Rune 6 of 24 · Freyr's aett
Kaunan
“sore, ulcer (Norse kaun); torch in Old English” · sound: k
Can be drawn reversed when reversals are on.
Historical evidence
The Norse poems name it kaun, a sore or ulcer. The Old English poem calls it cen, a torch burning bright where nobles rest. Modern practice often calls it Kenaz and follows the torch.
The name Kaunan is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems (original texts)
Cen byþ cwicera gehwam, cuþ on fyre
blac ond beorhtlic, byrneþ oftust
ðær hi æþelingas inne restaþ.Kaun er barna bǫlvan;
bǫl gǫrver nán fǫlvan.Kaun er barna böl
ok bardaga [för]
ok holdfúa hús
flagella konungr.Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The summary above is Scryway’s own; no translation is reproduced.
Modern interpretation
From 20th-century and later divinatory practice, written for Scryway. Not a historical meaning.
Keywords: light, insight, craft
Upright
A light that reveals: understanding, skill or creative fire. Something becomes clear.
Reversed
Something festering or hidden. Insight is blocked, or a skill is going unused.