Ansuz (ᚨ) is the fourth rune of the Elder Futhark and stands for the sound a. Its reconstructed name means "a god," and the Old English rune poem explains the same rune as "the mouth." In modern rune reading it is taken to mean messages, good advice and clear communication, and it is read as a yes.
What does the Ansuz rune mean?
As history, Ansuz is the letter a of the oldest runic alphabet. It was carved in names and short inscriptions for several centuries, and like its 23 companions it carried a name that began with its sound.
As modern practice, Ansuz has become the rune of words. Rune reading, a 20th-century development, gives it these meanings:
- Message. News, a conversation or an answer that matters.
- Advice. Guidance worth listening to, often from someone else.
- Communication. Saying a thing plainly, and hearing what comes back.
The Ansuz sign and its sound
Ansuz is an upright line with two short branches slanting down to the right. It is easy to confuse with Fehu, the first rune, whose two branches slant up. A simple check: Fehu reaches up, Ansuz points down.
Its sound is a. It is the "a" in the word futhark, which is spelled from the first six runes: f, u, th, a, r, k.
In later alphabets the rune changed more than most. In England its sound shifted toward o, and the rune was renamed Os; new signs were added for a. That is why older books sometimes list this rune under Os or Óss instead of Ansuz.
The name Ansuz and what the rune poems say
No one recorded the rune names while the Elder Futhark was in use. Scholars reconstruct them from later manuscripts. Tineke Looijenga gives the name as ansuz and glosses the Old English form os as "god; mouth." That double gloss is the whole story of this rune in miniature.
The three medieval rune poems each take a different road.
The Old Icelandic poem keeps the god. Its verse, in Bruce Dickins's 1915 translation, reads "Aged Gautr and prince of Ásgardr and lord of Vallhalla." All three are ways of naming Odin.
The Old English poem turns to speech: "The mouth is the source of all language, a pillar of wisdom and a comfort to wise men, a blessing and a joy to every knight." The poem was written down by Christians, and "mouth" matches the Latin word os. Whether the poet was avoiding a heathen god or simply using another meaning of the word is debated.
The Old Norwegian poem goes a third way. There óss is a river mouth: "Estuary is the way of most journeys; but a scabbard is of swords."
A god, a mouth, an estuary. The modern "rune of communication" draws mostly on the English verse, with Odin's reputation for wisdom added from the Icelandic one.
Ansuz in a modern rune reading
What follows is how readers use the rune today. It is not a record of ancient belief; drawing runes for guidance in this way dates from the 20th century.
As a rune of the day, Ansuz is taken as a reminder to say something clearly and to listen with the same care.
In a three-rune cast:
- The situation. A conversation is at the center of things, whether it has happened yet or not.
- The challenge. Something is unsaid or misheard. The work is to speak plainly, or to ask.
- The likely outcome. Understanding improves once the right words are found. This is a direction, not a verdict.
In a yes-or-no question Ansuz is read as a yes.
Try it below: draw one rune for the day, or cast three.
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Is there a reversed Ansuz?
Many rune books add a "reversed" meaning for a rune drawn upside down. The idea is recent. The rune poems give a single verse for each rune and never mention its orientation.
Our rune reading keeps to upright meanings. The challenge position covers the same ground: Ansuz there points to a message that is not getting through.
Ansuz in its ætt and neighboring runes
By tradition the Elder Futhark is divided into three groups of eight runes, each called an ætt. Ansuz is the fourth rune of the first, often called Freyr's ætt.
It stands between Thurisaz, the thorn or giant, and Raidho, the ride. Speech comes after the obstacle and before the journey, a sequence many readers find easy to remember.
To see every rune in order, go to the guide to the Elder Futhark runes.