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 texts)
Is byþ oferceald, ungemetum slidor,
glisnaþ glæshluttur gimmum gelicust,
flor forste geworuht, fæger ansyne.Ís kǫllum brú bræiða;
blindan þarf at læiða.Íss er árbörkr
ok unnar þak
ok feigra manna fár
glacies jöfurr.Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The summary above is Scryway’s own; no 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.