Isa - Impressions

[Opal]

Another rune of the day! lol XD And a continuation of this idea of first impressions -------> http://www.phrets.com/runeforum/index.php?topic=45.msg71#msg71

I've very fond of Isa, partly because it seems so self explanatory. Just saying it's name tells me a lot about it. It's icy, it's cold, it's almost hissing at me, which always shoots a picture of hot breath in the cold air into my mind's eye.

Just looking at it though, I get something else. A straight path going on indefinitely. A wall or blockage without an obvious way through it.

Anyway, I'm really enjoying sharing my first impressions and getting a little feedback, hope I'm not the only one.

What are/were your first impressions of Isa from simply looking at it or reading/hearing it's name?

[ejfinch]

For some reason, I get a foreboding feeling from this one. Kind of like a warning of something treacherous or nasty looming. Not physically treacherous, more situational, if that makes any sense. lol 

Elizabeth

[Grymdycche]

Isa is one of those runes which has an element that is often glossed over, but maybe because only the OERP mentions it:

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.

The key here is that it is fair to look upon and glistens like glass and gems; yet, it is slippery, cold, and treacherous.
I think the key meaning of Isa - at least, to the Anglo-Saxons-  is deception.
When Isa comes up in a reading, look out- someone may be flattering you to your face, but ready to stab you in the back. Or, a situation that looks rewarding may turn out quite the opposite.
This would indeed be something I'd want to know about in a divination!


One keyword I frequently see authors associate with Isa is "contraction".  I'm not quite sure how to take this. Technically, water doesn't contract when it freezes to ice, just the opposite- it expands.  However, if what is meant is that freedom of movement is restricted, then I would agree. No doubt in the cold heart of winter, the Northern peoples had trouble sailing their ships freely.

[Patrima]

Isa is one of those runes which has an element that is often glossed over, but maybe because only the OERP mentions it:

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.


One keyword I frequently see authors associate with Isa is "contraction".  I'm not quite sure how to take this. Technically, water doesn't contract when it freezes to ice, just the opposite- it expands.  However, if what is meant is that freedom of movement is restricted, then I would agree. No doubt in the cold heart of winter, the Northern peoples had trouble sailing their ships freely.

My take on the association of 'contraction' with this rune is that cold and ice cause other things that they touch to contract - metal is a good example. The effect being that the touch of Isa, or the influence is Isa, is to cause contraction in that which it touches or influences. It causes progress to contract - slow or stop. I find it a viable interpretation.

[Mountain Witch]

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).

[Grymdycche]

Overall, I see that as "stasis" more so than contraction.  Contraction is small in scale, not always that noticeable, unless, as I mentioned earlier, one considers the waterways -rivers, lakes, and the ocean. Then, yes, you're quite restricted as to where you go, compared to summertime. But that is a form of stasis too.  But the OERP, at any rate, barely mentions either.

I've given this a fair amount of thought:  why is there a rune for ice, and a rune for hail (Hagalaz), but none for snow?  Or for that matter, none for cold itself? Surely, cold is the prevailing theme here. But I didn't want to attribute too many things for Isa to cold, because Isa is ice, which has the quality of being cold, but is not coldness itself.  I sometimes wonder why they didn't have a rune for "cold".
Ah well, there's always the danger of missing the forest for the trees as well as not seeing the trees for the forest.

I've also wondered about their definition of hail;  might that have been, essentially, the same as "snow"?   If so, I can see how and even why they would differentiate the two:  hail or snow affects mostly land, whereas ice would affect mostly their seafaring enterprises.  Both were extremely important, between farming and fishing and transportation.

And I'm finding it near impossible to discuss one rune without bringing in another!

[Mountain Witch]

I've given this a fair amount of thought:  why is there a rune for ice, and a rune for hail (Hagalaz), but none for snow?  Or for that matter, none for cold itself?

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.

[Grymdycche]

I've given this a fair amount of thought:  why is there a rune for ice, and a rune for hail (Hagalaz), but none for snow?  Or for that matter, none for cold itself?

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.

Yagh!  Quotes within quotes don't render very clearly here, do they?  I'll have to figure out how to fix that.

Anyway..

Snow can be quite destructive too though, for example, if enough weight gathers on a roof, the dwelling is done for; enough of it can also severely restrict mobility and gathering of food; or, as you said, in an avalanche -it could wipe out an entire village.

But also, interestingly, hail is referred to in all three poems as "cold grain", which has a positive connotation -when it melts, it turns to water. "Grain" being the key word here, as in seed, being that it waters the fields, or supplies the rivers and wells.
The more I think about it, the more I think Hail might be a catch-all term including snow too, but a linguist would know for sure.
But I tend to view Hagalaz as something that is a temporary burden or hurdle, but which can be turned to your advantage (it has a silver lining).

In the OERP hail is also the "sickness of serpents", a kenning alluding to the fact that winter is not kind to cold blooded creatures. 
That also seems to be a good thing, and though some pagan cultures venerated the serpent, that bit was probably added later from Christian influences.