Name | Proto-Germanic | Old English | Old Norse |
---|---|---|---|
*Laguz/*Laukaz | Lagu | Lögr | |
"lake"/"leek" | "ocean, sea" | "water, waterfall" | |
Shape | Elder Futhark | Futhorc | Younger Futhark |
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Unicode | ᛚ U+16DA | ||
Transliteration | l | ||
Transcription | l | ||
IPA | [l] | ||
Position in rune-row | 21 | 15 |
*Laguz or*Laukaz is the reconstructedProto-Germanic name of thel-runeᛚ,*laguz meaning "water" or "lake" and*laukaz meaning "leek". In theAnglo-Saxonrune poem, it is calledlagu "ocean". In theYounger Futhark, the rune is calledlögr "waterfall" in Icelandic andlogr "water" in Norse.
The name of the correspondingGothic letter (𐌻,l) is attested aslaaz in theCodex Vindobonensis 795; a normalized (Ulfilan) Gothic form*lagus is thought to underlie this unconventional spelling.
The rune is identical in shape to the letterl in theRaetic alphabet.
The "leek" hypothesis is based not on the rune poems, but rather on early inscriptions where the rune has been hypothesized to abbreviate*laukaz, a symbol of fertility, see theBülach fibula.
Rune Poem:[1] | English Translation: |
ᛚ Lögr er, fællr ór fjalle foss; | A waterfall is a River which falls from a mountain-side; |
ᛚ Lögr er vellanda vatn | Water is eddying stream |
ᛚ Lagu bẏþ leodum langsum geþuht, | The ocean seems interminable to men, |
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