Uruz Rune Meaning — the Aurochs and the ᚢ Rune Explained
Uruz (ᚢ) is the second rune of the Elder Futhark and it means "aurochs" — the wild ox, a huge and now-extinct bovine that once roamed the forests of Europe. It carries the sound u and appears in all three historical futharks: as Uruz in the Elder Futhark, as Úr in the Viking-Age Younger Futhark (where its sense shifted to "drizzle" or "slag"), and as Ur in the Anglo-Saxon Futhorc.
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What does Uruz mean?
The name goes back to a Proto-Germanic word for the aurochs (Bos primigenius), the wild ancestor of modern cattle. The aurochs was enormous, fast and famously dangerous — Julius Caesar remarked on the beasts in the Hercynian forest — and it was hunted until the very last one died in Poland in 1627. To the people who carved this rune, Uruz stood for raw physical strength, wild vitality and untamed nature, in contrast to the tame, countable wealth of the Fehu rune that precedes it.
Interestingly, the meaning did not stay fixed. In the Younger Futhark used across Viking-Age Scandinavia, the rune's name Úr came to mean drizzling rain — and in some readings the slag left over from iron-working. The Old English tradition, by contrast, kept the wild ox. We can watch that split happen in the rune poems themselves.
Uruz in the three rune poems
Úr er af illu jarne; opt løypr ræinn á hjarne.
"Dross rises from poor iron; the reindeer runs swift over the frozen crust." — Norwegian Rune Poem, c. 13th century
Úr er skýja grátr ok skára þverrir ok hirðis hatr.
"The shower is the weeping of the clouds, ruin of the mown hay, and the herdsman's bane." — Icelandic Rune Poem, c. 15th century
Ur byþ anmod ond oferhyrned, felafrecne deor, feohteþ mid hornum, mære morstapa; þæt is modig wuht.
"The aurochs is proud and high-horned, a savage beast that battles with its horns — a bold ranger of the moors." — Old English Rune Poem, c. 8th–9th century
Notice that the two Norse poems describe rain, iron-slag and the ruin of hay — the Scandinavian Úr — while the Old English poem gives us the proud, high-horned wild ox. Same rune, two traditions that pulled its meaning in different directions. Honest history is more interesting than the tidy single "strength" keyword you often see online.
How to write Uruz
Uruz stands for the sound u. Any name or word containing a U will use ᚢ 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.
Uruz, strength and the wild ox
Because the aurochs was the largest and most powerful animal a Germanic hunter was likely to face, Uruz became a natural emblem of strength, endurance and courage — qualities the Norse prized. It sits early in the rune row for a reason: after the wealth of Fehu comes the untamed power needed to win and defend it. You can read every rune in order in our Elder Futhark rune meanings guide, and runic inscriptions appear across our Viking jewelry collection.
Uruz FAQ
What does the Uruz rune mean?
Uruz (ᚢ) is the second rune of the Elder Futhark and means "aurochs" — the wild ox. It stands for raw strength, endurance and untamed vitality. In the later Younger Futhark its name Úr shifted to mean drizzle or rain.
What letter does Uruz represent?
The vowel U. It is the second rune of the Elder Futhark row, following Fehu.
Why does Uruz mean both "ox" and "rain"?
The Elder Futhark and Anglo-Saxon traditions kept the original sense of aurochs, the wild ox. In Viking-Age Scandinavia the rune's name Úr came to mean drizzling rain (and, in some readings, iron-slag), which is why the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems describe weather rather than a beast.