You obviously weren't dealing with the 'right' sort of people! LOL  I am American by birth (Scots by heritage but know none of them) and have known what 'ken' means for as long as I can remember!

Perhaps because ice & hail are/can be destructive, whereas snow (unless you count avalanches) & cold aren't necessarily so? Snow & cold are normal; and unless extreme, rivers, (large) lakes & oceans are still navigable. Ice & hail cause real damage.

I have no problems whatsoever with the posited 'contraction'. As Patrima pointed out, things do tend to contract when they come into contact with ice - human skin being one of them!

And being from the frozen north, I can certainly relate to ice/cold causing things to slow or come to a standstill. Sunnyways' interpretation includes 'challenge or frustration', and I can easily see that, from both a Northern climate perspective (encompassing all three cultures that authored the poems) and from a warrior's perspective. A warrior (or even a sailor) would be frustrated by the inactivity caused by ice/cold.

Therefore, depending on what I'm asking, I look at it from either a climate perspective (Northerners sometimes use the cold winter months to do some introspection since there isn't much else to do) or an 'action' point of view (something I'm working on will encounter a slowdown, snag or even an iceberg that will either frustrate or challenge me - or both). The snag/iceberg could be a slippery-type person, although, thankfully, that hasn't yet been the case.

Frankly, when Isa comes up, I'm looking all around, with an 'oh, shit'. I hate it when a plan doesn't come together and even more so when the problem is me (the need for introspection part).

And just to add a sort-of modern twist on things (Scots): a kenning is a 'knowing', generally associated with a vision.

Magically!   

Yep. Still didn't take. One of 'em warned me about the perils of 'black' henna so I've stayed away from that. Sharpies and ballpoint pens last until the next shower.

Nah, that's Uruz!

That only works if henna works on you!  I don't want a permanent tatt but sometimes I'd like a temporary one. I've had three different henna artists try on me. It only gets to a light orange and washes off in the next shower! I also tried the same transferable 'ink' they used in "Star Trek: Voyager" for Chakotay's tattoo. That washed right off, too. I'm destined to be a plain Jane.

OK, Grym, you asked for it:

One has to remember that back when the poems were written, a man without a horse was a nobody. And a man's horse was his best friend. Hell, horses were better taken care of than women or kids! Horses were trained to work as a team if harnessed to a cart; a battle horse was trained to knee commands, leaving the rider's hands free for sword & shield. If one thinks about it, conversation among the wealthy would have included horses (like breeding & training), but also about battle & its strategy.

Therefore, I look at it in most respects as a rune of teamwork, harmony, trust; or thinking about it as 'the ability to ride a horse from one place to another', movement or progress on a situation.

That said, it can indicate current modes of transportation...cars, trucks, etc. I drew Ehwaz one morning & had car trouble. Definitely not a lot of movement (or harmony) that day! So although I usually go with the above interpretation, if I plan on driving on a day I draw Ehwaz, this interpretation is always in the back of my mind. (I work out of the house so don't always go someplace every day.)

I'm one of those weird people that doesn't pay attention (much) to dates, holidays, celebrations, etc. So for me the beginning of the seasonal year at Samhain ain't much; the solar year - enh! (although I use Midwinter & Midsummer as planning [plotting] days); and the calendar year is really arbitrary but who can argue that my year begins on my birthday?! And another year begins as well - my wedding anniversary is the day before. Sort of a logical time (to me) to see what's up in the coming 12 months.

I usually do top-bottom, left-right (like I'm reading a book or somethin'), paying attention to which ones fall together. It's an overview of a year, not looking for anything specific, so I don't think the 'order' one reads them in is essential but runes can influence each other, so I do pay attention to any pairs/groupings.

I draw one in the morning just to get a feel for the day and write it down - I have a notebook just for this purpose. Then I go back to it in the evening and see if I can match my day with the rune. I generally can - even if it's only a tiny thing that happened. You'd be surprised if you read back a month or so at how tiny things add up over the course of time to give you a bigger picture of things.

I do a Norn (past/present/future) if I need an answer to something.

Then on my birthday (the beginning of my year), I do what I call a 'full cast'.  Meaning I take all 24 in my hands and dump them onto my chosen surface (which happens to be a piece of white linen). I record whichever ones come face up (can't get into reversed or merkstave) and once I've looked at all the meanings, do my own interpretation as to what's going to happen in the coming year. It's eerily accurate.

I've never been able to get the hang of the Tarot but I understand from people who do both that the Tarot will give you much more information. I don't need everything spelled out for me but just general guidance. Maybe that's why I can't get the Tarot?

I have a distinct tendency to look to the OERP when thinking about interpretations, rather than the Norse or Germanic. No idea why, but that's me.

I've always looked at Kenaz as ummm... a stereotypical lightbulb above the head? I'm not sure about the 'where princes sit' part but I do believe that the poor folks (like me) didn't have nearly as many torches as royalty would or any at all, dealing with light from the fireplace only. Therefore, rich halls would be more brightly lit. So, Kenaz is all about bringing light to a situation, as it were.

I generally look at it as a 'journey' but not necessarily a physical one. Like most things in life, it's more about the trip than the destination, so I take it to mean the path I'm on, whether I'm asking about my witchy path, my business path, my spiritual path ... you get the idea.

Yep, use a Dremel with a diamond tip. The size of the bit will depend on how large your stones are and how large you want the drawing to be. Depending on the hardness of your stones, you'll want water handy to wash across the stone, keeping the bit cool. I drew the rune on the stone with a pencil, first, so I had a template to follow. If the stone is hard, the bit will 'skip' if you don't bear down hard, too.

After I'd carved in the rune, it wasn't really visible (blue-lace agate is very light colored). I wanted to use a 'natural' paint like carmine but after buying the cabochons, my funds were depleted. So, I mixed my blood with bright red nail varnish and painted the 'ditch'. Worked well.

One caveat: in addition to making the stones the same size, I'd recommend you make them the same texture, too. Otherwise as you work with them, you'll get to know which is which by feel alone and if you draw rather than cast, it could affect which one you pick.

I use runes in spellwork but not all the time. Like most of what I do, it depends on my mood. I've scribed them on candles, drawn 'em on paper & burned or buried the paper, used them in sigil work (sigil comes out 'way cool-looking), on charm bags, poppets, you name it. There are two scribed on my walking staff, one on my cane.

My screen name should be familiar to most ... at least right now!  In addition to my love of herbs, I heart my runes! I forget how long I've been using them but it's been awhile. I started with the el-cheapo ceramic ones that although effective (once I discarded the 'blank' rune) were too big for my little hands. I tried a set of wooden ones that didn't feel right & finally made a set with blue-lace agate cabochons. I use runes for both divination & spellwork.

My memory is weakening with age (too much info crammed into too small brain?) and although I can remember the rune names & 'basic' meanings, I just can't remember the underlying meanings when using them for divination without a cheat sheet! So that's done in the privacy of my home for friends & family only. Hopefully participating here will help me in that regard.

I'm looking forward to the discussions but fair warning: it's tax season so I won't be here much until after 15th April.