Thurisaz

Thurisaz

The rune ᚦ is called Thurs in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems (Old Norse Þurs, a type of being, from a reconstructed common Germanic *Þurisaz). In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem, it is called thorn, from which the name of the letter þ is derived. It is transliterated as þ and has the phonetic value of a voiceless dental fricative /θ/ (the English th sound, as in thing).

The rune is absent from the earliest Vimose inscriptions but appears in the Thorsberg Chape inscription, which dates to around 200 AD.

Name
In Anglo-Saxon England, the same rune was called Thorn or "Þorn", and it is attested as the Icelandic letter Þ (þ). The replacement of the names has been explained by interpreting thorn as a symbol (metaphor) for "giant."

It is disputed whether there ever existed a distinct system of Gothic runes, but it is clear that most of the names (though not the shapes) of the letters in the Gothic alphabet correspond with those of the Elder Futhark. The name of 𐌸, the Gothic letter corresponding to Þ, forms an exception; it is recorded in the Codex Vindobonensis 795 as þiuþ ("the good") and is not related to þurs or thorn. The lack of consistency between the various glyphs and their names in Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse makes the reconstruction of the Proto-Germanic name of the Elder Futhark rune difficult.

Assuming that the Scandinavian name þurs is the most plausible reflection of the Elder Futhark name, a common Germanic form þurisaz can be reconstructed (cf. Old English þyrs "giant, monster" and Old High German duris-es "(of) giant").

Rune Poems
The Germanic rune ᚦ is mentioned in all three rune poems:

Rune Poem

Translation

Old Norwegian
Þurs vældr kvinna kvillu,
kátr værðr fár af illu.

Thurs ("giant") brings women sorrow,
Misfortune makes few men happy.

Old Icelandic
Þurs er kvenna kvöl
ok kletta búi
ok varðrúnar verr.
Saturnus þengill.

Thurs ("giant") is the tormentor of women
and dweller of rocks
and husband of a giantess,
Saturn’s thegn.

Anglo-Saxon
Ðorn byþ ðearle scearp;
ðegna gehƿylcum anfeng ys yfyl,
ungemetum reþe manna gehƿelcum,
ðe him mid resteð.

The thorn is exceedingly sharp,
a wicked thing for any thane who touches it,
unusually hard for all who sit under it.

Saturn may refer to Ymir or Útgarða-Loki.

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