Thurisaz Rune Meaning: Giant, Thorn and the History of the Þ-Rune

Thurisaz is the conventional name of the þ-rune of the Elder Futhark, ᚦ, which stood for the sound th. Its older name belongs to a Germanic word for a giant or hostile supernatural being. In England the rune was renamed "thorn", and it outlived runic writing altogether: as the letter þ, it was used in Old English manuscripts and is still part of the Icelandic alphabet.

From giant to thorn

The reconstructed name *þurisaz is related to Old Norse þurs, a giant. In the Anglo-Saxon futhorc the rune was called þorn, "thorn", which the Bosworth–Toller dictionary records both as the prickle of a plant and as the name of the letter þ.

What the rune poems say

The poems follow the two names. The Old English verse is about the plant; in Bruce Dickins's 1915 translation: "The thorn is exceedingly sharp, an evil thing for any knight to touch, uncommonly severe on all who sit among them."

The Norse poems keep the giant. The Norwegian verse says that the giant brings grief to women; the Icelandic one calls him the torment of women, the dweller in the rocks and the husband of a giantess.

Is Thurisaz Thor's rune?

No, although the names look alike. Þurs means a giant, and Thor is the god famous for fighting giants. The rune names his enemies, not him.

Protection, danger and modern readings

Modern rune readers often interpret Thurisaz as protection, boundaries, confrontation or danger, building on the image of a giant or a thorn. Those are coherent modern metaphors. The historical evidence gives us the giant and the thorn, not a fixed divinatory meaning.

Thurisaz in jewellery

A Thurisaz motif can reference runic writing, the Norse giants, the letter thorn or a personal idea of boundaries.

Take a look at the AURYN Thurisaz rune charm, or read our guide to all twenty-four runes.