NameProto-GermanicOld EnglishOld Norse
*NaudizNȳdNauðr
"need, hardship"
ShapeElder FutharkFuthorcYounger Futhark
Unicode
U+16BE
U+16BE
U+16BF
Transliterationn
Transcriptionn
IPA[n]
Position in
rune-row
108

*Naudiz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the n-rune , meaning "need, distress". In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as nyd, in the Younger Futhark as , Icelandic naud and Old Norse nauðr. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌽 n, named nauþs. The valkyrie Sigrdrífa in Sigrdrífumál talks (to Sigurd) about the rune as a beer-rune and that "You should learn beer-runes if you don’t want another man’s wife to abuse your trust if you have a tryst. Carve them on the drinking-horn and on the back of your hand, and carve the rune ᚾ on your fingernail."

The rune is recorded in all three rune poems:

Rune Poem:[1] English Translation:

Old Norwegian
Nauðr gerer næppa koste;
nøktan kælr í froste.


Constraint gives scant choice;
a naked man is chilled by the frost.

Old Icelandic
Nauð er Þýjar þrá
ok þungr kostr
ok vássamlig verk.
opera niflungr.


Constraint is grief of the bond-maid
and state of oppression
and toilsome work.

Anglo-Saxon
Nẏd bẏþ nearu on breostan;
ƿeorþeþ hi þeah oft niþa bearnum
to helpe and to hæle gehƿæþre,
gif hi his hlẏstaþ æror.


Trouble is oppressive to the heart;
yet often it proves a source of help and salvation
to the children of men, to everyone who heeds it betimes.

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ Original poems and translation from the Rune Poem Page Archived 1999-05-01 at the Wayback Machine.