Rune 14 of 24 · Hagal's aett
Perthro
“uncertain” · sound: p
Can be drawn reversed when reversals are on.
Historical evidence
The meaning is genuinely unknown. The Old English poem (peorð) speaks of play and laughter among the bold in the beer hall; it has been read as a gaming piece, a dice cup or a fruit tree. P is rare in early Germanic, and the rune is rarely found.
The name Perthro is a modern reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name; the Elder Futhark’s own names are not recorded.
In the rune poems
Original
Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter
wlancum [on middum], ðar wigan sittaþ
on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.English
Peorth [meaning unknown] is always play and laughter to the proud [among them], where warriors sit in the beer-hall, happy together.
Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The English translations are Scryway’s own, made line by line from these texts; square brackets mark uncertain or added words. No published translation is reproduced.
Modern interpretation
From 20th-century and later divinatory practice, written for Scryway. Not a historical meaning.
Keywords: chance, mystery, what is not yet known
Upright
The unknown and the role of chance: a mystery, a gamble, or something hidden coming to light.
Reversed
Secrets kept, or relying on luck where you should not. Disappointment in what was hoped for.