þurs

See also: Thurs

Middle English

Noun

þurs

1. Alternative form of thurs

Old Norse

FWOTD – 12 March 2014

Alternative forms

• þuss

Etymology

From Proto-Germanic *þursaz, *þurisaz (“giant, name of the Þ-rune”). Cognate with Old English þyrs, Old Saxon thuris, Old High German durs, duris. See also Finnish turisas, Tursas, turso. Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *tur-, *twer- (“to rotate, twirl, swirl, move”).

Pronunciation

• (9th century West Norse, 12th century Icelandic) IPA^(key): /ˈθurs/

Noun

þurs m (genitive þurs, plural þursar)

1. (Norse mythology) a giant, ogre, monster
   • Vǫluspá, verse 8, lines 5-6, in 1860, T. Möbius, Edda Sæmundar hins fróða: mit einem Anhang zum Theil bisher ungedruckter Gedichte. Leipzig, page 2:

     […] unz þrjár kvámu / þursa meyjar […]

     […] until three came / giant-maidens […]

2. a dunce, numskull
   • Heilræðavísur, in 1933, H. Pétursson, Heilræði Hallgríms Péturssonar:

     […] en þursinn heimskr þegja hlýtr, […]

     […] but a stupid dunce must remain silent, […]

3. the name of the Þ-rune

Declension

  Declension of þurs (strong a-stem)

masculine	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	þurs	þursinn	þursar	þursarnir
accusative	þurs	þursinn	þursa	þursana
dative	þursi	þursinum	þursum	þursunum
genitive	þurs	þursins	þursa	þursanna

Derived terms

Terms derived from þurs

• þursaberg (“a kind of hone”)
• þursaskegg (“a kind of coral or seaweed”)
• þursi (“dunce”)
• þursligr (“giant-like”)

Descendants

• Icelandic: þurs
• Faroese: tussur
• Norwegian Nynorsk: tuss, tusse
• Norwegian Bokmål: tuss, tusse
• Swedish: tuss, tusse (dialectal)
• Old Danish: tusse, tosse
  • Danish: tosse
• → Scottish Gaelic: tursa

References

• þurs in An Icelandic-English Dictionary, R. Cleasby and G. Vigfússon, Clarendon Press, 1874, at Internet Archive.
• þurs in A Concise Dictionary of Old Icelandic, G. T. Zoëga, Clarendon Press, 1910, at Internet Archive.