Rune 2 of 24 · Freyr's aett
Uruz
“aurochs (wild ox)” · sound: u
Can be drawn reversed when reversals are on.
Historical evidence
The Old English poem (ur) describes the aurochs, the great wild ox of the moors, as fierce and high-horned. The Norse poems read úr differently: slag in the Norwegian poem, drizzle in the Icelandic.
The name Uruz is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems
Original
Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned,
felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum
mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.English
The aurochs is fierce and high-horned, a most dangerous beast; it fights with its horns, a great roamer of the moors; that is a brave creature.
Original
Úr er af illu jarne;
opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.English
Slag comes from bad iron; the reindeer often runs over frozen snow.
The Norwegian rhyme pairs each rune with a second line that rhymes with the first and often has no obvious connection to it.
Original
Úr er skýja grátr
ok skára þverrir
ok hirðis hatr.
umbre vísi.English
Drizzle is the weeping of clouds and the ruin of the hay harvest and the herdsman’s hatred. Shadow [Latin umbra]. Leader.
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: strength, vitality, untamed energy
Upright
Raw strength and stamina, physical or otherwise. Energy that is wild and has to be met directly rather than managed from a distance.
Reversed
Strength misdirected or running low. Fatigue, or force used where patience would serve better.