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Aurochs is the name for a species of wild ox that lived in the forests of Europe. It was hunted to extinction in the 17th century. Six feet tall at the shoulder with shaggy black hair and large curling horns, it possessed the fierceness of a wild boar and the strength of a bull. It had much the same meaning for the Teutonic hunters as the American bison for the plains Indians.

Julius Caesar, one of the earliest literate Romans to penetrate the wilderness of Germany, gives a god account of this beast in his Gallic Wars:

...an animal somewhat smaller than an elephant with the appearance, color and shape of a bull. They are very strong and agile, and attack every man and beast they catch sight of. The natives take great pains to trap them in pits, and then kill them. This arduous sport toughens the young men and keeps them in training; and those who kill the largest number exhibit the horns in public to show what they have done, and earn high praise, It is impossible to domesticate or tame the aurochs, even if caught young. The horns are much larger than those of our oxen and o quite different shape and appearance. The Germans prize them greatly; they mount the rims with silver and use them as drinking-cups at their grandest banquets.

When the qualities of the animal are abstracted it can be perceived that Ur meant an elemental masculine potency. Physically: strength, agility, and endurance. Emotionally: courage and boldness, Spiritually: freedom. Thus, that which can never be domesticated or enslaved. The triumphant soul of nature. The shape of Ur is a horn or erect phallus.

This meaning is in direct contrast to that of the Feoh rune. Clearly the first two runes form a pair. A similar pattern runs throughout the alphabet and is useful in determining the shades of meaning of obscure runes. The pairs are not always opposites but always present a sharp contrast.

The aurochs was synonymous with manhood. That it had a magical significance is suggested by the costly decoration and careful preservation of its horns, and also by the fact that although aurochs did not extend into Britain in historical times, the Anglo-Saxons retained the beast as emblematic of the rune. Perhaps killing the aurochs was a rite of passage into manhood.

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MEANINGS:

UPRIGHT:

Freedom, courage, resolute action, vitality, energy, enterprise, the beginning of bold projects, acceptance of new challenges, testing limits, physical strength, audaciousness, dominance of others through will, a leader, a soldier.

REVERSED:

Rash actions, hasty words, immaturity, lustfulness, callousness toward others, contempt for the weak, brutality, blind rage, violence, the crime of rape, uncontrollable desires, sadism, heedlessness, unpreparedness, lack of forethought.

KEY: ACTION