“Thence comes maidens,
much knowing,
three, from the hall
under tree stands;
Urd hight the first,
the second Verdandi,
they ash-tablets graved,
Skuld hight the third;
they laws made,
they life selected;
all the children
they destiny say.”
- Völuspá
much knowing,
three, from the hall
under tree stands;
Urd hight the first,
the second Verdandi,
they ash-tablets graved,
Skuld hight the third;
they laws made,
they life selected;
all the children
they destiny say.”
- Völuspá
Literal Meaning & History
This is one of the few rune words or titles where the literal meaning just isn’t known, or it’s not known even if there is a literal meaning.
That being said, the word and it’s context has been considered to have something to do with pear wood and cups, like the sort of cup you’d put dice or game pieces in, for throwing, for random results. Or game boxes.
These translations however are actually largely hypothetical and no set translation exists for this term.
Due to it’s supposed connection to cup and container (specifically in the game sense), various rune sites have begun linking this rune with the vagina. There is no evidence the name for this rune contains any reference to any sexual organs of any kind.
Figurative Meaning & Symbolism
I find it quite interesting that we’ve lost the original meaning of the word for this rune (assuming there ever really was one beyond the rune) because this is a rune for the “Unknown”.
This is the fate, the unavoidable destiny.
This is the mystery of the unknown.
This is magic and divination.
This is the natural course of change, evolution.
This is a fresh start.
This is epiphany, revelation.
This is the mystery of the unknown.
This is magic and divination.
This is the natural course of change, evolution.
This is a fresh start.
This is epiphany, revelation.
These are the forces at play in the universe that we don’t understand, that we are unable to grasp, that are beyond our capacity to understand fully.
This is the finesse of causality and it’s inevitability.
This is everything that you struggle to know and trust, a piece of information that no matter how you try, it slips through your fingers like fine sand.
This rune is the stuff that controls which numbers come up, if you put your dice in a cup, shake it, and pour them out while blindfolded.
Suggested Homework
Fate is a funny thing in the heathen tradition.
It can change, but not completely.
Knowing your fate can both make it harder and easier to change.
It can change, but not completely.
Knowing your fate can both make it harder and easier to change.
So for this rune, the homework focuses on causality.
Think about your day today.
If you had gotten out of bed an hour earlier, what would this have changed about how your day went and how you are right now?
If you had gotten out of bed an hour later, what would this have changed about how your day went and how you are right now?
If you had gotten out of bed an hour earlier, what would this have changed about how your day went and how you are right now?
If you had gotten out of bed an hour later, what would this have changed about how your day went and how you are right now?
There’s no way to change the past and no point in wallowing in the past, so try and refrain from doing that as you do these exercises.
Now think back a year and look for a small event, a chance meeting with a friend, a new kitten, or some other similar event, and please choose a neutral or positive event.
Now try to think about every way this event changed and helped shape your present, in countless little ways.
Look for the ripples outward from this tiny event, like circles made by raindrops in the water.
Now try to think about every way this event changed and helped shape your present, in countless little ways.
Look for the ripples outward from this tiny event, like circles made by raindrops in the water.
Write this down in simple terms, like you were stacking up word shaped dominos.
Example; Met X - went to bd party - met Y - got puppy - broke computer - took loan - started making/selling Z
In this example (based on fictional events.. mostly) meeting a friend lead to an invite to a party where the person met a friend of a friend who had a friend who had puppies they were trying to give away, which led to getting in touch with the person with the puppies (beause omg cute) and a couple months later the new puppy yanked the laptop off the table, but to afford a new laptop a loan had to be taken out to replace it and then later on because loan created a slight strain on the finances the fictional person started making and selling something to boost finances back up again.
Example; Met X - went to bd party - met Y - got puppy - broke computer - took loan - started making/selling Z
In this example (based on fictional events.. mostly) meeting a friend lead to an invite to a party where the person met a friend of a friend who had a friend who had puppies they were trying to give away, which led to getting in touch with the person with the puppies (beause omg cute) and a couple months later the new puppy yanked the laptop off the table, but to afford a new laptop a loan had to be taken out to replace it and then later on because loan created a slight strain on the finances the fictional person started making and selling something to boost finances back up again.
The things may not seem directly connected or even like the chain makes much sense, but one thing leads to another in this world. This much is inevitably true.
Perthro as a rune deals with the frame for this path, the edges, the outskirts, the flow of time and the flow of causality, and the flow of the unseen, the magical.
