ᚾ nauðr

Line of descent

History

n continues the Elder Futhark naudiz. The long-branch form ᚾ is a stave crossed by a single slanting stroke. In the short-twig form ᚿ the stroke shrinks to a short twig on one side of the stave. In medieval inscriptions the short-twig shape is often the normal n.

Its sound is n. Viking Age carvers often left n unwritten before consonants with the same place of articulation, especially before d, t, g and k. kubl for kumbl "monument" on the Jelling stones shows the same habit with m, and iklot for England on the Galteland stone (N 184) with n. Readers of rune stones learn to supply these silent nasals.

The name is Old Norse nauð, nauðr "need, distress, compulsion", matching Old English nyd and Gothic noicz as recorded in the Vienna manuscript. Both Scandinavian poems treat it in social terms. The Norwegian poem says that need "leaves a narrow choice", and a closely similar saying is recorded in Old Swedish. The Icelandic poem speaks of "the grief of the bondwoman" and "wearisome work". The second line of the Icelandic stanza is illegible in the oldest manuscript and is supplied from later copies.

Dickins cited a passage of the Eddic Sigrdrífumál (stanza 7) in which n is to be marked on a fingernail. Such literary references are the only medieval evidence for the use of single runes as symbols. They describe a literary world and say nothing about everyday writing.

In the rune poems

Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.

Where it is found

• Jelling stone 1 (DR 41): kurmR kunukR 'King Gormr'
• Galteland stone (N 184): iklot 'England', n unwritten before k
• Gørlev stone (DR 239), position 8 of the row

On inscriptions described on this site

Sources

• Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata), signa DR 41, N 184, DR 239
• Dickins (1915), notes to the Norwegian poem, stanza 8
• Wikipedia: Naudiz; Rune poem (checked 2026-10-26)