ᛉ · sound “z” · Elk, protection
Algiz (ᛉ) is rune 15 of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, in Heimdall's aett. Its name means elk, protection.
Protection and connection: a guardian, a safe boundary, an alert instinct. You are shielded as long as you stay awake to danger and to opportunity.
Vulnerability or a hidden danger. A defense is down, or a warning sign is being ignored. Beware of a false sense of safety.
Reach upward and stay alert.
Algiz is usually read as elk, or in the Old English tradition as elk-sedge, a kind of reed. The sign resembles a hand with fingers spread, or an antler, and is often read as a gesture of warding. In the Younger Futhark the descendant of this shape took over the sound r, and it was then named for the yew.
Algiz is protection and alertness: a guardian, a safe boundary, an instinct that senses danger, or a reminder that you are connected to something larger. In a reading it invites you to trust your defenses, and to ask what you are protecting. Reversed, it can mean vulnerability or a warning ignored.