Study › Runes & Norse › Isa
Isa (ᛁ) is the eleventh rune of the Elder Futhark. Its name means "ice", and its meaning is stillness: energy held motionless, slowing and calming, and if held too long, stopping. It cannot be reversed.
Keywords: stillness, unyieldingness, slowdown, coldness, stasis
What does the Isa rune mean?
Isa is the eleventh rune of the Elder Futhark. It comes after Naudhiz, and Yera comes after it.
It is ice, and all the quiet qualities that go with it — still and stable rather than flowing. Isa is the act of cooling, slowing and calming, and it can steady a process or take the volatility out of something. It brings balance and calm, and often acts as a barrier. Yet its stillness has a limit: overused, it can slow a thing until all movement stops.
Isa is slowing and stabilising — and also strength, resilience and immovability. It can steady a situation for good or for ill: holding back a bad development, or preserving a good one.
After its stillness, time moves again with Jera.
Isa in a reading
Isa in love
Let things cool down. Find calm together. Slow down and stop rushing. A steady, stable bond. Give love time to settle.
Isa and money
Keep a cool head. Hold steady. Slow, careful growth. Calm, clear decisions. Your finances are stable.
Isa and health
Rest and recover. Calm your body. Slow down your pace. Steady energy. Balance returns with rest.
Isa on the spiritual path
Quiet reflection. Firm resolve. Slow down and look inward. Inner calm. A time of balance.
Can Isa be reversed?
No. Isa looks the same either way up, so it has no reversed meaning: it reads the same however it falls.
Isa in the rune poems
The rune poems are the oldest sources for the runes' meanings. Here is what each one says of Isa, first as written, then in English.
Norwegian Rune Poem
Ís kǫllum brú bræiða;
blindan þarf at læiða.Ice we call the broad bridge;
the blind man must be led.
Icelandic Rune Poem
Íss er árbörkr
ok unnar þak
ok feigra manna fár.
glacies jöfurr.Bark of rivers
and roof of the wave
and destruction of the doomed.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem
Is byþ ofereald, ungemetum slidor,
glisnaþ glæshluttur gimmum gelicust,
flor forste geworuht, fæger ansyne.Ice is very cold and immeasurably slippery;
it glistens as clear as glass and most like to gems;
it is a floor wrought by the frost, fair to look upon.
Questions
How do you pronounce Isa?
Say it "EE-sah".
What does the Isa rune look like?
Isa (ᛁ) is a single upright line.
Can Isa be reversed?
No. Isa looks the same either way up, so it has no reversed meaning.