Perthro · Perthro
Heimdall's Aett · No. 14 · Sound P
Form after Elmer H. Antonsen, Runes and Germanic Linguistics (2002). The asterisk marks a linguistic reconstruction — no recording of Proto-Germanic exists. The IPA follows Ringe's (2006) sound system; the audio is a synthesised approximation. Trust the IPA over the audio.
DisputedNeither the form nor the meaning is settled; scholars have argued over it for a century. Both *perþō and *perþrō are proposed. Reading it as a 'dice cup' is a modern guess, not a conclusion.
Dice cup, lot-casting vessel
A vessel on its side — the cup from which lots are cast. What has not yet been revealed, and the fact that humans choose only the action, never the outcome.
Something concealed is about to surface — a secret, an old memory, or a capacity you did not know you had. The rune speaks of fate beyond control, but it is also the rune of the unexpected chance.
A secret best left buried, expectations that will not materialise, or leaving your life to luck. It can mean being trapped in the past, or refusing to reveal a truth until it turns toxic.
The action is yours to choose. The outcome is not.
Nobody knows what peorð meant. Scholars have argued over it for a century. The Anglo-Saxon poem says only that it is associated with play and laughter among people drinking together in the hall. Reading it as a 'dice cup' is a modern guess, not an established fact.
PeorðPeorð is always play and laughter among high-spirited people, where warriors sit cheerfully together in the drinking hall.
Anglo-Saxon Rune Poem — composed c. 7th–10th c. · original burned 1731, survives via Hickes' 1705 copy. Summary of the stanza, not a verbatim translation