- Name
- *laguz (or *laukaz)
- Meaning
- water, lake; alternatively 'leek'
- Name known from
- Old English lagu 'water, sea' (rune poem), Old Norse lǫgr 'water' (Scandinavian poems); Gothic letter name laaz in Codex Vindobonensis 795; the alternative *laukaz 'leek' rests on the bracteate word laukaz
- Transliteration
- l
- Sound
- /l/
- Unicode
U+16DArunic letter laukaz lagu logr l
Line of descent
History
l is a stave with one branch falling from the top. It is generally taken as Latin L, turned and raised, and it hardly changed in any runic row.
Two names are proposed. The poems support *laguz "water". Old English lagu is the sea that frightens men in a tossing boat, and Old Norse lǫgr is water falling from a mountain or welling up. The Gothic name laaz is compatible with either name. Some scholars argue instead for *laukaz "leek", because the word laukaz appears by itself on several gold bracteates. There it is often interpreted as a formula word connected with growth or well-being, though that interpretation is not certain. The poems are late and could reflect a renaming, so the question is open.
l appears in hlewagastiz on the Gallehus horn, in erilaz on the Lindholm bone piece and in the word alu, one of the most frequent and least understood words in early runic inscriptions. Some bracteates carry laukaz alone, or with alu.
In the Younger Futhark the rune kept its shape and value as lǫgr. The Icelandic and Norwegian poems disagree slightly on its place: in one copy of the Icelandic poem l comes before m. In England it continued as lagu.
In the rune poems
gif hi sculun neþan on nacan tealtum
and hi sæyþa swyþe bregaþ
and se brimhengest bridles ne gym[eð].
if they must venture out in a tossing boat,
and the sea-waves terrify them greatly,
and the sea-steed does not heed its bridle.
foss; en gull ero nosser.
as a waterfall; but treasures are of gold.
ok víðr ketill
ok glömmungr grund.
and a wide cauldron
and the land of fish.
Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.
Where it is found
- Gallehus horn (DR 12): hlewagastiz
- Lindholm bone piece (DR 261): ek erilaz … alu
- Bracteate DR IK8: laukaz
On inscriptions described on this site
Sources
- Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata), signa DR 12, DR 261, DR IK8, DR IK166
- Dickins (1915), introduction to the Icelandic poem (order of the AM 413 copy) and note to Norwegian st. 15
- Wikipedia, 'Elder Futhark' (checked 2026-10-26), for laukaz and alu as bracteate words