Mannaz · Mannaz
Tyr's Aett · No. 20 · Sound M
Form after Guus Kroonen, Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic (2013). The asterisk marks a linguistic reconstruction — no recording of Proto-Germanic exists. The IPA follows Ringe's (2006) sound system; the audio is a synthesised approximation. Trust the IPA over the audio.
Humankind, the self
Two staves joined by a central cross — two people clasping hands. The human being defined through relation to others; no one becomes themselves in isolation.
This rune points at you — strengths and limits both. A time for honest self-appraisal. It can mean help arriving from others, or clarity about your role in a group. The support you need is usually nearer than you think; you have to ask for it.
Self-deception, isolation, or friction with those around you. It can point to a hidden adversary, blindness to your own flaws, or dependence so deep you have lost yourself in it.
See yourself as you are, not as you wish to be.
The Icelandic poem gives humanity the finest line in the whole set — man is the delight of man — and follows it immediately with the cold fact that we are also what will become more soil. The Anglo-Saxon stanza likewise ends in death.
MaðrMan — delight of man and augmentation of the earth and adorner of ships.
Icelandic Rune Poem — oldest manuscript c. 1500 (AM 687 d 4°). Reproduced verbatim from Dickins (1915)