Rune 16 of 24 · Hagal's aett
Sowilo
“sun” · sound: s
Looks the same either way up: never reversed.
Historical evidence
The sun in all three poems (sigel, sól). The Old English poem calls it a hope to seafarers; the Icelandic poem calls it the shield of the clouds.
The name Sowilo is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems
Original
Sigel semannum symble biþ on hihte,
ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ,
oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande.English
The sun is always a hope to seafarers when they ferry [their ship] over the fishes’ bath, until the sea-steed brings them to land.
Original
Sól er landa ljóme;
lúti ek helgum dóme.English
The sun is the light of the lands; I bow to the holy judgement.
The Norwegian rhyme pairs each rune with a second line that rhymes with the first and often has no obvious connection to it.
Original
Sól er skýja skjöldr
ok skínandi röðull
ok ísa aldrtregi
rota siklingr.English
The sun is the shield of the clouds and a shining halo and the lifelong grief of ice. Wheel [Latin rota]. Descendant of Sigi.
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: success, vitality, guidance
Upright
Energy, health and success; the sun that lights the way and gives direction.