Haglaz

File:H-rune.jpg

Various forms of the haglaz rune in the Elder Futhark

*Haglaz or *Hagalaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the h-rune ᚺ, meaning "hail" (the precipitation).

In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is continued as hægl, and, in the Younger Futhark, as ᚼ hagall. The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌷 h h, named hagl.

The Elder Futhark letter has two variants, single-barred ᚺ and double-barred ᚻ. The double-barred variant is found in continental inscriptions, while Scandinavian inscriptions have exclusively the single-barred variant.

The Anglo-Frisian futhorc in early inscriptions has the Scandinavian single-barred variant. From the 7th century, it is replaced by the continental double-barred variant, the first known instances being found on a Harlingen solidus (ca. 575–625), and in the Christogram on St Cuthbert's coffin.

Haglaz is recorded in all three rune poems:

Rune Poem:	English Translation:
Old Norwegian Hagall er kaldastr korna; Kristr skóp hæimenn forna.	Hail is the coldest of grain; Christ created the world of old.
Old Icelandic Hagall er kaldakorn ok krapadrífa ok snáka sótt.	Hail is cold grain and shower of sleet and sickness of serpents.
Anglo-Saxon Hægl bẏþ hƿitust corna; hƿẏrft hit of heofones lẏfte, ƿealcaþ hit ƿindes scura; ƿeorþeþ hit to ƿætere sẏððan.	Hail is the whitest of grain; it is whirled from the vault of heaven and is tossed about by gusts of wind and then it melts into water.

See also

• Elder Futhark
• Rune poem
• Hagal (Armanen rune)