Sowilo Rune Meaning — the Sun and the ᛋ Rune Explained
Sowilo (ᛋ) is the sixteenth rune of the Elder Futhark and it means "sun" — the sun itself, source of light and warmth. It carries the sound s and appears in all three historical futharks: as Sowilo in the Elder Futhark, Sól in the Viking-Age Younger Futhark, and Sigel in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
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What does Sowilo mean?
The name comes from a Proto-Germanic word for the sun, related to the same root that gives Old Norse sól and Old English sigel. To the Norse and Anglo-Saxons alike, the sun rune meant exactly what it looks like: light, guidance and the life-giving warmth that a northern climate could never take for granted. Unlike runes such as Kenaz or Ansuz, Sowilo's meaning did not fracture between traditions — all three rune poems below treat it as the sun itself.
One honesty note worth stating plainly: the doubled ᛋᛋ "Sig-runes" were adopted as the SS insignia by the Nazi Party in the twentieth century, and that association still surfaces online. It has nothing to do with the rune's historical meaning. In the Elder Futhark, in Viking-Age Scandinavia and in Anglo-Saxon England, centuries earlier, Sowilo, Sól and Sigel simply meant the sun.
Sowilo in the three rune poems
Sól er landa ljóme; lúti ek helgum dóme.
"The sun is the light of the lands; before the holy, I bow." — Norwegian Rune Poem, c. 13th century
Sól er skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok ísa aldrtregi.
"The sun is the shield of the clouds, a shining radiance, and the lifelong grief of the ice." — Icelandic Rune Poem, c. 15th century
Sigel semannum symble biþ on hihte, ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ, oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande.
"The sun is ever the sailor's joy, as they bear across the fish's bath, till the sea-steed brings them to land." — Old English Rune Poem, c. 8th–9th century
All three poems agree on the sun's role as a guiding, protective light: a shield against the clouds in the Icelandic verse, an object of reverence in the Norwegian, and the sailor's hope for safe landfall in the Old English poem — fitting for seafaring cultures that navigated by it.
How to write Sowilo
Sowilo stands for the sound s. Any name or word containing an S will use ᛋ 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.
Sowilo and the sun in Norse life
The sun mattered enormously to a seafaring, agricultural people at northern latitudes, where daylight hours swing dramatically across the year — it is fitting that one of the Elder Futhark's later runes closes with light rather than darkness. You can read every rune in order in our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide, and runic inscriptions appear across our Viking jewelry collection.
Sowilo FAQ
What does the Sowilo rune mean?
Sowilo (ᛋ) is the sixteenth rune of the Elder Futhark and means "sun." It stands for light, guidance and warmth in all three rune-poem traditions, and its sound value is S.
What letter does Sowilo represent?
The consonant S. Its Younger Futhark form is Sól and its Anglo-Saxon Futhorc form is Sigel — both also meaning "sun."
Is the Sowilo rune connected to the SS symbol?
No. The doubled ᛋᛋ "Sig-runes" were appropriated as an insignia by the Nazi Party in the 20th century. That modern misuse is unrelated to the rune's actual historical meaning, which is simply the sun, attested in Elder Futhark, Viking-Age and Anglo-Saxon sources centuries earlier.