Elder Futhark · Tyr's Aett
Mannaz
Rune 20 - ᛗ
Upright
A clearer sense of self, and of your place among others, is emerging.
Mannaz. A clearer sense of self, and of your place among others, is emerging. Mankind, and the self among others. Who you are in the eyes of your people -- the human sphere, and the intelligence that is shared rather than solitary. It is fourth of Tyr's Aett, the final eight - the aett of the human sphere at full stretch: will, honour, kinship and the self coming into its own. Upright, the stave stands in its clear aspect and can be worked with directly. Its keyword range runs through the self, humanity, social bonds, and self-awareness.
Merkstave
Isolation or a distorted self-image is clouding this matter.
Mannaz merkstave. Isolation or a distorted self-image is clouding this matter. Mankind, and the self among others. It is fourth of Tyr's Aett, the final eight - the aett of the human sphere at full stretch: will, honour, kinship and the self coming into its own. Fallen merkstave, its force is being kept back rather than lost - held in, hoarded, or refused. The stave is intact; the flow is not. In merkstave, read these as strain, blockage, or the caution the rune is raising: self-doubt, isolation, a lack of self-awareness, and broken community.
About the Elder Futhark
The oldest runic alphabet, used across Germanic Europe from roughly 150 to 800 CE.
No rune names or meanings are directly recorded for the Elder Futhark. The meanings used here are reconstructed from three later medieval sources - the Old English, Norwegian and Icelandic Rune Poems - which give a verse for each rune. 'Merkstave' (a reversed or ill-dignified rune) is a modern reading convention; runes with no natural upside-down form are read only for merkstave when the surrounding runes are adverse.
Full history →Meanings are a guide to a symbolic tradition, offered for reflection and entertainment. They do not predict the future or describe real people or events. See the Terms.