Peorth byth symble plega and hlehter

Wlancum thar wigan sittath

On bersele blithe aetsomne.

Peorth is always play and laughter

Where warriors sit boastful

In the beer-hall together.

Peorth is truly a mysterious rune and there are many interpretations of it but no one can really come to an agreement as to which definition should be used to describe it. Most people agree that Peorth has something to do with the game of chess or closer still the act of chance. Peorth could also be connected to the game of dice or even some form of divination. One thing for certain it conceals its secrets well.

Let's put the games of chess or dice into context with the rune poem. In Anglo-Saxon as well as old Norse times the hall was a place were people gathered together to discuss issues, hold meetings and to enjoy themselves. We can almost be certain that games such as chess or dice were played to while away the long winter hours of the northlands. This rune poem holds within it a social commentary giving us a glimpse of daily life in the time of our ancestors. It tells us that people, mostly warriors would play games enjoying themselves but it also gives us commentary on another social behavior and that being boasting. Boasting in Germanic society was a very important function. Warriors would boast to their peers and/or the gods about accomplishments and deeds that they had done. This was something that was always done in the beer-hall and their reputation to their peers depended on these boasts. But as with any social situation one might offend somebody and a quarrel might erupt out of such boasting contests between rivals. This is where chance comes into play. Just like one might lose at a game one might lose his or her life on offending someone because of a boast.

Peorth has a blatant connection to warriors. Chess and dice are both games of chance and are just like when the Anglo-Saxons would go out into battle because it was always a chance whether or not one might return from the battle. One might survive becoming a hero or one might get wounded and die. Nothing in warfare was for certain and the same applies in our times as well as in ancient ones. Peorth being connected to warriors also hints to importance of commradery. One had to be loyal to ones lord for promise of protection. In the EMM lines 178-183 it states:

The warriors shall lead counsel

And rest together, never hindered by speech,

Never in death separated.

He will sit around twice as long playing dice,

Meanwhile his grief glides away, together forgetting their spears,

Have the men on board; idle hands are serious to the dice-men,

Then the die is thrown.

This passage is interesting in that it brings the importance of the warriors' togetherness with the act of playing dice. It seems that Peorth keeps this social behavior together and hints that the act of chance applies to life as well as games. We can take this to mean all facets in human life and all life on earth. The Peorth rune further backs the other runes in that there is a risk involved in everything we do from work to play time. So Peorth is chance, especially those chances we get in life. It tells us to seize them when the come our way because we are rarely given second chances in life. Peorth also tells us to live our lives to the fullest and to enjoy our family and friends because tomorrow they might not be there.

On a more esoteric and mythological level I believe that the rune poem is alluding to something more. When we look at this rune poem it seems to almost be describing a Valhalla like hall. The Norse Eddas give us a brilliant description of this amazing hall. It is one of Odins halls and it is where all of the warriors who have died in battle go. It is in this hall that they wait until the end of the worlds to fight against the sons of Surt who will bring about total destruction. It is interesting to note that in Snorri Sturlusons Prose Edda Chapter 2 that he gives a vivid account of Valhalla. He states that there was a great room where warriors were playing games, drinking and some were fighting. This seems to me to be giving us a picture kind of like the one that the Peorth rune poem gives us. Granted the description in the Eddas is more in detail then the rune poem I think that Peorth is hinting to such a place. Would it be too far fetched as to think that maybe the Anglo-Saxons knew of such a hall? We will never know but there is always room for speculation.

Eolh-secg eard haefth oftust on fenne,

Wexeth on wature, wundath grimme,

Blode breneth beorna gehwylcne

The him aenigne onfeng gedeth.

Reed has a dwelling place most often on the marsh,

Grows on water, wounds grimly,

It causes the blood to burn in anyone who grasps it.

There is an alternative Anglo-Saxon spelling of the rune and it is Eolh, meaning Elk. This rune poem warns us of the protective power found in this rune. It is believed that this symbol is a very ancient one and that it was used solely for protective purposes. The rune poem equates this rune to a reed that grows in the water and that it can cause a pretty severe wound. But firstly in order to discover its meaning we have to dissect the name of this rune. Eoh means Elk and Secg means sedge, reed and sword. When we put those two words together the spell out Elk reed or sedge. This is interesting because I believe that the Anglo-Saxons combined the power of the Elk into a plant, and somehow the awesome primal protective energy of the Elk was transferred into a reed. So in knowing the source of the power of this rune i.e. the Elk we can begin to unravel this rune.

The protective power that is held within Eolh is a very primal one. Firstly, the shape of this rune gives us some insight to its connection with the Elk. We can take the shape of it to look like an Elks antlers or as one of the definitions of secg is sword. We all know that the antlers protect the animal from danger and are used in fighting as well. So we can use sword as a kenning for antlers. All animals and people use weapons when they are faced with some sort of danger be it antlers, a scent or in the case of people our most primal weapon is our fists. A prime example of this protective mode is a mother with her offspring. Be it an animal or a person a mother will be absolutely fierce when defending her children and will fight to death to achieve this task. A man will do the same when he thinks his family might be some kind of danger. To use the Elks antlers as a metaphor again males will use them to protect themselves as well as their female harem during rutting season. So we can see that this rune is a bisexual rune spilling over to both sexes in the animal kingdom.

The power of this rune stills applies today. Not much has changed since the times of our ancestors. An example would be if someone lives a big city one is always aware of others around us who might potentially pose a threat to our well being be it a pick pocket or a mugger. This kind of self protection is a very primal one and it stems from the time when we were still part of the food chain and had to have our wits about us all of the time.

On a different level this rune represents the powerful protective goddesses know as the Idisi, Disir and Valkyres. These goddesses were protective female spirits that would guard a family against misfortune. The Idisi were also known as War women and are thought to have been the precursors to the later Valkyres and Disir. The Idisi are mentioned in a German charm called The Merseburger Charms, which dates from the 9^th century. In this charm they are seen as women that can free fetters and bind them as well. They could loosen bonds and break hasps freeing any prisoner helping them to escape their foes. These goddesses were also thought to have been involved with the over seeing of war activities. It was also believed that they had the power to decide who would win a war. Everyone was believed to have been born with their own personal protective female spirit and that this spirit acted as a wyrd sister ensuring that ones wyrd was followed out correctly. That is why some have good luck in life and others have bad luck it all stems from what personal wyrd sister one was born with and that determine ones fate. There were also war goddesses in the northlands. There was on Friesian goddess by the name of Baduhenna who was a fierce war goddess. The fist part of her name Badu means slaughter. Giving us some insight into her function as a war goddess. The goddess Freyja in the Norse myths was also said to have taken part in affairs of war. It was said that she took half the warriors to her hall Folkvang meaning battlefield and that Odin took the other half. So we can see that goddesses had the same power over protection in the battlefield as the gods had and were most likely given offering and prayed to helping to ensure this protection. The Norse myths give testament to this continued belief.