Ansuz (rune)
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Template:Infobox ansuz Template:Contains Runic text Ansuz is the conventional name given to the a-rune of the Elder Futhark, ᚨ. The name is based on Common Germanic *ansuz "a god, one of the main deities in Germanic paganism".
The shape of the rune is likely from Neo-Etruscan a (
), like Latin A ultimately from Phoenician aleph.
Name
In the Norwegian rune poem, óss is given a meaning of "estuary" while in the Anglo-Saxon one, ōs ᚩ takes the Latin meaning of "mouth". The Younger Futhark rune is transliterated as ą to distinguish it from the new ár rune (ᛅ), which continues the jēran rune after loss of prevocalic *j- in Proto-Norse *jár (Old Saxon jār).
Since the name of 
a is attested in the Gothic alphabet as ahsa or aza, the common Germanic name of the rune may thus either have been *ansuz "god", or *ahsam "ear (of wheat)".
Development in Anglo-Saxon runes
The Anglo-Saxon futhorc split the Elder Futhark a rune into three independent runes due to the development of the vowel system in Anglo-Frisian. These three runes are ōs ᚩ (transliterated o), æsc ᚫ "ash" (transliterated æ) and ac "oak" ᚪ (transliterated a).
Development in Younger Futhark
The Younger Futhark corresponding to the Elder Futhark Ansuz rune is ᚬ, called óss. It is transliterated as ą. This represented the phoneme /ɑ̃/, and sometimes /æ/ (also written ᛅ) and /o/ (also written ᚢ). The variant grapheme ᚯ becomes independent as representing the phoneme /ø/ during the 11th to 14th centuries.
Rune poems
In the Icelandic rune poem, the name óss refers to Odin:
- ᚬÓss er algingautr
- ok ásgarðs jöfurr,
- ok valhallar vísi.
- Jupiter oddviti.
- Óss is aged Gautr
- and prince of Ásgardr
- and lord of Vallhalla.