Ior is the dipthong “io”

Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem (From ragweedforge.com)

Ior is a river fish and yet it always feeds on land;
it has a fair abode encompassed by water, where it lives in happiness

Ior is the rune of boundaries, liminality and happiness. In the midst of this week of anxiety, we are reminded that within us is happiness. Joy is fleeting, an experience of pleasure based upon external values, where money, food and peace in the home leave us free from momentary worry. Ior, as a gamarunar, goes beyond those things, breaking the boundaries of external value, and showing that by being fluid in a situation we can find lasting internal happiness.

It is my stance that happiness is not an emotion, but a state of being. This is partly based upon the dictionary definition of happy and happiness. It’s secondary meaning is an emotion, but it’s primary is a state of being, once gained, never truly falls away, and is not based on external factors. Even in great loss, once can be happy, and thus find opportunities to express joy, even if that joy is only at the sense that you have survived.