Rune 1 of 24 · Freyr's aett
Fehu
“cattle; movable wealth” · sound: f
Can be drawn reversed when reversals are on.
Historical evidence
Cattle were the measure of wealth in early Germanic society. All three rune poems name this rune for wealth (Old English feoh, Norse fé); the Old English poem says it must be shared freely, and both Norse poems say it causes strife among kin.
The name Fehu is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems
Original
Feoh byþ frofur fira gehwylcum;
sceal ðeah manna gehwylc miclun hyt dælan
gif he wile for drihtne domes hleotan.English
Wealth is a comfort to everyone; yet each must deal it out freely if he wants to win glory before the Lord.
Original
Fé vældr frænda róge;
føðesk ulfr í skóge.English
Wealth causes strife among kin; the wolf grows up in the forest.
The Norwegian rhyme pairs each rune with a second line that rhymes with the first and often has no obvious connection to it.
Original
Fé er frænda róg
ok flæðar viti
ok grafseiðs gata
aurum fylkir.English
Wealth is strife among kin and fire of the sea and the path of the serpent. Gold [Latin aurum]. Chieftain.
Each Icelandic stanza ends with two words: a Latin gloss of the rune’s name and a poetic word for a king or chieftain that alliterates with the rune. Both are translated as they stand.
Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The English translations are Scryway’s own, made line by line from these texts; square brackets mark uncertain or added words. No published translation is reproduced.
Modern interpretation
From 20th-century and later divinatory practice, written for Scryway. Not a historical meaning.
Keywords: wealth, earnings, what you have to give
Upright
Resources you have earned or been given, and what you do with them. A prompt to look at income, reward and generosity: what is flowing in, and what should flow on.
Reversed
Something of value slipping away, or held too tightly. Look at losses, debts, or wealth that is causing friction between people.