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| Name | Proto-Germanic | Old English | Old Norse | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *Sōwilō | Sigel | Sól | ||
| "Sun" | ||||
| Shape | Elder Futhark | Futhorc | Younger Futhark | |
  |  | |||
| Unicode | ᛊ U+16CA | ᛋ U+16CB | ᛋ U+16CB | ᛌ U+16CC |
| Transliteration | s | |||
| Transcription | s | s,z | ||
| IPA | [s] | [s],[z] | ||
| Position in rune-row | 16 | 11 | ||
Sowilo (*sōwilō), meaning "sun", is the reconstructedProto-Germanic language name of thes-rune (ᛊ,ᛋ).
The letter is a direct adoption ofOld Italic (Etruscan or Latin)s (𐌔), ultimately from Greeksigma (Σ). It is present in the earliest inscriptions of the 2nd to 3rd century (Vimose,Kovel).
The name is attested for the same rune in all threeRune Poems. It appears asOld Norse andOld IcelandicSól and asOld EnglishSigel.
The Germanic words for "Sun" have the peculiarity ofalternating between-l- and-n- stems,Proto-Germanic*sunnon (Old Englishsunne, Old Norse, Old Saxon and Old High Germansunna) vs. *sōwilō or *sōwulō (Old Norsesól, Gothicsauil, also Old High German forms such assuhil). This continues aProto-Indo-European alternation*suwen- vs.*sewol- (Avestanxᵛə̄ṇg vs.Latinsōl, Greekhelios, Sanskritsurya, Welshhaul, Bretonheol, Old Irishsuil "eye"), a remnant of an archaicheteroclitic declension pattern that remained productive only in theAnatolian languages.[citation needed]
The Old English name of the rune, writtensigel (pronounced/ˈsɪ.jel/) is most often explained as a remnant of an otherwise extinctl-stem variant of the word for "Sun" (meaning that the spelling withg is unetymological),[1] but alternative suggestions have been put forward,[2][3][4] such as deriving it from Latinsigillum (assuming that they is the unetymological element instead).[5]
TheElder Futharks rune is attested in main two variants, a "Σ shape" (four strokes), more prevalent in earlier (3rd to 5th century) inscriptions (e.g.Kylver stone), and an "S shape" (three strokes), more prevalent in later (5th to 7th century) inscriptions (e.g.Golden horns of Gallehus,Seeland-II-C).
TheYounger FutharkSol and theAnglo-Saxon futhorcSigel runes are identical in shape, a rotated version of the laterElder Futhark rune, with the middle stroke slanting upwards, and the initial and final strokes vertical.[citation needed]
The Anglo-Saxon runes developed a variant shape (ᚴ), called the "bookhand"s rune because it is probably inspired by thelong s (ſ) inInsular script. This variant form is used in thefuthorc given on theSeax of Beagnoth.[citation needed]
| Rune poem[6] | English translation |
|---|---|
Old Norwegian | Sun is the light of the world; |
Old Icelandic | Sun is the shield of the clouds |
Anglo-Saxon | The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers |
Guido von List used Sowilō as the basis for theArmanensig rune, also known as the "Siegrune". Unlike the rune used historically by theGermanic peoples, the name of which translates to "sun", he associated his new rune with "victory" (GermanSieg) based on similarity in sound with the name of the Anglo-Frisian runesigel.[citation needed]
The Armanen sig rune was adapted into the emblem of the SS in 1933 byWalter Heck.[7]Heck's design consisted of twosig runes drawn side by side like lightning bolts and was adopted by all branches of the SS.[8][9]