Rune 11 of 24 · Hagal's aett
Isaz
“ice” · sound: i
Looks the same either way up: never reversed.
Historical evidence
Ice in all three poems (is, íss): in the Old English poem cold, slippery and glittering like glass; 'the broad bridge' in the Norwegian poem; 'bark of rivers' in the Icelandic.
The name Isaz is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems
Original
Is byþ oferceald, ungemetum slidor,
glisnaþ glæshluttur gimmum gelicust,
flor forste geworuht, fæger ansyne.English
Ice is very cold and endlessly slippery; it glitters clear as glass, most like jewels, a floor made by the frost, fair to look on.
Original
Ís kǫllum brú bræiða;
blindan þarf at læiða.English
Ice we call a broad bridge; the blind man must be led.
The Norwegian rhyme pairs each rune with a second line that rhymes with the first and often has no obvious connection to it.
Original
Íss er árbörkr
ok unnar þak
ok feigra manna fár
glacies jöfurr.English
Ice is the bark of rivers and the roof of the wave and a danger to doomed men. Ice [Latin glacies]. Prince.
Each Icelandic stanza ends with two words: a Latin gloss of the rune’s name and a poetic word for a king or chieftain that alliterates with the rune. Both are translated as they stand.
Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The English translations are Scryway’s own, made line by line from these texts; square brackets mark uncertain or added words. No published translation is reproduced.
Modern interpretation
From 20th-century and later divinatory practice, written for Scryway. Not a historical meaning.
Keywords: stillness, pause, clarity
Upright
A standstill: things are frozen for now. A time to wait, observe and keep still rather than force movement.