Haglaz

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, 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 byþ hwitust corna; hwyrft hit of heofones lyfte, wealcaþ hit windes scura; weorþeþ hit to wætere syððan.	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)