diff --git a/docs/spec/coverage.md b/docs/spec/coverage.md
index 37fe708..64be83c 100644
--- a/docs/spec/coverage.md
+++ b/docs/spec/coverage.md
@@ -3,16 +3,16 @@
 Generated 2026-06-10 by `tools/spec_coverage.py` — do not edit by hand.
 
 Surface: **694** clojure.core vars (ClojureDocs export; 648 with
-community examples). jolt interns 552 of them.
+community examples). jolt interns 553 of them.
 
 | Status | Count | Meaning |
 |---|---|---|
 | implemented+tested | 415 | in jolt and exercised by spec/conformance |
-| implemented-untested | 137 | in jolt, no direct test — spec entries will add them |
+| implemented-untested | 138 | in jolt, no direct test — spec entries will add them |
 | resolvable-not-interned | 2 | works in code but invisible to ns introspection (conformance finding) |
 | missing-portable | 10 | portable semantics, jolt lacks it — implementation gap |
 | special-form | 15 | specified in §3, not a library var |
-| dynamic-var | 31 | classification needed: portable default vs host-dependent |
+| dynamic-var | 30 | classification needed: portable default vs host-dependent |
 | agents-taps | 22 | out of scope pending concurrency design note |
 | stm-refs | 11 | out of scope pending concurrency design note |
 | jvm-specific | 53 | catalogued, not specified |
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ UNVERIFIED field; that column will be added as entries land.
 | `*fn-loader*` | dynamic-var |  |
 | `*in*` | dynamic-var |  |
 | `*math-context*` | dynamic-var |  |
-| `*ns*` | dynamic-var | ✓ |
+| `*ns*` | implemented-untested | ✓ |
 | `*out*` | dynamic-var | ✓ |
 | `*print-dup*` | dynamic-var | ✓ |
 | `*print-length*` | dynamic-var | ✓ |
diff --git a/src/jolt/core.janet b/src/jolt/core.janet
index 883572b..500636b 100644
--- a/src/jolt/core.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/core.janet
@@ -1612,6 +1612,12 @@
 # Readable rendering of a value (Clojure pr semantics): strings quoted,
 # keywords with leading ':', symbols by name, collections with their reader
 # syntax. Used by both pr-str (readable) and str (collection elements).
+# A namespace's :name may be a string or a symbol struct depending on the
+# creation path — normalize for display.
+(defn- ns-display-name [ns]
+  (def n (ns :name))
+  (if (and (struct? n) (= :symbol (get n :jolt/type))) (n :name) (string n)))
+
 (var pr-render nil)
 
 # Format a number the way Clojure prints it: infinity and NaN have named forms
@@ -1686,6 +1692,10 @@
       (and (struct? v) (= :jolt/inst (v :jolt/type)))
         (do (buffer/push-string buf "#inst \"") (buffer/push-string buf (inst->rfc3339 v))
             (buffer/push-string buf "\""))
+      (= :jolt/namespace (get v :jolt/type))
+        (do (buffer/push-string buf "#namespace[")
+            (buffer/push-string buf (ns-display-name v))
+            (buffer/push-string buf "]"))
       (and (table? v) (= :jolt/var (get v :jolt/type))) (buffer/push-string buf (var-display v))
       (core-sorted-map? v) (pr-render-pairs buf (sorted-map-entries v))
       (core-sorted-set? v) (pr-render-seq buf (v :items) "#{" "}")
@@ -1718,6 +1728,7 @@
       (if (v :ns) (string (v :ns) "/" (v :name)) (v :name))
     (and (struct? v) (= :jolt/uuid (v :jolt/type))) (v :str)
     (and (struct? v) (= :jolt/inst (v :jolt/type))) (inst->rfc3339 v)
+    (= :jolt/namespace (get v :jolt/type)) (ns-display-name v)
     (and (table? v) (= :jolt/var (get v :jolt/type))) (var-display v)
     (number? v) (fmt-number v)
     (= true v) "true"
diff --git a/src/jolt/evaluator.janet b/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
index cd10fad..1e66112 100644
--- a/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/evaluator.janet
@@ -796,9 +796,9 @@
   quoted symbol arrives evaluated."
   [ctx sym]
   (def ns-name (if (and (struct? sym) (= :symbol (sym :jolt/type))) (sym :name) (string sym)))
-  (ctx-find-ns ctx ns-name)
+  (def the-ns-obj (ctx-find-ns ctx ns-name))
   (ctx-set-current-ns ctx ns-name)
-  nil)
+  the-ns-obj)
 
 (defn use-impl
   "(use '[ns ...] ...) — refer ALL public vars of each used ns into the CURRENT ns.
@@ -953,6 +953,12 @@
   # Var/namespace lookups that need the ctx (the rest of the var fns — var-get/
   # var-set/var?/alter-var-root/alter-meta!/reset-meta! — are plain core-bindings).
   (ns-intern core "find-var" (fn [sym] (find-var ctx sym)))
+  # *ns*: the current-namespace dynamic var. Its root is kept in sync by
+  # ctx-set-current-ns via the cached var table (env :ns-var); a thread
+  # binding (binding [*ns* ...]) shadows the root through var-get as usual.
+  (def ns-var (ns-intern core "*ns*" (ctx-find-ns ctx (ctx-current-ns ctx))))
+  (put ns-var :dynamic true)
+  (put (ctx :env) :ns-var ns-var)
   (ns-intern core "intern"
     (fn [ns-name sym-name &opt val]
       (def ns (ctx-find-ns ctx (if (struct? ns-name) (ns-name :name) ns-name)))
@@ -969,7 +975,7 @@
       (keyword? x) (string x)
       nil)))
   (def ns-of (fn [x]
-    (if (and (table? x) (not (nil? (x :mappings))))
+    (if (= :jolt/namespace (get x :jolt/type))
       x
       (let [nm (ns-name-of x)]
         (if nm (get (get (ctx :env) :namespaces) nm) nil)))))
diff --git a/src/jolt/types.janet b/src/jolt/types.janet
index d92afd8..87ce951 100644
--- a/src/jolt/types.janet
+++ b/src/jolt/types.janet
@@ -509,9 +509,13 @@
   (get (ctx :env) :current-ns))
 
 (defn ctx-set-current-ns
-  "Set the current namespace symbol."
+  "Set the current namespace symbol. Also keeps the *ns* dynamic var's root in
+  sync (the var table is cached on the env by install-stateful-fns! — one table
+  put on this hot path, no ns lookup chain)."
   [ctx ns-sym]
-  (put (ctx :env) :current-ns ns-sym))
+  (put (ctx :env) :current-ns ns-sym)
+  (when-let [v (get (ctx :env) :ns-var)]
+    (put v :root (ctx-find-ns ctx ns-sym))))
 
 (defn all-ns
   "Return a list of all namespaces in the context."
diff --git a/test/spec/ns-var-spec.janet b/test/spec/ns-var-spec.janet
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..aa44480
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/spec/ns-var-spec.janet
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+# Specification: *ns* — the current-namespace dynamic var (stage 3).
+# *ns* holds the current NAMESPACE OBJECT; (str *ns*) is its name; it tracks
+# in-ns at the top level and works with the ns-introspection fns.
+(use ../support/harness)
+
+(defspec "*ns* / identity & printing"
+  ["str of *ns*"        "\"user\""  "(str *ns*)"]
+  ["ns-name of *ns*"    "(quote user)" "(ns-name *ns*)"]
+  ["*ns* is find-ns"    "true"   "(= (ns-name *ns*) (ns-name (find-ns (quote user))))"]
+  ["*ns* not a map"     "false"  "(map? *ns*)"]
+  ["tracks in-ns"       "\"jolt.test-ns-a\"" "(do (in-ns (quote jolt.test-ns-a)) (str *ns*))"]
+  ["in-ns returns ns"   "\"jolt.test-ns-b\"" "(str (in-ns (quote jolt.test-ns-b)))"]
+  ["usable with ns fns" "true"
+   "(do (require (quote clojure.string)) (alias (quote nsv) (quote clojure.string)) (some? (get (ns-aliases *ns*) (quote nsv))))"]
+  ["ns-unalias via *ns*" "true"
+   "(do (require (quote clojure.string)) (alias (quote nsw) (quote clojure.string)) (ns-unalias *ns* (quote nsw)) (nil? (get (ns-aliases *ns*) (quote nsw))))"])