Runes of the elder Futhark

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Thurisaz

GMC   Thurisaz    The strong one, giant
GO       Thuith        The good one
OE       Thorn         Thorn
ON      Thurs          Giant

Asa-Thorr, the enemy of unfriendly forces.
Thorn on a branch or Thor’s hammer.

Sound: _th_ as in „thorn“

Thurisaz is a force of defense and destruction. „Bramble“ or thorny bushes were used to „fence“ and protect boundaries. One form of Norse/Germanic execution was to throw criminals „into thorns“. Thor is the god that protects sacred enclosures in much the same way that the thorny hawthorne, blackthorn, or rose does. It is the thicket that protected Sleeping Beauty’s castle, the hedge that surrounded sacred enclosures. The thorn or the „spindle“ was used to put „sleep“ spells on beings, even those on a cosmic level, and was equally a thorn of awakening. No matter how beautiful the rose, one should be careful to watch for thorns. The TH-rune is also associated with the thurs, (pl. thursar) or a „giant“ in the Old Norse. There were several groups of these beings, the „rime-thurses“ or frost-giants, were wise (or witless..according to various sources) and very old and who fought with the gods. They are primal forces, elemental in nature. Thorn is a rune of testing and challenge, as well as protection and defense.