{{short description|Runic alphabet letter}} {{Redirect|ᛋ|the archaic Greek letter|ϟ|the Old Italic letter|𐌔}} {{More citations needed|date=September 2010}} {{wiktionary|Sowilō}} {{infobox rune | lang1 = pg | lang2 = oe | lang3 = on | name1 = '''*Sōwilō''' | name2 = '''Sigel ''' | name3 = '''Sól''' | meaning13 = "[[Sól (sun)|Sun]]" | shape1 =[[File:Runic letter sowilo.svg|x50px|class=skin-invert-image]] [[File:Runic letter sowilo variant.svg|x50px|class=skin-invert-image]] | shape23 = [[File:Long-branch Sol.svg|x50px|class=skin-invert-image]] | unicode hex1 =16CA | unicode hex2 = 16CB | unicode hex3a = 16CB | unicode hex3b = 16CC | transliteration13 = '''s''' | transcription12 = ''s'' | transcription3 = ''s'', ''z'' | IPA12 = {{IPA|[s]}} | IPA3 = {{IPA|[s]}}, {{IPA|[z]}} | position12 = 16 | position3 = 11 }} {{Contains special characters|Runic|width=30em}} '''Sowilo''' (*''sōwilō''), meaning "sun", is the reconstructed [[Proto-Germanic language]] name of the ''s''-[[rune]] ('''ᛊ''', '''ᛋ''').
The letter is a direct adoption of [[Old Italic scripts|Old Italic]] (Etruscan or Latin) ''s'' (𐌔), ultimately from Greek [[sigma]] (Σ). It is present in the earliest inscriptions of the 2nd to 3rd century ([[Vimose inscriptions|Vimose]], [[Spearhead of Kovel|Kovel]]).
The name is attested for the same rune in all three [[Rune Poems]]. It appears as [[Old Norse]] and [[Old Icelandic]] '''Sól''' and as [[Old English]] '''Sigel'''.
==Name== {{see|Sól (Germanic mythology)}} {{wiktionary|Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sōwulō}} {{wiktionary|Reconstruction:Proto-Germanic/sunnǭ}} The Germanic words for "[[Sun]]" have the peculiarity of [[Alternation (linguistics)|alternating]] between ''-l-'' and ''-n-'' stems, [[Proto-Germanic]] ''*sunnon'' (Old English ''sunne'', Old Norse, Old Saxon and Old High German ''sunna'') vs. *''sōwilō'' or *''sōwulō'' (Old Norse ''sól'', Gothic ''sauil'', also Old High German forms such as ''suhil''). This continues a [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] alternation ''*suwen-'' vs. ''[[:wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/sóh₂wl̥|*sewol-]]'' ([[Avestan]] ''xᵛə̄ṇg'' vs. [[Latin]] ''[[Sol (Roman mythology)|sōl]]'', Greek ''helios'', Sanskrit ''[[surya]]'', Welsh ''haul'', Breton ''heol'', Old Irish ''suil'' "eye"), a remnant of an archaic [[heteroclitic]] declension pattern that remained productive only in the [[Anatolian languages]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}
The Old English name of the rune, written ''sigel'' (pronounced {{IPA|/ˈsɪ.jel/}}) is most often explained as a remnant of an otherwise extinct ''l-''stem variant of the word for "Sun" (meaning that the spelling with ''g'' is unetymological),<ref>following [[Jacob Grimm]], ''Über Diphtongen'' (1845)[https://archive.org/details/kleinereschrift15grimgoog/page/n135 <!-- quote=sigel sol rune. -->]; see also e.g. [[Joseph Bosworth (scholar)|Joseph Bosworth]], ''A dictionary of the Anglo-Saxon language'' (1838), s.v. "Sigel"</ref> but alternative suggestions have been put forward,<ref>{{cite book |last1=Schneider |first1=Karl |title=Die germanischen Runennamen Versuch einer Gesamtdeutung |date=1956 |publisher=A. Hain |oclc=583360120 |page=98 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Elliott |first1=Ralph Warren Victor |title=Runes: An Introduction |date=1980 |publisher=Manchester University Press |isbn=978-0-7190-0787-3 |page=56 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Halsall |first1=Maureen |title=The Old English Rune Poem: A Critical Edition |date=1981 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4875-9264-6 |page=133 }}</ref> such as deriving it from Latin ''sigillum'' (assuming that the ''y'' is the unetymological element instead).<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Simms |first1=Douglas P. A. |title=The Old English Name of the S-Rune and 'Sun' in Germanic |journal=Journal of Germanic Linguistics |date=March 2017 |volume=29 |issue=1 |pages=26–49 |doi=10.1017/S1470542716000192 |s2cid=172081569 }}</ref>
==Development and variants== [[Image:Evolution of Sowilo rune.jpg|right|thumb|upright=1.36|The evolution of the rune in the Elder Futhark during the centuries.]] The [[Elder Futhark]] ''s'' rune is attested in main two variants, a "[[Sigma|Σ]] shape" (four strokes), more prevalent in earlier (3rd to 5th century) inscriptions (e.g. [[Kylver stone]]), and an "[[S]] shape" (three strokes), more prevalent in later (5th to 7th century) inscriptions (e.g. [[Golden horns of Gallehus]], [[Seeland-II-C]]). <!--Coincidentally, the [[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]] letter [[šin]] from which the [[Old Italic alphabet|Old Italic]] ''s'' letter ancestral to the rune was derived was itself named after the Sun, [[shamash]], based on the Egyptian [[uraeus]] hieroglyph.{{cn}} -->
The [[Younger Futhark]] ''Sol'' and the [[Anglo-Saxon futhorc]] ''Sigel'' runes are identical in shape, a rotated version of the later [[Elder Futhark]] rune, with the middle stroke slanting upwards, and the initial and final strokes vertical.{{cn|date=April 2024}}
The Anglo-Saxon runes developed a variant shape ({{runic|ᚴ}}), called the "bookhand" ''s'' rune because it is probably inspired by the [[long s]] (ſ) in [[Insular script]]. This variant form is used in the ''futhorc'' given on the [[Seax of Beagnoth]].{{cn|date=April 2024}}
==Rune poems== {| class="wikitable" ! Rune poem<ref>Original poems and translation from the [http://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html Rune Poem Page] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/19990501094729/http://www.ragweedforge.com/poems.html |date=1999-05-01 }}.</ref> ! English translation |- | <poem> '''[[Old Norwegian]]''' {{runic|ᛋ}} Sól er landa ljóme; lúti ek helgum dóme.</poem> | <poem> Sun is the light of the world; I bow to the divine decree. </poem> |- | <poem> '''[[Old Icelandic]]''' {{runic|ᛋ}} Sól er skýja skjöldr ok skínandi röðull ok ísa aldrtregi. ''rota'' siklingr. </poem> | <poem> Sun is the shield of the clouds and shining ray and destroyer of ice. </poem> |- | <poem> '''[[Old English]]''' {{runic|ᛋ}} Sigel semannum sẏmble biþ on hihte, ðonne hi hine feriaþ ofer fisces beþ, oþ hi brimhengest bringeþ to lande. </poem> | <poem> The sun is ever a joy in the hopes of seafarers when they journey away over the fishes' bath, until the courser of the deep bears them to land. </poem> |}
<gallery class="skin-invert-image"> Image:Runic letter sowilo.svg|[[Elder Futhark]] ''Sowilo'' rune, earlier ("Σ") variant. Image:Runic letter sowilo variant.svg| Elder Futhark ''Sowilo'' rune, later ("S") variant. Image:Long-branch Sol.svg| Anglo-Saxon ''Sigel'' / Younger Futhark ''Sol'' rune Image:Long-branch Kaun.svg| Anglo-Saxon "bookhand ''s''" </gallery>
==Relationship with the Armanen and SS runes== {{see|Armanen runes|SS runes}} [[File:Flag of the Schutzstaffel.svg|thumb|150px|The [[SS unit insignia|SS emblem]], formed of two Armanen Siegrunes ("victory runes")]] [[Guido von List]] used Sowilō as the basis for the [[Armanen Runes|Armanen]] ''sig'' rune, also known as the "Siegrune".
The Armanen sig rune was adapted into the emblem of the SS in 1933 by [[Walter Heck]].{{sfn|Yenne|2010|p=68}} Heck's design consisted of two ''sig'' runes drawn side by side like lightning bolts and was adopted by all branches of the SS.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Lumsden |first1=Robin |title=The Allgemeine-SS |date=1993 |publisher=Bloomsbury USA |isbn=978-1-85532-358-2 |page=18 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-3-030-41018-6_47 |chapter=Visual Aspects of the Symbols of Terrorism. Identity, Representations, and Visual Statues |title=Proceedings of the 2nd International and Interdisciplinary Conference on Image and Imagination |series=Advances in Intelligent Systems and Computing |year=2020 |last1=Oppedisano |first1=Federico O. |volume=1140 |pages=576–588 |isbn=978-3-030-41017-9 |s2cid=216236635 }}</ref>
==See also== *The [[Lindholm amulet|Lindholm "amulet"]] that bears the word ''Sawilagaz'' which is interpreted as "the one of the Sun" *[[Rune poem]] *[[Sigelwara Land]] *[[Sól (Germanic mythology)]] *[[Opel#Logo|Opel]], the logo for which resembles the ''Sowilō'' rune
== References == {{reflist}}
==Sources== * {{cite book |last1=Yenne |first1=Bill |title=Hitler's Master of the Dark Arts: Himmler's Black Knights and the Occult Origins of the SS |date=2010 |publisher=Voyageur Press |isbn=978-0-7603-3778-3 }}
== Further reading == * {{cite journal |last1=Huld |first1=Martin E. |title=Proto- and post-Indo-European designations for 'sun' |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |date=1986 |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=194–202 |jstor=40848835 }} * {{cite journal |last1=Wachter |first1=Rudolf |title=Das indogermanische Wort für 'Sonne' und die angebliche Gruppe der 1/n-Heteroklitika |journal=Historische Sprachforschung |date=1997 |volume=110 |issue=1 |pages=4–20 |jstor=41288919 }}
{{Runes}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowilo Rune}} [[Category:Runes]]