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| Name | Proto-Germanic | Old English | Old Norse | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *mannaz | man[n] | maðr | ||
| 'man, human' | ||||
| Shape | Elder Futhark | Futhorc | Younger Futhark | |
 |  |  | ||
| Unicode | ᛗ U+16D7 | ᛘ U+16D8 | ᛙ U+16D9 | |
| Transliteration | m | |||
| Transcription | m | |||
| IPA | [m] | |||
| Position in rune-row | 20 | 14 | ||
Mannaz is the conventional name of the /m/ rune ᛗ of the Elder Futhark. It is derived from the reconstructed Proto-Germanic (or Common Germanic) word for 'man', *mannaz.
The Younger Futhark equivalent ᛘ is maðr ('man'). It took up the shape of the algiz rune ᛉ, replacing Elder Futhark ᛗ.
As its sound value and form in the Elder Futhark indicate, it is derived from the letter for /m/, 𐌌, in the Old Italic alphabets, ultimately from the Greek letter mu (uppercase Μ, lowercase μ).
Rune poems
editThe rune is recorded in all three rune poems, in the Norwegian and Icelandic poems as maðr, and in the Anglo-Saxon poem as man.
| Rune poem[1] | English translation |
|---|---|
|
ᛉ Maðr er moldar auki; |
Man is an augmentation of the soil; |
|
ᛉ Maðr er manns gaman |
Man is the joy of man |
|
Old English (Anglo-Saxon): ᛗ Man bẏþ on mẏrgþe his magan leof: |
The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen; |
Modern usage
editFor the 'man' rune of the Armanen Futharkh as the 'life' rune in Germanic mysticism, see Lebensrune.
References
edit- ^ Original poems and translation from the Rune Poem Page Archived 1999-05-01 at the Wayback Machine ("Ragnar's Ragweed Forge").