*Mannaz is the conventional name of the ''m''-
rune
Runes are the letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets known as runic alphabets native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were used to write various Germanic languages (with some exceptions) before they adopted the Latin alphabet, a ...
of the
Elder Futhark
The Elder Futhark (or Fuþark), also known as the Older Futhark, Old Futhark, or Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples for Northwest Germanic dialects in the Migration Peri ...
. It is derived from the reconstructed
Common Germanic
Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages.
Proto-Germanic eventually developed from pre-Proto-Germanic into three Germanic branc ...
word for "man", ''*mannaz''.
Younger Futhark ᛘ is maðr ("
man"). It took up the shape of the
algiz rune ᛉ, replacing Elder Futhark .
As its sound value and form in the Elder Futhark indicate, it is derived from the letter M () in the
Old Italic alphabets
The Old Italic scripts are a family of similar ancient writing systems used in the Italy, Italian Peninsula between about 700 and 100 BC, for various languages spoken in that time and place. The most notable member is the Etruscan alphabet, ...
, ultimately from the
Greek letter
The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late 9th or early 8th century BCE. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the earliest known alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as w ...
Mu (Μ).
Rune poems
The rune is recorded in all three
rune poems, in the Norwegian and Icelandic poems as ''maðr'', and in the Anglo-Saxon poem as ''man''.
Modern usage
For the "man" rune of the
Armanen Futharkh as "life rune" in
Germanic mysticism, see ''
Lebensrune''.
References
See also
{{runes
Runes