*alu
Runic: ᚨᛚᚢ Pronunciation: /ˈɑ.lu/formula word
Meanings
a protective or strengthening ritual formula, probably with sense ‘I help, strengthen, give power, protect’
Etymology
Uncertain. Probably an Early Proto-Norse first-person singular verbal form related to *alaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂el-; compare Latin alō (Imer & Søvsø 2023: 123–25; Mees 2023b: 187–89; Schulte 2023: 5–14). Imer and Søvsø interpret runic alu as ‘I help, strengthen, give power, protect’, while Schulte more cautiously classifies it as an apotropaic one-word formula of uncertain meaning. Mees likewise favors a semantic development ‘nourish’ > ‘strengthen’ > ‘protect’.
Descendants
- ᚨᛚᚢ (alu) (Proto-Norse)
- ᚨᛚᚢ (alu, possibly ælu) (Pre-Old English)
- South Germanic (early Alemannic): ᚨᛚᚢ (alu)