Original meaning: Cease
A time of waiting. Plans are frozen. Be patient, this is only temporary. Resume seeking your goals at a later time.

The rune verse of Ís is a warning, "beware of that which is beautiful, for it can contain great danger." Its meaning can be seen in such old sayings as "all that glitters is not gold" and "appearances can be deceiving." It is the alluring song of the sirens or the insincerity hidden behind the con man's pitch. It is the beautiful woman or handsome man that uses their physical beauty to achieve dishonest means. It is a warning to look out for things that are too good to be true. It is the cold uncaring individual willing to use deception to achieve their means, and unwilling to change themselves.

On another level, Ís symbolizes the standstill of the frozen sea, the inability to change. It is cold, unyielding and deadly. Some runesters see Ís as a rune of the ego but this is highly unlikely. If it does indicate anything about the self it most likely refers to a cold unchanging individual whose life is at a standstill. It may be that Ís was what brought about the "battle fetters" a condition brought on warriors by a curse to prevent them from taking action.

In divination, Ís can mean, "beware, watch your step," or it can indicate one's life has cometo a standstill. In spellwork, it can be used to bring activities of some kind to a complete halt, to ice it over