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 texts)
Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned,
felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum
mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.Úr er af illu jarne;
opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.Úr er skýja grátr
ok skára þverrir
ok hirðis hatr.
umbre vísi.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: 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.