Tyr's Aett · Rune 20
Mannaz
“Man, Humanity” · sound: M
Keywords
humanity · self · community · intelligence · social order · interdependence · mortality
What Mannaz means
Mannaz is the rune of humanity, the human being in community and in relation to the divine. It represents the common heritage of all people, descended in Norse myth from Ask and Embla, the first man and woman shaped by the gods from driftwood on the shore. Mannaz embodies human intelligence, culture, and the social bonds that define civilization. In Heathen practice, this rune calls for self-knowledge, modesty, and recognition of one's place within the web of human relationships. It counsels looking within before looking without.
Mannaz in the historical rune poems
Three medieval poems preserve the meanings of the runes — the oldest testimony we have.
The joyous man is dear to his kinsmen; yet every man is doomed to fail his fellow, since the Lord by his decree will commit the vile carrion to the earth.
Man is an augmentation of the dust; great is the claw of the hawk.
Man is delight of man, and augmentation of the earth, and adorner of ships.
Correspondences
Deities
Odin · Heimdall
Element
air
Color
deep red