may be a by-product or co-product of smelting (pyrometallurgical) ores and recycled metals depending on the type of material being produced. Slag is mainly a mixture of metal oxides and silicon dioxide. Broadly, it can be c ...
". This sense is obscure, but may be an
Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
technical term derived from the word for water (compare the
Kalevala The ''Kalevala'' () is a 19th-century compilation of epic poetry, compiled by Elias Lönnrot from Karelian and Finnish oral folklore and mythology, telling a story about the Creation of the Earth, describing the controversies and retaliatory ...
, where
iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...
is compared to milk).


Icelandic rune poems

In the Icelandic rune poems, recorded in the 16th century, the rune is named ''úr'', describing some type of cold damp and windy precipitation weather. There are several Icelandic manuscripts with rune poems, all varying to some degree. The oldest manustript, catalogued as ''AM 687 d 4°'', is from around 1500. The second oldest, catalogued as ''AM 461 12° '', is from around 1550. These have been noted to be hard to read, thus the transliterations might be incorrect.


Icelandic Manuscript AM 687 d 4°

AM687d, written around 1500, has lost a lot of readability due to the pergament being folded and damaged over the years, but copies have been made since the 18th century. The original scribe used
diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...
abbreviation symbols to save space, which are hard to make out at a first glance. These symbols are based on period
Arabic numerals The ten Arabic numerals (0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9) are the most commonly used symbols for writing numbers. The term often also implies a positional notation number with a decimal base, in particular when contrasted with Roman numera ...
, but are hard to identify, yet appear to be the following, or thereof: -r⁰, -ar¹, -ur², -er³, -re⁴/-ræ⁴, -ra⁵. The poem ends with a Latin phrase of unknown meaning. Below, an attempt at recreating the original text with available
Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...
-characters is shown, as to convey how hard the original text is to read. Letter sequences that cannot now be identified are inserted, for convenience of reading, within square brackets on the evidence either of the available space or of related texts.


Icelandic Manuscript AM 461 12°

AM461 is slightly younger than AM687d, written around 1550, and less complete, lacking
Algiz (also Elhaz) is the name conventionally given to the "''z''-rune" of the Elder Futhark runic alphabet. Its transliteration is ''z'', understood as a phoneme of the Proto-Germanic language, the terminal ''*z'' continuing Proto-Indo-Europe ...
�rfor example. It has been noted by American Old Norse scholar Jackson Crawford to be very difficult to make out.


Variants


(Ȳr) – Anglo-Frisian Futhorc

The Anglo-Frisian Futhark has a modified Ūr , fitted with a detached vertical line in the cavity , which was given the sound value . It was named ''Ȳr'' and corresponded to the letter y in the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
. Its position in the Anglo-Frisian rune-row differs between sources and was probably never standardised, but today it is generally placed at position 27.


(stung Úr) – Norse Younger Futhark

In the 11th century, a new writing rule was introduced to the Younger Futhark, in the form of ''stung runes'' (also called ''dotted runes''), in which ''stings'', i.e. dots, could be added to a rune to indicate a secondary sound value. The ''stung Úr'' primarily carried the sound value and corresponds to the letter y in the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
(unicode name: ''Runic Letter Y''), but it also carries the sound value and seldom even , the latter of which was also carried by the '' stung Fé'' (unicode name: ''Runic Letter V''). During this late Younger Futhark period, the sound value was synonymously carried by the rune Yr , as its previous sound value, , was given to the rune Reið . In the following medieval runic alphabet, the sound value was covered by its own rune, a reversed '' Óss'' (unicode: ''Runic Letter Oe''). Stung runes are not separate runes from their base form in the Futhark order and thus has the same positions as their main counterpart. In the medieval runic alphabet they instead has the position of their corresponding Latin character.


Footnotes


References

{{Runes Runes Aurochs