Ætt 3 · Pos. 3
Name
A thurs, one of the oldest kind of jotun. A thorn in the English poem.
Meaning
The poems know the thurs by the harm it does: it afflicts women, it dwells inside rock and hill, and it brings torment. The torment seems to belong to the female body: the monthly bleeding, the pains of labour and the danger of childbirth. In Skírnismál it reaches into desire as well, when Skírnir threatens Gerðr with a curse: “A thurs I carve for you, and three staves: lust, madness and unrest.” Healing charms name the same thurs as the cause of sickness, and drive it out: “Thurs of the wound-fever, flee now, you are found.”
The Poems
English Rune Poem
Thorn is very sharp;
for every warrior
grasping it is bad,
cruel beyond measure
to anyone
who lies down among them.
Icelandic Rune Poem
Thurs is torment of women,
and cliff-dweller,
and husband of Varðrún.
Norwegian Rune Poem
Thurs causes women’s sickness;
few are cheerful from misfortune.
Swedish Rune Poem
Thurs is women’s torment.
