Wunjo (ᚹ)
Pronunciation: WOON-yoh · Latin equivalent: W / V · Freyr’s ætt, eighth rune
Name and meaning
Proto-Germanic wunjō, “joy” — not giddiness but the deep contentment of enough: fellowship in the hall, need held at bay, the clan at peace. The last rune of the first ætt, and its resting point.
In the rune poems
Attested only in the Anglo-Saxon poem (wynn), which defines joy by what it lacks: the one who knows joy knows little of want and sorrow, and has bread and bliss enough. Dropped from the Younger Futhark, so the Norse poems say nothing.
Upright
Joy, harmony, belonging, the reward arrived. Good news, fellowship, the household in accord. After a run of hard runes, Wunjo is the clearing sky.
Merkstave
Joy inverted or feigned: sorrow, alienation, the smile stretched over a strained hall. Sometimes intoxication — joy chased rather than earned. Ask whether the harmony is real or performed.
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