ᚨ *ansuz: the Elder Futhark rune for a

Name: *ansuz
Meaning: a god, one of the Æsir
Name known from: Old Norse óss/áss 'god' (Icelandic poem), Old English ōs (rune poem); the Gothic letter name is recorded as aza or ahsa, which has led some to propose *ahsą 'ear of grain' instead
Transliteration: a
Sound: /a/
Unicode: U+16A8 runic letter ansuz a

Line of descent

ᚨ*ansuzElder Futhark →ᚬóssYounger Futhark ᚩosAnglo-Saxon Futhorc

History

The a rune is a stave with two parallel branches slanting down from the top. Its likely model is Latin A. On the Kylver stone it is cut mirror-wise, with the branches on the left.

The name *ansuz means "god", the word that became Old Norse áss (plural Æsir), the family of gods that includes Óðinn (Odin) and Þórr (Thor). The Gothic historian Jordanes, in the 6th century, recorded the Gothic word as ansis. The Icelandic poem keeps this meaning: all three of its kennings describe Óðinn. The Old English poem seems to treat os as Latin os "mouth", and the Norwegian poem reads óss as "river-mouth". Because the Gothic letter name is recorded as aza or ahsa, a minority view reconstructs a different name, but *ansuz is the common handbook form.

The rune's later history follows sound changes in the name. In Proto-Norse the n of *ansuz was lost and the vowel became nasal (ą̄ss), so the Younger Futhark rune, now óss, wrote a nasal ą and later o. Its value had moved away from plain a, so the Scandinavians used the old j-rune for a instead (see jera). In Anglo-Frisian the vowel also changed, and the rune split three ways: os for o, ac for back a, and æsc, which kept the old shape, for æ.

Elder Futhark examples are common. They include harja on the Vimose comb and horna "horn" on the Gallehus horn. The Lindholm bone piece has a string of eight a-runes, aaaaaaaa, whose purpose is unknown.

In the rune poems

The Old English Rune Poem, stanza 4

Os byþ ordfruma ælcre spræce,
wisdomes wraþu ond witena frofur
and eorla gehwam eadnys ond tohiht.

Os is the origin of every speech,
a support of wisdom and a comfort of the wise,
and to every nobleman a blessing and a hope.

Old English os is the word for a heathen god (compare Old Norse áss). The stanza reads as if the poet understood Latin os 'mouth'.

The Old Norwegian Rune Poem, stanza 4

Óss er flæstra færða
fǫr; en skalpr er sværða.

The river-mouth is the way of most journeys;
but the scabbard is the way of swords.

The text is emended: Worm's version lacks a syllable, and Kålund supplied fǫr 'way, passage'. The old name meant a god (Proto-Norse *ansuz); here óss is read as 'estuary, river-mouth'.

The Old Icelandic Rune Poem, stanza 4 · Latin gloss Jupiter · chieftain word oddviti

Óss er aldingautr
ok ásgarðs jǫfurr,
ok valhallar vísi.

The god is the ancient Gautr
and prince of Ásgarðr
and leader of Valhǫll.

Here óss keeps its old meaning 'god', and all three kennings describe Óðinn (Odin). Gautr is one of Óðinn's names. Note the different reading in the Norwegian poem.

Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.

Where it is found

Vimose comb (DR 207): harja
Gallehus horn (DR 12): horna
Lindholm bone piece (DR 261): aaaaaaaazzznnn-b-muttt : alu

On inscriptions described on this site

Vimose comb Øvre Stabu spearhead Einang stone Tune stone Kylver stone Ring of Pietroassa Golden horns of Gallehus

Sources

Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata), signa DR 207, DR 12, DR 261
Dickins (1915), notes to the Old English poem l. 10 and Icelandic poem st. 4
Wikipedia, 'Ansuz (rune)' (checked 2026-10-26), for the Gothic letter name aza/ahsa