Fehu

Name	Proto-Germanic	Old English	Old Norse
	*Fehu	Feoh	Fé
	"livestock, wealth"
Shape	Elder Futhark	Futhorc	Younger Futhark
Unicode	ᚠ U+16A0
Transliteration	f
Transcription	f	f	f
IPA	[f]
Position in rune-row	1

The Fehu rune ⟨ᚠ⟩ (Old Norse fé; Old English feoh) represents the ⟨f⟩ sound in the Younger Futhark and Futhorc alphabets. Its name means '(mobile) wealth', cognate to English fee with the original meaning of 'sheep' or 'cattle' (Dutch Vee, German Vieh, Latin pecū, Sanskrit páśu). The Proto-Germanic name *fehu has been reconstructed, with the meaning of "money, cattle, wealth".

The corresponding letter of the Gothic alphabet is ⟨𐍆⟩ ⟨f⟩, called faihu. Such correspondence between all rune poems and the Gothic letter name, as well, is uncommon, and gives the reconstructed name of the Old Futhark a high degree of certainty.

The shape of the rune is likely based on Etruscan v ⟨𐌅⟩ ⟨⟩, like Greek Digamma ⟨Ϝ⟩ and Latin ⟨F⟩ ultimately from Phoenician waw ⟨⟩.

Rune poems

The name is recorded in all three rune poems:

Old Norwegian:

ᚠ Fé vældr frænda róge;
føðesk ulfr í skóge.

Wealth is a source of discord amongst kin;
the wolf lives in the forest.

Old Icelandic:

ᚠ Fé er frænda róg
ok flæðar viti
ok grafseiðs gata
aurum fylkir.

Wealth is a source of discord amongst kin
and flood of the sea
and gate of the burial site
of golden kings

Anglo-Saxon:

ᚠ Feoh bẏþ frofur fira gehƿẏlcum;
sceal ðeah manna gehƿẏlc miclun hẏt dælan
gif he ƿile for drihtne domes hleotan.

Wealth is a comfort to all;
yet must everyone bestow it freely,
if they wish to gain honour in the sight of the Lord.

See also

• Félag