ELDER FUTHARK · TYR'S AETT · RUNE 20 OF 24
Mannaz ᛗ
“Human” · the sound m
IN A READING
Self, community, the human condition.
REVERSED
Isolation, self-deception, manipulation.
IN MAGIC
Self-knowledge, social bonds, intelligence.
In the rune poems
Three medieval poems give a short verse to each rune's name, the oldest record of what the names meant. What they stress for Mannaz: each person is dear to their kin, yet all must part.
THE OLD ENGLISH RUNE POEM · ᛗ MANN
Man byþ on myrgþehis magan leof:sceal þeah anra gehwylcoðrum swican,forðum drihten wyledome sineþæt earme flæsceorþan betæcan.
Known only from George Hickes's printing of 1705; the manuscript burned in the Cotton library fire of 1731.
THE OLD ICELANDIC RUNE POEM · ᛘ MAÐR
Maðr er manns gamanok moldar aukiok skipa skreytir.
For the sixteen runes of the Younger Futhark, in manuscripts from about 1500.
The verses are given in their own languages, Old English from Bruce Dickins's edition (1915) as transcribed on Wikisource, Old Icelandic as normalised in Wikipedia's article on the rune poems. Square brackets mark words the editors restored.
In the later rows
Anglo-Saxon futhorc
ᛗMann
Younger Futhark
ᛘMaðr
Tyr's aett
The futhark falls into three rows of eight, the aettir. Mannaz is number 4 of Tyr's aett:
Learn more in the lessons
- The Elder Futhark Runes · 15 min
- Runes in Magic · 15 min
- The Younger Futhark and the Runestones · 18 min