Thurisaz (rune)

The Germanic rune runic|ᚦ is called Thurs ("Þurs" "giant", see Jötunn) in the Icelandic and Norwegian rune poems:

Tursas is an ill-defined being in Finnish mythology - Finland was known as the land of the giants ("Jotland") in Scandinavian/north Germanic mythology. [ [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/prose2/036.php Fornjot and the Settlement of Norway] ]

By extension, it was also associated with the Germanic giant-killer Thor/Donar and his hammer Mjollnir. To a lesser extent in its aspect of bringing misfortune, it has also been linked to the Lord of Mischief, Loki. [ [http://www.nordic-life.org/nmh/thoreng.html Þórsdrápa] ] Note, however, that name of the god ("Þōrr") has no etymological connection with the word for giant ("þurs"), being related instead to "Þunor" (thunder). Nevertheless Loki is said to be a giant, who moved to Asgaard from the land of the giants, Jotunheim.

In Anglo-Saxon England, the same rune was called "Thorn" or "Þorn" and it survives as the Icelandic letter Þ (þ). Since "thorn" is also not obviously etymologically related to "thurs", an attempt has been made to account for the substitution of names by taking "thorn" to be a kenning (metaphor) for "giant". [ [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/runes/005.php Old English Rune Poem] ]

It is disputed as to whether a distinct system of Gothic runes ever existed, but it is clear that most of the names of the letters of the Gothic alphabet correspond to those of the Elder Futhark. In modern transliterations of Gothic texts, the relatively newer thorn character is substituted for the Gothic letter .

The lack of agreement between the various glyphs and their names in Gothic, Anglo-Saxon, and Old Norse makes it difficult to reconstruct the Elder Futhark rune's Proto-Germanic name. Assuming that the Scandinavian name <þurs> is the most plausible reflex of the Elder Futhark name, and comparing that with the Old English "þyrs" "giant, ogre" and the Old High German "duris-es" "(of the) giant", the Proto-Germanic form *þurisaz has been reconstructed.

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