Ansuz Rune Meaning: God, Speech and the Changing O-Rune

Ansuz is the conventional name for the a-rune of the Elder Futhark, ᚨ. The name belongs to an old Germanic word for a god, one of the family of gods the Norse called the Æsir, and that divine meaning is the rune's firmest foundation. Its later descendants were read in strikingly different ways by medieval poets: as a god, as a mouth and as an estuary.

A rune named for the gods

The reconstructed name, *ansuz, is related to Old Norse áss (plural Æsir), the gods of Odin and Thor, and to an Old English element ōs that survives in personal names such as Oswald and Oswine. As with all Elder Futhark names, it is rebuilt from later evidence rather than recorded in an early list.

Three poems, three readings

The three medieval rune poems each give the rune's descendant a verse, and each reads it differently.

• Old English. The ós stanza is about speech: the source of all language, a support of wisdom and a comfort to the wise. The word can be read as Old English ōs, "god", but several translators take it as Latin os, "mouth", which suits a verse about language; Bruce Dickins's 1915 translation begins "The mouth is the source of all language".
• Norwegian. Here óss is an estuary, "the way of most journeys", set beside a line about the scabbard and the sword.
• Icelandic. The Icelandic poem, whose oldest manuscript dates from around 1500, is explicit: óss is "aged Gautr", prince of Ásgarðr and lord of Valhalla. Gautr is one of Odin's names.

Is Ansuz Odin's rune?

The link is real but late. The Icelandic poem ties the rune to Odin in so many words, and the divine meaning of the name makes the connection natural. What the evidence does not show is that early rune carvers thought of the a-rune as Odin's personal sign. "Odin's rune" is a medieval Icelandic reading and a modern convention, not a label found on ancient inscriptions.

Communication, wisdom and modern readings

Modern rune books usually summarise Ansuz as communication, inspiration or wisdom. That reading comes largely from the Old English speech stanza and is a reasonable modern interpretation. It is worth remembering, though, that the older name means "god", and that the speech imagery belongs to a later English poem.

Ansuz in jewellery

An Ansuz motif can reference runic writing, the old divine name, Odin, or a personal association with speech and wisdom.

You can see the AURYN Ansuz rune charm, or read our guide to all twenty-four runes.