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'''Alruna''' ([[Old Norse]] '''Ǫlrún''', [[Old High German]] '''Ailrun''', Modern German '''Alruna''', '''[[Alraune]]''') is a Germanic female personal name, from [[Proto Germanic]] ''*aliruna'' (or possibly ''*agilruna''), which is formed from ''[[rune|runa]]'' "secret, rune" and a debated prefix that may be ''ali-'', ''agil-'', or ''[[Alu (runic)|alu-]]''.
In German, ''Alruna'' was also used as a short form of ''Adelruna'', a different name with a first element ''*athal-'' "noble".
In [[Germanic mythology]], Ailrun is the wife of [[Agilaz]], the legendary archer. In the poem ''[[Völundarkviða]]'', '''Ölrun''' (possibly [[Old Norse]] "ale rune"<ref name=SIMEK251>Simek (2007:251).</ref>) is identified as a [[valkyrie]], and as a daughter of [[Kiár]] of [[Valland]].
[[Alruna of Cham]] was an 11th-century [[Bavaria]]n recluse, the [[Roman Catholic]] patroness of pregnancy. It is also the name for the ''[[Mandragora (genus)|Mandragora]]'' or mandrake, a plant belonging to the nightshade family, in a number of [[Germanic languages]]: '''alruna''' in [[Swedish language|Swedish]], '''alrune''' in [[Danish language|Danish]] and [[Norwegian language|Norwegian]], and '''[[Alraune]]''' in [[German language|German]].
==See also==
* [[Albruna]]
==Notes==
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==References==
* [[Rudolf Simek|Simek, Rudolf]] (2007) translated by Angela Hall. ''Dictionary of Northern Mythology''. [[Boydell & Brewer|D.S. Brewer]]. {{ISBN|0-85991-513-1}}
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[[Category:Germanic mythology]]
[[Category:Valkyries]]
[[Category:Germanic feminine given names]]
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