title: Laguz
text: # Laguz
  
  | Name | Proto-Germanic | Old English | Old Norse |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Name | *Laguz/*Laukaz | Lagu | Lögr |
  | Name | "lake"/"leek" | "ocean, sea" | "water, waterfall" |
  | Shape | Elder Futhark | Futhorc | Younger Futhark |
  | Unicode | ᛚ U+16DA | ᛚ U+16DA | ᛚ U+16DA |
  | Transliteration | l | l | l |
  | Transcription | l | l | l |
  | IPA | [l] | [l] | [l] |
  | Position in rune-row | 21 | 21 | 15 |
  
  *Laguz or *Laukaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the l-rune ᛚ, *laguz meaning "water" or "lake" and *laukaz meaning "leek". In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called lagu "ocean". In the Younger Futhark, the rune is called lögr "waterfall" in Icelandic and logr "water" in Norse.
  
  The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌻 l, named lagus. The rune is identical in shape to the letter l in the Raetic alphabet.
  
  The "leek" hypothesis is based not on the rune poems, but rather on early inscriptions where the rune has been hypothesized to abbreviate *laukaz, a symbol of fertility, see the Bülach fibula.
  
  | Rune Poem: | English Translation: |
  | - | - |
  | Old Norwegian ᛚ Lögr er, fællr ór fjalle foss; en gull ero nosser. | A waterfall is a River which falls from a mountain-side; but ornaments are of gold. |
  | Old Icelandic ᛚ Lögr er vellanda vatn ok viðr ketill ok glömmungr grund. lacus lofðungr. | Water is eddying stream and broad geysir and land of the fish. |
  | Anglo-Saxon ᛚ Lagu bẏþ leodum langsum geþuht, gif hi sculun neþan on nacan tealtum and hi sæẏþa sƿẏþe bregaþ and se brimhengest bridles ne gẏm[eð]. | The ocean seems interminable to men, if they venture on the rolling bark and the waves of the sea terrify them and the stallion of the deep heed not its bridle. |
  