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Ýr
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Pronunciation: yur
Literal Meaning: Bow (archery), Yew
Other Names: None
Phonetic Value: Y
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| Rune Poems |
| Anglo Saxon |
Ýr byþ æþelinga and eorla gehwæs wyn and wyrþmynd, byþ on wicge fæger, fæstlic on færelde, fyrdgeatewa sum. |
| Ýr is to princes and earls alike a joy and honour, it is on a war steed fair, and it is steadfast war gear on a trip. |
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| Norwegian |
Ýr er vetrgrønstr viða; vænt er, er brennr, at sviða. |
| Ýr is the greenest of trees in winter; it is wont to crackle when it burns. |
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| Icelandic |
Ýr er bendr bogi ok brotgjarnt járn ok fífu fárbauti. arcus ynglingr. |
| Ýr is the bent bow and bitter iron and a fools craft. The youthful arch. |
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Yr is one of the characters created to compensate for the phonetic sounds not originally found in early Germanic languages. The differences in the three poems make it difficult to discern what the metaphorical meaning of this character might have been. One poem indicates it might be a bow, the other a tree, and the third is up to interpretation.
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A note on historical usage:
Several fallacies have found their way into the folklore of this rune.
- The character is not an inverted algiz, it is an adaption of the Elder Futhark Uraz.
- It is not historically the Totenrune or “death rune”, though the name was appropriated for that character in Nazi propaganda.
- Is does not represent man in one direction and woman when inverted. There is absolutely not historical basis for this idea.
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