Ur - Rune of the Vril-Force

The Ur-Rune is linked to the Primal Ox or Aurochs, which in the Old English Rune-Poem is referred to as the 'moor-stomper'. The ox, or the bull, is symbolic of strength, power, and might.  It may well be significant that the name Bovril is 'Bovine Vril' and thus directly linked to the bull or ox, which itself is linked to the Vril-Force. The bull has sometimes been connected to Tiw.

The term Vril, whatever its roots are said to mean, suggests that it comes from the word virile, which itself comes from the Latin vir which means 'power, strength, energy, and masculine-force'. From this root we get the words virtue, virile, virility. This also gives us the title vira which does not merely mean 'man' but a special type of man - the Heroic Type. The Old English equivalent is wera, from which we get the term wer-wolf or werewolf which again means originally the 'Heroic Type'. 

Looked at this way it seems clear that the title vira, wera or werewolf means even more, for it refers to the man who bears the Vril-Force within him in abundance. This is the true sense in which the word is used by both Julius Evola and Miguel Serrano. 

The Ur-Rune is thus the Rune of the Vril and this is a very powerful force that is neutral in form and thus used either to create or to destroy. Whatever the case, this is a divine-force since we are told in the Old English Rune Poem that is is 'fierce and high-horned' - the horns being symbolic of the divine-power, as seen on many of the warrior-symbols used by the English and Germanic Folk. It is called a 'courageous beast' that 'fights with its horns' and a 'brave creature' thus suggesting the Heroic Type. 

The Norwegian Rune Poem was written when the aurochs no longer existed, and was obviously not known, since it is replaced by a 'reindeer'. The meaning of the rune-poem is rather obscure since it is now linked to 'slag' which is from 'bad iron'. Again, the Icelandic Rune Poem links Ur to 'drizzle' (which we shall look at later) and the Old English version seems to be far nearer to the true meaning. Ur could be linked to the ox, the bull, or the stag, all animals associated with courage and strength.

The meaning 'man' is attributed to the words that stem from the original IE Root *wi-ro. The word was, however, used only of the warrior or the hero, and not as a general term for 'mankind'. Its root meaning is 'to be rigorous', and from this derived the Sanskrit virah which means 'man', 'hero'. Strangely enough, in both Latin and Sanskrit the terms vir or vira have been used in association with cattle. The Germanic Root *weraz/*wiraz also stems from the same source. 

We need to remember that the 'u' in Ur is merely a shortened version of the sound 'wr', which would be 'uur' (w = double 'u'). So, the IE Root *wi-ro would be 'uui-ro' which is not far from the rune-name Ur. The rune-name itself means 'primal' or 'original' and from this word we find some very interesting connections. The word 'original' stems from the IE Root *er- which means 'to move' or 'to set in motion', and is the root of Irmin/Ermin/Er. With the meaning 'to set into motion' we can see another angle to the association with the Vril-Force. 

The Germanic Root *ar-/*or- means 'to be' or 'to exist' and this suggests a force that 'is', and thus a Primal Force. Whatever the case the prefix ur- in German denotes something primal; we have lost this in the English Tongue, but the or- in 'original' means much the same, and this comes into the Norse word Orlog meaning 'Primal Laws' or 'Primal Layers'. 

The horns are also symbolic of penetration, and this infers the penetration through the veils of the worlds, penetration into another world of being. Linking this to the Vril-Force we can see that this refers to a force which penetrates the Nine Worlds. It is also a force used to break through and thus a Force of Will. It links to the next rune - Thorn - in this respect. Being a rune that 'penetrates' also emphasises another meaning given to the Vril and that is that it is a force that gives communication with the divine powers, the gods. Is not this the very basis of the Hero, the one who is linked to the Divine Powers, and does the Will of the Gods?

In Old Irish fer means 'man' but strictly in the sense that I have mentioned here - the Warrior-Hero. This word is directly linked with the fearg which is the 'Wolf-Rage' and which is the equivalent to the wearg/warg in Germanic Lore. This is obviously the force used by the Ulfhednar/Berserker. We can also connect the word urge (from Latin urgere) with these ideas, meaning 'to drive' or 'to urge on'. 

It is interesting to note that the glyph of the Ur-Rune is in its ur-glyphic form an 'Inverted V'; our letter 'U' and letter 'V' (from the Latin Alphabet) are the inverted form. It may be relevant to note that the Ur-rune form is that of a mountain, and this is a masculine symbol; the inverted form is the feminine symbol. It may be relevant to note that when a horseshoe is hung up for 'luck' the usual way is to put it in the 'U' shape, but when the symbol is used by the blacksmith it is inverted. The blacksmith was always associated with magic, and thus with the Vril-Force. 

There is a subtle link between the Vril-Force (Ur) and Bootes which is connected to Ingwe, as I have shown before. The Latin bos-/bov- means 'cow', 'ox' or 'bull' and from this stems Bootes. Bootes is the 'Ox-Driver' and the oxen are here seen as the Great Bear. In these ideas we can find a link between the Vril-Force (Ur) and Ingwe. Ingwe, in symbolic terms, is the force that 'sets into motion' (springs into motion), in this case 'sets into motion' the Seven Oxen or Great Bear that revolves around the Pole Star. 

Now we need to turn to the word 'virtue' which stems from the French vertu which itself stems from the Latin uirtutem. The meaning is 'manly excellence', which explains why the word 'virtue' is today rarely used. The root is Latin uir which is related to 'hero'. The earlier Greek form means 'hero' or 'demi-god' and we can thus see that the original meaning referred to the Divine Hero - i.e. the hero born of a god who 'seeded' a mortal woman. This is the God-Man or Demi-God.

The idea of 'drizzle' mentioned in connection with the Icelandic Rune Poem can be traced back to the Sanskrit ukshan which itself stems from uksh meaning 'to sprinkle'. The name for 'ox' means literally 'the impregnator' which relates to virility and fertility. With this in mind we should consider the solar-phallic nature of Ingvi-Frey (Ingwe) and the usual meaning of his name - 'hero'. The words are derived from the Aryan Root * wag/*ug meaning 'to be wet', 'moist' and thus 'to sprinkle'. But there is also another link of ideas related to these roots -

Aryan Root *wag/*ug - 'to be strong', 'vigorous', or 'watchful'.

Aryan Root *waks - to wax, to grow.

Aryan Root *wak - to wish, to desire, to be willing.

These ideas all fit in with the symbolism of the ox/bull as a strong, virile, manly, vigorous animal; this symbolism is connected to the Will. The role of the oxen is to pull the plough, and here we have a link to The Plough or Great Bear (Woden's Waen). The Plough has been associated with the bear, the boar, and also the oxen.

The bull has always been seen as a strong, chaotic, violent animal, as we can see in the sayings connected with this -

Bull at a gate.

Bull in a china shop.

Bull-headed.

This strength and power is inherent in the rune-sayings, and the rune is linked to the one before it - Feoh ('cattle'), and the one after it - Thorn ('thorn'). The Thorn-rune, at one level can be seen as the nuclear-force which shows how powerful this rune really is. The first rune relates to the cattle-raid, and also the force of the stampede of cattle - a very powerful force but a collective force. The third rune - Thorn - is also the Rune of the Thurs which refers to what is usually called the 'Giants', and again this is a very powerful force. Thunor, of course, is of the Giant stock, and this rune is symbolic of his hammer. This is a very powerful force of creation and destruction.

The Hammer of Thunor itself can be seen as symbolic of the male phallus and thus the male phallic-power. When this hammer was created the handle was said to be 'too short' which may have been rather a joke on the god Thor used in the Viking days. Again we are in the realm of the masculine power embodied in the Vril. Thunor, of course, is the God of Heroes, and embodies the strong virile male hero principle. In The Coming Race by Lord Bulwer-Lytton we find that the female wields this force primarily, which may at first seem to contradict the idea of it being linked to a masculine force. However, Lord Lytton describes this power as wielded through the Vril Rod which is akin to the Rod of Brahma, and in the term 'rod' we can see the masculine link. This 'rod' seems to link to the spinal column and thus to the Fire-Serpent or Kundalini.

I have shown in a previous work that there is a link between Sex Magic and the Vril-Force, and thus also to the Kundalini-Fire which is awakened along the spinal column. In this post I am not suggesting that the Ur-Rune is the only one connected to Vril, for there will no doubt be others, or even the whole rune-row. This is a matter for research. This post has tried to show the links between the ox, bull, the Ur-Rune and the Vril.