Laguz Rune Meaning — Water & Sea ᛚ Rune Explained
Laguz (ᛚ) is the 21st rune of the Elder Futhark and it means "water," "lake," or "sea" — the element that both fed and threatened the seafaring peoples of the North. It carries the sound l and appears in all three historical futharks: as Laguz in the Elder Futhark, Lǫgr in the Viking-Age Younger Futhark, and Lagu in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
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What does Laguz mean?
The name comes from Proto-Germanic *laguz, "water" or "sea," a root also behind English "lake" and related to Latin lacus. For a culture built around fjords, rivers and open-ocean voyages, water was never just scenery — it was the highway that carried Viking ships to trade, raid and settle, and just as often the force that swallowed them.
Each rune poem reaches for a different face of water: the Norwegian poem pairs a waterfall with gold, the Icelandic poem strings together kenning-like epithets — welling spring, wide cauldron, land of the fish — and the Old English poem is the most direct, describing the plain terror of a small boat on a rough sea. The core meaning does not shift between traditions the way some other runes do; what changes is which side of water each poem chooses to show.
Laguz in the three rune poems
Lǫgr er, fællr ór fjalle foss; en gull ero nosser.
"Water is the falls that plunge from the fell; but the treasures are of gold." — Norwegian Rune Poem, c. 13th century
Lögr er vellanda vatn ok viðr ketill ok glömmungr grund.
"Water is the welling spring, the wide cauldron, and the land of the fish." — Icelandic Rune Poem, c. 15th century
Lagu byþ leodum langsum geþuht, gif hi sculun neþan on nacan tealtum and hi sæyþa swyþe bregaþ and se brimhengest bridles ne gymeð.
"The sea seems endless to men who must brave a pitching boat, when the waves affright them and the sea-steed heeds no rein." — Old English Rune Poem, c. 8th–9th century
Where the Norwegian and Icelandic poems treat water almost as a resource — power, food, wealth washed up alongside it — the Old English poem gives us the sailor's-eye view: a small, "pitching boat," a sea that "heeds no rein," and a voyage that feels endless to the men riding it out. Together the three poems capture water as both provider and peril, which is exactly how Norse and Anglo-Saxon seafarers actually experienced it.
How to write Laguz
Laguz stands for the sound l. Any name or word containing an L will use ᛚ when transliterated — try it in our free rune translator, which writes your name in the Elder, Younger or Anglo-Saxon rows and lets you download it as a poster. The full texts of all three rune poems, with our translations, are on the same page.
Laguz and the Viking sea routes
Water carried the Viking world together — rivers into the Rus lands, fjords along the Norwegian coast, and open ocean as far as Iceland, Greenland and beyond. You can trace those same routes on our interactive Viking world map, read every rune in order in our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide, and browse runic pieces in our Viking jewelry collection.
Laguz FAQ
What does the Laguz rune mean?
Laguz (ᛚ) is the 21st rune of the Elder Futhark and means "water," "lake" or "sea." It represents both the danger and the life-giving, wealth-carrying power of water for seafaring Norse and Anglo-Saxon peoples.
Does Laguz's meaning change between the Elder and Younger Futhark?
No — Laguz keeps a consistent "water/sea" meaning as Elder Laguz, Younger Futhark Lǫgr, and Anglo-Saxon Lagu. What differs across the three rune poems is emphasis: the Norwegian and Icelandic poems lean toward water as a resource, while the Old English poem focuses on the peril of a sea voyage.
What letter does Laguz represent?
The consonant L. It is the 21st rune of the Elder Futhark row.