Jellinge beast
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”)

Thurisaz

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. 

The Woden’s Harrow website contains Real Audio sound files of the Elder Futhark.

 Elder futhark runes

This video provides helpful pronunciation of the elder futhark runes.


 

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