Peorth

[winter night]

Peorth is a source of recreation and amusement to the great,
     where warriors sit blithely together in the banqueting-hall.

Looking at the rune symbol for this one, and from reading the poem, the first thing that jumped into my mind is the court jester, but I havent checked yet if the Jester was 'about' at the time these were written! Will do, but meantime - even the symbol for this one reminds me of the mad hat the jester wore, or perhaps the arms of the jester/entertainer, extending out in some sort of silly impression to amuse the warriors while they feasted and rested.

to sit 'blithley' is to have a lack of due concern, so from this, if I drew this one, it would suggest that I take a bit of a chill-pill over events which may be troubling me, and also to invest some time in doing something which please me more.  Its definately a sit back and kick your feet up rune to me at the moment!

what do you all think though?  what's you take on this, and anyone want to confirm if the Jester think is just totally bonkers, that would be fine too.

[Grymdycche]

I've come across a few different takes on Perthro/Peorth, with different determinations.
A lot of authors ascribe the shape of it to that of a lot cup (on it's side, as though dice were being tossed out).
Nordic/Anglo culture was quite fond of gambling and games of chance apparently, judging from their literature.
They used deer or sheep knuckle bones for dice.

So mostly I've read/heard it linked to games of chance, and by extension, also mystery, fate, chance, and Wyrd. As Freya Aswynn says, it is the rune of the runes, and why no "blank" rune is necessary.
Who knows how the dice will roll?
I don't always necessarily agree with her views, but this one works for me.
I came across this page a few months back, you might or might not find it resonates:
http://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/perthro-rune-meaning-analysis
http://runesecrets.com/rune-meanings/perthro

[midnightblue]

Could it not also be a bard?  It was fairly common across the ancient world for bards to recite epic poems in banqueting halls.

The bard would symbolise knowledge and the passing down of histories.  The warriors may be sitting blithely because they are having their own great battles re-counted to them.

Just another idea to throw into the mix, but on reading that poem that was the impression I received.

[Grymdycche]

Could it not also be a bard?  It was fairly common across the ancient world for bards to recite epic poems in banqueting halls.

The bard would symbolise knowledge and the passing down of histories.  The warriors may be sitting blithely because they are having their own great battles re-counted to them.

Just another idea to throw into the mix, but on reading that poem that was the impression I received.

Hmm..  that too is a good possibility.   If I'm not mistaken, the only reference ever found regarding peorđ is the Anglo Saxon rune poem; there there's nothing else to go by, so that sort of leaves the doors of interpretation open to a host of possible meanings. 
Any thoughts as to how the shape of the rune might relate to a bard?  At first I thought "book" or even scroll, but.. in the early days (when the rune would have taken it's shape), the whole point of the bard was to keep history and traditions alive though oral means, so.. not sure about that.
Well, it certainly is the rune of mystery in a sense!

[mcdee2005]

I would tend to agree with the standard interpretation here. As Grymdycche has mentioned they were very fond of games of chance and thus the casting of the lots from a cup
Given that the warriors are sitting blithely ( a casual but cheerful indifference deemed improper or callous) it seems to me that they are resigned to fate no matter what and with that in mind they seem to have the attitude that no matter what fate throws at them they will grin and bare it.

When reading this rune I tend to read this as something will present its self which will require your input to determine its outcome, this could be anything but rest assured that it will be decided by your actions.
In reverse it has usually associated its self with things that are going to go wrong or information etc that has been wrong .


As for the possible symbolization of a Bard, I suppose it could be a stylized Mouth.

[midnightblue]

I agree it is difficult to see any reference to a bard in the actual rune.

However while I was digging around yesterday I discovered that it has been postulated by a few people that poem has been altered and that instead of warriors in the banqueting hall it should be wives in the birthing hall.  It was changed by the christians because the original meaning had a more sexual meaning.

I thought it was quite interesting and the rune does look like a woman in a birthing position.

It seems the more I look into this rune the more possibilities emerge!