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 texts)
Peorð byþ symble plega and hlehter
wlancum [on middum], ðar wigan sittaþ
on beorsele bliþe ætsomne.Original texts as printed in Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples, Cambridge University Press, 1915. Public domain. The summary above is Scryway’s own; no 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.