Mannaz rune meaning: history, poems and modern reading

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

ᛗ

Mannaz is rune 20 of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, and the fourth rune of the third aett. It stands for the sound m, and its reconstructed name means “human being”. Modern readers link it with humanity, self and community. On this page I start with what the evidence says, then the three medieval rune poems, and only then the modern meanings, so you can always see which layer you are reading.

At a glance

• Shape: two vertical staves joined at the top by two strokes that cross each other, each running from the top of one stave down to the middle of the other
• Sound: m
• Reconstructed name: *mannaz, “human being, person” (secure)
• Later names: Old English mann; Old Norwegian and Old Icelandic maðr
• Position: third aett, rune 20

Reconstructed names carry an asterisk because no early source writes them out in full. Scholars work them out from the later Old English and Old Norse names and from related words in other Germanic languages. Where the reconstruction is uncertain, I say so below.

The shape

Mannaz is two upright staves joined by two lines that cross between them, so the middle forms an X. Draw the staves first, then the crossing lines from top to opposite middle. Compare it with Ehwaz, whose lines dip but do not cross. Early forms of Mannaz vary a little.

A good way to learn Mannaz is to draw it ten times in a row on scrap paper, saying its sound aloud each time. Then draw it once more beside its neighbors in the futhark, so your hand learns the differences as well as the shape.

In the record

Historical The name *mannaz means “human being,” not specifically “male,” much like the older meaning of English “man” in words such as “mankind.” The rune represented m in all the runic rows. In the Younger Futhark its shape changed to a single stave with two branches rising from the top, rather like the Elder Futhark Algiz, which can cause confusion when comparing rows. On the Kylver stone and the Vadstena bracteate it stands in the third aett, between Ehwaz and Laguz, as it does today.

Tacitus, in the second chapter of the Germania, records a myth that the Germanic peoples descended from a god called Tuisto and his son Mannus, whose three sons gave their names to three groups of tribes. Some modern authors connect Mannus with this rune’s name. The connection is attractive, but the evidence for it is limited.

The rune poems

Historical Old English (author’s rendering): A person in good spirits is loved by his kin; yet each must one day desert the other, for the Lord, by his judgment, means to hand that poor flesh over to the earth.

Old Norwegian (author’s rendering): Man is an addition to the earth’s dust; the hawk’s grip is mighty.

Old Icelandic (author’s rendering): Man: a joy to his fellows, and an addition to the earth, and the one who decks out ships. The Latin gloss is homo, “human being.”

All three poems hold human life in two hands. A person is a joy to family and friends, the gladness of other people, the one who decks out ships, perhaps because a crew makes a ship splendid. And a person is mortal, made of dust, and must one day part from loved ones and return to the earth. The Old English stanza is especially moving in its plain Christian acceptance of death.

All three poems have a stanza for Mannaz, which is a help: when an English poet and two Scandinavian poets describe the same rune name, we can compare what they agree on and where they differ.

A word about these sources. The Old English poem survives only because George Hickes printed it in 1705, before the manuscript burned in 1731. The Norwegian poem was printed by Ole Worm in 1636, before its manuscript was lost in the Copenhagen fire of 1728. The Icelandic poem is usually dated to the fifteenth century. All three are medieval and Christian, so they tell us what the rune names meant to later readers, not what the first carvers believed. The renderings above are my own brief, literal ones.

Modern meanings

Modern Keywords: humanity, the self, community, relationships, mortality, cooperation, intelligence, social order.

Modern readers read Mannaz as the human being, both the individual self and humanity as a whole: our relationships, our communities, our shared nature, and our dependence on one another. Many read it as a call for self-awareness, or as an indication that other people, family, friends, colleagues, are important to the question. Following the poems, a thoughtful reading includes mortality: life is short, and the people we love are precious.

Reversed: Often read as isolation, self-deception, conflict with others, or feeling cut off from community.

Mannaz is one of the few runes whose poems speak openly about death. Modern readers sometimes soften this, but the poems’ honesty is part of their value: knowing that time is short can make us kinder. A reading with Mannaz never predicts anyone’s death, and no reading should. It points to the people around you, here and now.

Mannaz in a reading

Modern Here is how Mannaz might speak to three common kinds of question. These are examples of modern reading, not rules, and your own response to the rune comes first.

• A question about yourself. Mannaz points to what it means to be human, with limits and strengths. Ask how you can treat yourself as you would treat a friend.
• A question about community. Mannaz can point to the people around you and how you depend on each other. Who could you reach out to?
• A question about a decision. Mannaz can suggest thinking about how your choice affects others, and asking for their view.

If you draw Mannaz with other runes, read them together. Ask what Mannaz adds to the picture, then look at its neighbors in the spread. A rune reading is a prompt for reflection. It does not predict events, and it never replaces medical, legal or financial advice.

Mannaz in a three-rune spread

In a simple three-rune spread of situation, challenge and next step, Mannaz changes its voice with its place. As the situation, it describes where things stand, with humanity in the foreground. As the challenge, it asks whether something about self is missing, overdone or out of balance. As the next step, it suggests one small, practical action in the spirit of community. Read the other two runes first, then come back to Mannaz and ask how it changes their story.

Mannaz as a tattoo or symbol

On its own, Mannaz is a letter for the sound m and the name of a thing, “human being”. Anyone who reads runes will see it that way first. If you want it as a tattoo, a piece of jewelry or a mark in your journal, take your time: check the form against a reliable chart, because a small change of angle can turn one rune into another. Mannaz is easy to confuse with Ehwaz, so compare the two before you decide. Avoid combining runes into a design you have not checked, since a few rune sequences and stylized forms are used as codes by hate groups.

Reflection questions

• Who are “my people,” and how do I show them that they are dear to me?
• How well do I know myself, my strengths and my weaknesses?
• Knowing that life is short, what matters most to me?

A week with Mannaz

Write a short letter, which you may or may not send, to someone who is dear to you, telling them what they mean to you. Then write a few lines about the kind of person you hope to be remembered as.

To get the most from the week, keep the entries short and honest. On the first day, write what Mannaz means to you before you read anything else. On the last day, read that first note again and add one line about what changed. You do not need special tools: a notebook, a pen and the rune drawn at the top of each page are enough.

Related runes

• Ehwaz comes just before Mannaz in the futhark. Modern keywords: partnership, trust.
• Laguz comes just after Mannaz. Modern keywords: water, flow, emotion.

To see all twenty-four runes side by side, with their sounds and the three aettir, go to the Elder Futhark. For where the runes came from, read the history of the runes, and when you are ready to draw runes for reflection, start with how to cast runes. Everything else is on the runes hub.