---

In the narrow sense this rune stands for ice, particularly the flat floor or bridge of ice that covers inlets of the sea, lakes and rivers. All northern races used ice for highways in winter. Such roads had their treacherous aspect. An unwary traveler might fall through and be lost without a trace. In the Icelandic Rune Poem is written:



The qualities that distinguish ice are stealth and treachery. It forms silently, sealing up open waters in a steel-like case. It is hard when a man might wish it to be soft, and soft when he most wants it to be hard. Never is it to be trusted. It surrounds the hull of a ship and crushes it in savage jaws. It waits for the unwary step and throws down the horse or walking man.

Its deceptive qualities make it feminine. If Haegl is compared to the stroke of an axe, Is is poison in the wine cup. Ice has its alluring, seductive aspects. As the Old English Rune Poem states: it glitters clear as glass, very like jewels; it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to behold.

Much of its danger lies in its inviting appearance. The silence and stillness of ice put the traveler off his guard. One stop leads to another, and before he knows it he is in over his head. Another quality of ice is its changelessness. It locks life under its surface and keeps it motionless as though under a spell. Even the restless waves are stilled. Waterfalls and fountains become rigid monuments to the power of Is.

---

MEANINGS:

UPRIGHT:

Beguilement, deceit, hidden purposes, lies, hurtful secrets, concealed meaning, treachery, entrapment, stealth, ambush, plots, betrayal, paralysis of will, impotence, inability to act, blindness to approaching disaster. A cunning and beautiful woman.

REVERSED:

Glamor, illusions, obsessive love, heedless pursuit, persistence in folly, infatuation, superficial beauty, head in the clouds, hopeless desires, distant glittering prizes.

KEY: ENTRAPMENT