← The 24 runes of the Elder Futhark
Kenaz
- Literal meaning
- torch
- Associated concepts
- knowledge · craft · creativity
- Ætt
- Freyr's ætt
This rune's reconstructed name, Kaunan, carries a genuine split that never resolves: the Norwegian and Icelandic rune poems call it 'ulcer,' a sore that turns pale and kills; the Anglo-Saxon tradition — where 'Kenaz,' the name used in this alphabet, comes from — calls it 'torch,' the fire that burns where nobles sit. Fire and sore share the root of a burning pain. Neither reading is picked over the other here.