Berkanan is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the b rune , meaning "birch". In the Younger Futhark it is called Bjarkan in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem it is called beorc ("birch" or "poplar"). The corresponding Gothic letter is ð± b, named bairkan.
The letter shape is likely directly based on Old Italic ðÂÂÂ, whence comes also the Latin letter B.
The rune is recorded in all three rune poems: