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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/runeᛗ of theElder Futhark. It is derived from the reconstructedProto-Germanic (or Common Germanic)word for 'man',*mannaz.
The Younger Futhark equivalentᛘ ismaðr ('man'). It took up the shape of thealgiz runeᛉ, replacing Elder Futharkᛗ.
As its sound value and form in the Elder Futhark indicate, it is derived from the letter for /m/,𐌌, in theOld Italic alphabets, ultimately from theGreek lettermu (uppercaseΜ, lowercaseμ).
The rune is recorded in all threerune poems, in the Norwegian and Icelandic poems asmaðr, and in the Anglo-Saxon poem asman.
| Rune poem[1] | English translation |
|---|---|
ᛉMaðr er moldar auki; | Man is an augmentation of the soil; |
ᛉMaðr er manns gaman | Man is the joy of man |
Old English (Anglo-Saxon): ᛗMan bẏþ on mẏrgþe his magan leof: | The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen; |
For the 'man' rune of theArmanen Futharkh as the 'life' rune inGermanic mysticism, seeLebensrune.
