Ansuz is the conventional name given to the a-rune of the Elder Futhark, . The name is based on Proto-Germanic *ansuz, denoting a deity belonging to the principal pantheon 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, 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 ). Since the name of a is attested in the Gothic alphabet as or , 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 (transliterated o), "oak" (transliterated a), and "ash" (transliterated æ). Development in Younger Futhark The Younger Futhark corresponding to the Elder Futhark ansuz rune is , called óss. It is transliterated as ą. This represented the phoneme /ɑ̃/, and sometimes /æ/ (also written ) and /o/ (also written ). The variant grapheme became independent as representing the phoneme /ø/ during the 11th to 14th centuries. Rune poems It is mentioned in all three rune poems: References Runes