Algiz

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Algiz rune

Algiz, sometimes Elhaz, is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name for the ᛉ rune, representing the Proto-Germanic terminal -z (from PIE word-final *-s). The reconstructed name algiz ("elk") is based on the name of the Anglo-Saxon eolh ("elk") which is of the same shape but represented a different sound. Like much of the Proto-Germanic language, it is not attested to in any known text.

Like the Ing-rune, Algiz differs from the other runes because it was named acrophonically, since the sound it represents is a suffix. The Proto-Germanic terminal z (continuing Proto-Indo-European terminal s) became obsolete, and the rune is usually transcribed as R for Proto-Norse and Old Norse. The sound eventually became the terminal -r in Old Norse, but its continuation in the yr-rune (see below) shows that there was still a phonemic difference between -r and -R in Old East Norse (the Swedish and Danish dialect of Old Norse) in the 11th century.

1 History
2 Modern usage
- 2.1 Guido von List and influence
- 2.2 Germanic neopaganism
3 References
4 See also

In the Elder Futhark, the reconstructed name Algiz is given to the rune. Algiz represents the sound of the letter "Z" in the Elder Futhark. In the 6th century, the Elder Futhark began to be replaced by the Younger Futhark in Scandinavia.

In the Gothic alphabet, the Gothic letter , called Ezec, is identified with the rune. Like the Elder Futhark, the sound value of the term was that of "Z" but the name of the rune is of uncertain meaning.^[1]

Recorded in the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, the shape of the rune appears in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc alphabet, as ᛉ Eolh. However, instead of representing the sounds of the letter "Z" as in the Elder Futhark and Gothic Futhark, it here represents the sound of the letter "X".^[1]

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem

Eolh-secg eard hæfþ oftust on fenne

wexeð on wature, wundaþ grimme

blode breneð beorna gehwylcne

ðe him ænigne onfeng gedeþ.

Modern English translation^{[citation needed]}

The Elk-sedge is mostly to be found in a marsh;

it grows in the water and makes a ghastly wound,

covering with blood every warrior who touches it.

As the Younger Futhark gradually began to replace the Elder Futhark, the shape of the Algiz rune appears again as Yr ᛦ "yew". The shape is also continued in another character in the Younger Futhark; Maðr ᛘ ("man"), replacing the Elder Futhark ᛗ Mannaz.

The Madr and Yr runes in Guido von List's Armanen Futharkh were very loosely based on the Younger Futhark. List's runes were later adopted and modified by Karl Maria Wiligut who was responsible for their adoptions by the NSDAP and subsequently used widely on insignia and literature during the Third Reich.

Based on this association, the rune is still used by various Neo-Nazi groups like the National Alliance.^[2]

Various forms of the Algiz rune are commonly used by various Germanic neopagan groups as a symbol of their religion.

^ ^a ^b Van Kirk Dobbie, Elliott. The Anglo-Saxon Minor Poems (1942) ISBN 0231087705
^ From the official National Alliance website: "The Life Rune signifies life, creation, birth, rebirth, and renewal. It expresses in a single symbol the raison d’etre of the National Alliance and of the movement of Aryan renewal." [1] The symbol is used throughout the website.