Fehu

The Fe rune ᚠ (Old Norse fé; Old English feoh) represents the f-sound in the Younger Futhark and Futhorc alphabets. Its name means "(mobile) wealth", cognate to English fee with the original meaning of "sheep" or "cattle" (Dutch Vee, German Vieh, Latin pecū, Sanskrit pashu).

NameProto-GermanicOld EnglishOld Norse
*FehuFeohFé
"livestock, wealth"
ShapeElder FutharkFuthorcYounger Futhark
Unicodeᚠ
U+16A0
Transliterationf
Transcriptionf
IPA[f]
Position in
rune-row		1

The rune derives from the unattested but reconstructed Proto-Germanic *fehu in the Elder Futhark alphabet, with the original meaning of "money, cattle, wealth".[1]

The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is 𐍆 f, called faihu. Such correspondence between all rune poems and the Gothic letter name, as well, is uncommon, and gives the reconstructed name of the Old Futhark a high degree of certainty.

The shape of the rune is likely based on Etruscan v 𐌅 , like Greek Digamma Ϝ and Latin F ultimately from Phoenician waw .

Rune poems

The name is recorded in all three rune poems:

Rune Poem:[2] English Translation:

Old Norwegian
ᚠ Fé vældr frænda róge;
føðesk ulfr í skóge.


Wealth is a source of discord amongst kin;
the wolf lives in the forest.

Old Icelandic
ᚠ Fé er frænda róg
ok flæðar viti
ok grafseiðs gata
aurum fylkir.


Wealth is a source of discord amongst kin
and fire of the sea
and path of the serpent.

Anglo-Saxon
ᚠ Feoh byþ frofur fira gehƿylcum;
sceal ðeah manna gehƿylc miclun hyt dælan
gif he ƿile for drihtne domes hleotan.


Wealth is a comfort to all;
yet must everyone bestow it freely,
if they wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.

See also

References
  1. Page, Raymond I. (2005) Runes. The British Museum Press. p. 15. ISBN 0-7141-8065-3
  2. Original poems and translation from the Rune Poem Page.
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