ABSTRACT The influence of ice formation and its content on the viscoelastic characteristics of wood were investigated in the temperature range between −125°C and 25°C. The stiffness and damping properties of the longitudinal (L), radial (R) and tangential (T) specimens were determined for different moisture content (MC) levels at or above the fiber saturation point (FSP) ranging from 25% to 300%. Results showed that the E′ value was correlated negatively with temperature for all specimens. Accompanied by the frozen free water inside the wood, the order of magnitude in E′ for specimens in the different anatomical directions trend toward an accord. The increment in E′ (ΔE′) of specimens was correlated positively with the ice content, and ΔE′ in the L direction was lower than those in the R and T directions at each MC level. The γ-relaxation ranged from −112.9°C to −94.8°C was observed for all orthotropic directions at 10 Hz, which was assigned to the reorientation of methylol groups and adsorbed water molecules in the wood cell walls. At each MC level, a lower peak temperature of γ-relaxation was observed in the L specimens compared to the transverse specimens. Notably, the γ-relaxation peak temperature in the E″ and tanδ spectrum showed obvious frequency-dependence, and the apparent activation energy (ΔH) of γ-relaxation over the measured MC range was about 38.08∼69.57 KJ/mol. The ΔH value was close for specimens in orthotropic grain orientations, indicating that this γ-relaxation phenomenon was not affected by its orthotropic structure and also related closely with the formation of ice in the wood cell lumens.