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Isaz

Runic alphabet letter

Wikipedia contributorsAdapted for Fathomly · View authors
1 min read
Source updated December 8, 2025
NameProto-GermanicOld EnglishOld Norse
*IsazÍsÍss
"ice"
ShapeElder FutharkFuthorcYounger Futhark
Unicodeᛁ U+16C1
Transliterationi
Transcriptioni
IPA[i(ː)]
Position in
rune-row		119

*Isaz is the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name of the i-rune ᛁ, meaning "ice". In the Younger Futhark, it is called íss in Old Norse. As a rune of the Anglo-Saxon futhorc, it is called is.

The corresponding Gothic letter is 𐌹 i, named eis.

The rune is recorded in all three rune poems:

Rune Poem: English Translation:

Old English
ᛁ Is bẏþ oferceald, ungemetum slidor,
glisnaþ glæshluttur gimmum gelicust,
flor forste geƿoruht, fæger ansẏne.


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.

Old Icelandic
ᛁ Íss er árbörkr
ok unnar þak
ok feigra manna fár.


Ice is bark of rivers
and roof of the wave
and destruction of the doomed.

Old Norwegian
ᛁ Ís kǫllum brú bræiða;
blindan þarf at læiða.


Ice is called the broad bridge;
the blind man must be led.

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Sources and credits

This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Isaz”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.

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Related topics

Elder Futhark

The Elder Futhark, or Pan-Germanic Futhark, is the oldest form of the runic alphabets. It was a writing system used by Germanic peoples in the Migration Period.

Younger Futhark

The Younger Futhark, also called Scandinavian runes, is a runic alphabet and a reduced form of the Elder Futhark, with only 16 characters, in use from about the 9th century, after a "transitional period" during the 7th and 8th centuries. The reduction happened at the same time as phonetic changes that led to a greater number of different phonemes in the spoken language, when Proto-Norse evolved into Old Norse.

Rune poem

Rune poems are proverbial mnemonic kennings that list the letters of runic alphabets while providing an explanatory poetic stanza for each letter. Four different poems from before the mid-20th century have been preserved: the Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem, the Norwegian Rune Poem, the Icelandic Rune Poem and the Swedish Rune Poem.