SowilÅ
Sowilo ( ᛊ ) is the sixteenth rune of the Elder Futhark ( the eighth rune in the second ätt ) and the eleventh rune of Norse runic alphabet with the phonetic value of s The name means "sun" and appears in the runic poems as Old Norse Sol, Old English sigel or gothic sugil.
Sowilo Rune, younger ("S" - ) variant
Variant of the Younger Futhark ( Sigel / Sol )
Etymology
The Germanic words for " sun " alternate between an l and an n- stem. The reconstructed proto- Germanic form * or * sowilo SOWULO competes with the form * sunnon. This is probably the remnant of a heteroclitic ( irregular ) declination of the Primitive Indo-European (possibly * seh ₂ - wol, genitive * seh ₂ - wén -s, etc.). In the individual Germanic languages variants exist both forms well at least in the lyrical range also nebeneninander:
" Sol heitir meth Monnom, / hen svnna meth Gothom ... "
" Sol ' tell the people / and Sunnah ' the gods ... "
Other examples are Suhil in Old High German sunna over and sunne in Old English against sigel.
Phonetic value
The phonetic value of ᛊ - rune is the Germanic s, ie the voiceless alveolar fricative [s ], or the Old High German and Middle High German in the early extant voiceless palatal fricative alveolar- [ ɕ ].
The transcription is usually done by the Latin letter p
Development and variants
The Sowilo rune is demonstrated in two variants: a sigma -shaped with four, six or even eight strokes, which appears preferable in older inscriptions ( 3rd to 5th century AD), as well as an S-shaped with three strokes (mainly in inscriptions from the 5th to 7th century).
In the Younger Futhark, both in the Scandinavian ( Sol ) as well as in the Anglo-Saxon variant ( Sigel ), the rune is rotated slightly so that the outer lines are perpendicular.
In the short- branch runes, a variant of the Younger Futhark, the character has been simplified to an overhead vertical line, reminiscent of the apostrophe replacement character (').
Rune poems
Old Norse
Sól he ljóme landa; Luti ek Helgum Dome.
Sun is the light of the world; I bow to the divine decision.
Old Icelandic
Sól he skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok Iša aldrtregi.
Sun is the shield of the clouds and translucent beam and destroyer of ice.
Sigel semannum symble bith on hihte, Donne hi hine ofer feriaþ fisces Beth, OTH hi brimhengest bringeth to country.
The sun is ever a joy for the hope of sailors, when they travel through the washing of fish, until the vehicle on the depth she brings to the country.
Use in modern times
The Sig " rune " is an invention of the author and nationalist esotericist Guido von List in 1902 from the " Armanenfuthark " (s) whose shape in contrast to the invented name and the equally fictional interpretation loosely based on the Sowilo Rune.
The National Socialists took Lists runes under the Germanized name " victory rune ", among other things, the logo of the Schutzstaffel (SS) and in a simple form as a sign of German young people, and of the Hitler Youth.