Mannaz Rune Meaning: Humanity, the M-Rune and the Rune Poems

Mannaz is the conventional name of the m-rune of the Elder Futhark, ᛗ. The name is a reconstruction of the Germanic word for "man" in the old, inclusive sense of "human being", and the rune's descendants appear in the medieval rune poems, which picture a person both among companions and in the face of death.

The name

The reconstructed form *mannaz is related to Old English man and Old Norse maðr. The rune stands for the sound m. As with every Elder Futhark name, it is rebuilt from later evidence rather than recorded in a list from the period, but in this case the reconstruction is secure.

What the rune poems say

The Old English Rune Poem's verse for man is one of its most affecting. A joyful person is dear to their kin, it says, yet everyone must one day fail those close to them, because the Lord will commit the body to the earth. Companionship and mortality sit in the same few lines.

The Norwegian Rune Poem is terser. In Bruce Dickins's translation: "Man is an augmentation of the dust", followed by a line about the great claw of the hawk. Again the human being is seen from the vantage of the earth that receives it.

Is Mannaz a Viking rune?

Not strictly. The Elder Futhark was in use centuries before the Viking Age. The Viking-Age Younger Futhark kept an m-rune called maðr, but it has a different shape, so "Mannaz" names the older form.

Community, and something harder

Modern readings of Mannaz, such as community, cooperation or self-knowledge, grow naturally from the name and from the Old English verse, and they are reasonable interpretations. The poems add something that positive summaries leave out: the human bond is precious partly because it does not last. For a wearer, that can make Mannaz a symbol of connection and of humility together.

Mannaz in jewellery

A Mannaz motif can reference runic writing, the human being and a personal sense of kinship or community.

See the AURYN Mannaz charm, or read our guide to all twenty-four runes.