Perthro rune meaning: history, poems and modern reading

How to read the labels Historical what the old sources say. Later tradition what later writers added. Modern modern practice and my own notes.

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Perthro is rune 14 of the 24 runes of the Elder Futhark, and the sixth rune of the second aett. It stands for the sound p, and its reconstructed name means unknown. Modern readers link it with mystery, the unknown and chance. On this page I start with what the evidence says, then the Old English rune poem, and only then the modern meanings, so you can always see which layer you are reading.

At a glance

• Shape: a vertical stave with a V-shaped notch attached at the top right and another at the bottom right, like a cup lying on its side
• Sound: p
• Reconstructed name: unknown; conventionally *perþō (uncertain)
• Later names: Old English peorð, of unknown meaning; no Scandinavian name, because the rune was dropped from the Younger Futhark
• Position: second aett, rune 14

Reconstructed names carry an asterisk because no early source writes them out in full. Scholars work them out from the later Old English and Old Norse names and from related words in other Germanic languages. Where the reconstruction is uncertain, I say so below.

The shape

Perthro is an upright stave with two short branches at the top and the bottom, both pointing right, like a cup tipped on its side or a square bracket. Draw the stave, then the two angled arms. Its name and meaning are the least certain of all the runes, so its shape is one of the few things we know for sure.

A good way to learn Perthro is to draw it ten times in a row on scrap paper, saying its sound aloud each time. Then draw it once more beside its neighbors in the futhark, so your hand learns the differences as well as the shape.

In the record

Historical Perthro is the great mystery of the futhark. The only recorded name is Old English peorð, and no word like it is known anywhere else in Old English. Nobody knows what it meant. The Gothic letter name preserved in a medieval manuscript, pertra, is just as obscure. The modern name Perthro is a reconstruction from these forms.

Over the years, scholars have suggested many meanings: a pear tree, a game board or gaming piece, a dice cup, a musical instrument, and others. The nineteenth-century scholar Wilhelm Grimm suggested a chess piece, an idea later scholars doubted. None of these has been proven, and all are guesses.

The p-sound was rare in early Germanic, so the rune is rare in inscriptions. It was dropped from the Younger Futhark, where the b-rune covered p. Its best-known early appearance is in the futhark row on the Kylver stone, from around 400 CE.

The rune poems

Historical Old English (author’s rendering): Peorth is always play and laughter among the proud, where warriors sit happily together in the beer-hall.

Only the Old English poem survives, and it does not say what peorð was. It says only that it brings play and laughter to warriors gathered in the hall. That is why scholars have suggested a game or a musical instrument. The poem itself, though, leaves the mystery intact.

Only the Old English poem has a stanza for Perthro. The rune was dropped when the Younger Futhark shrank the row to sixteen runes in the Viking Age, so the Norwegian and Icelandic poets never wrote about it. That leaves us with one medieval voice, and it is worth remembering how much rests on it.

A word about these sources. The Old English poem survives only because George Hickes printed it in 1705, before the manuscript burned in 1731. The Norwegian poem was printed by Ole Worm in 1636, before its manuscript was lost in the Copenhagen fire of 1728. The Icelandic poem is usually dated to the fifteenth century. All three are medieval and Christian, so they tell us what the rune names meant to later readers, not what the first carvers believed. The renderings above are my own brief, literal ones.

Modern meanings

Modern Keywords: mystery, the unknown, chance, fate, play, secrets, the hidden.

Modern readers commonly read Perthro as mystery, fate, chance, and the unknown, often picturing it as a dice cup or a lot-cup from which runes are drawn. Many read it as luck, hidden factors, or a situation whose outcome cannot yet be known. Some, following the poem, read it as play, laughter, and fellowship. These meanings are modern. Because the original meaning of the name is unknown, every interpretation of Perthro is a modern choice. That uncertainty is itself a fitting meaning for a rune of mystery.

Reversed: Often read as unwelcome surprises, secrets coming out, or a sense of stagnation.

Because nobody knows what peorð meant, Perthro is a good place to practice honesty. When you read it as fate or a dice cup, you are using a modern idea, and that is fine if you say so. The old poem offers something just as useful: laughter and play among friends. Uncertainty, held lightly, can be a kind of freedom.

Perthro in a reading

Modern Here is how Perthro might speak to three common kinds of question. These are examples of modern reading, not rules, and your own response to the rune comes first.

• A question about the unknown. Perthro points to what you cannot see yet. Ask what you can know, and make peace with what you cannot.
• A question about a risk. Perthro is often linked with chance and play in modern reading. Do not make a decision based on it. Look at the real odds.
• A question about yourself. Perthro can point to something hidden that wants to come out: a talent, a feeling or a story. A journal is a safe place to let it.

If you draw Perthro with other runes, read them together. Ask what Perthro adds to the picture, then look at its neighbors in the spread. A rune reading is a prompt for reflection. It does not predict events, and it never replaces medical, legal or financial advice.

Perthro in a three-rune spread

In a simple three-rune spread of situation, challenge and next step, Perthro changes its voice with its place. As the situation, it describes where things stand, with mystery in the foreground. As the challenge, it asks whether something about the unknown is missing, overdone or out of balance. As the next step, it suggests one small, practical action in the spirit of chance. Read the other two runes first, then come back to Perthro and ask how it changes their story.

Perthro as a tattoo or symbol

On its own, Perthro is a letter for the sound p and the name of a thing, unknown. Anyone who reads runes will see it that way first. If you want it as a tattoo, a piece of jewelry or a mark in your journal, take your time: check the form against a reliable chart, because a small change of angle can turn one rune into another. Avoid combining runes into a design you have not checked, since a few rune sequences and stylized forms are used as codes by hate groups.

Reflection questions

• What in my life is genuinely uncertain right now, and how do I feel about not knowing?
• When did I last play, just for fun?
• Is there something I am keeping secret that weighs on me?

A week with Perthro

Spend half an hour this week playing a game purely for enjoyment, alone or with others. Afterward, write about how it felt to let the outcome be uncertain. If you like, write about one uncertainty in your life that you might hold more lightly.

To get the most from the week, keep the entries short and honest. On the first day, write what Perthro means to you before you read anything else. On the last day, read that first note again and add one line about what changed. You do not need special tools: a notebook, a pen and the rune drawn at the top of each page are enough.

Related runes

• Eihwaz comes just before Perthro in the futhark. Modern keywords: endurance, resilience.
• Algiz comes just after Perthro. Modern keywords: protection, guardianship.

To see all twenty-four runes side by side, with their sounds and the three aettir, go to the Elder Futhark. For where the runes came from, read the history of the runes, and when you are ready to draw runes for reflection, start with how to cast runes. Everything else is on the runes hub.