Laguz
*Laguz or *Laukaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the l-rune, *laguz meaning "water" or "lake" and *laukaz meaning "leek". In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called "ocean". In the Younger Futhark, the rune is called "waterfall" in Icelandic and "water" in Norse.
The name of the corresponding Gothic letter is attested as in the Codex [Vindobonensis 795]; a normalized Gothic form is thought to underlie this unconventional spelling.
The rune is identical in shape to the letter l in the Raetic alphabet.
The "leek" hypothesis is based not on the rune poems, but rather on early inscriptions where the rune has been hypothesized to abbreviate *laukaz, a symbol of fertility, see the Bülach fibula.
| Rune Poem: | English Translation: |
Old Norwegian | but ornaments are of gold. |
Old Icelandic | and broad geysir and land of the fish. |
Old English | if they venture on the rolling bark and the waves of the sea terrify them and the stallion of the deep heed not its bridle. |