Pronunciation of Rune Names
Rune | Name | Letter | Phonetic Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fehu | Fehu “fay-who” | F | f as in “fire” |
| Uruz | Uruz “ooo-rooze” | U | oo as in “booze” (might be pronounced: oo as in “book”) |
| Thu | Thurisaz “thoor-ee-saws” | TH | unvoiced th as in “thorn” (never th as in “the”) |
| Ansuz | Ansuz “awn-sooze | A | a as in “awning”, “call” or “law” |
| Raidho | Raidho “rye-though | R | r as in “ride” |
| Kenaz | Kenaz “kane-awze | K or C | k as in “kick”, or hard c as in “cane”. |
| Gebo | Gebo “gay-boe” or “yee-boe” | G | hard g as in “gift” , y as in “yes”, or silent |
| Wunjo | Wunjo “woon-yo” | W or V | w as in “warm”, with lips close together, almost like a “v”. |
| Hagalaz | Hagalaz “haw-gaw-laws” | H | h as in “hail”, aspirate “h” as in modern English |
| Nauthiz | Nauthiz “now-these” | N | n as in “need” |
| IsA | Isa “ee-saw” | I | ee as in “sleep” |
| Jera | Jera “yare-awe” | J or Y | y as in “year” or j as in “jaw”. |
| Eihwaz | Eihwaz “eye-wawz” | EI | i as in “pride”, possibly short i as in “pick” |
| Perthro | Perthro “perth-row” | P | p as in “poem” |
| Algiz | Algiz “all-yeese” or Elhaz “ale-hawz” | Z or -R | z or final R |
| Sowilo | Sowilo “soe-wee-low” | S | s as in “sun” |
| Tiwaz | Tiwaz “tea-wawz” | T | t as in “Tuesday” |
| Berkano | Berkano “bear-kawn-oh” | B | b as in “birch” |
| Ehwaz | Ehwaz “ay-wawz” or Ehwo “ay-woh” | E | a as in “day” |
| Mannaz | Mannaz “mawn-nawz” | M | m as in “mankind” |
| Laguz | Laguz “law-gooze” | L | l as in “life” |
| Ingwaz | Ingwaz “eeeng-wawz” | NG | nasal sound as ng in “singer” |
| Dagaz | Dagaz “thaw-gauze” | D | voiced th as in “the” (never unvoiced th as in “thick”) or d as in “dog” |
| Othala | Othala “oath-awe-law” | O | o as in “oath” |
Since the Algiz symbol can represent a final rolling -R rather than a Z, one might substitute that sound wherever a Z appears above.
There are as many different pronunciations of the Elder Futhark rune sounds as there are runic authors. Since the names are modern re-creations of what is referred to as “proto-Indo-European”, which no longer exists (or perhaps never existed), your guess is as good as the next person’s.