- Name
- þorn
- Meaning
- thorn
- Transliteration
- þ
- Sound
- /θ/, voiced [ð] between vowels
- Unicode
U+16A6runic letter thurisaz thurs thorn
Line of descent
History
The þ rune has the same shape and the same sounds as in the elder row: the dental fricative heard in English thin, voiced as in this between vowels. Only the name differs between traditions. In England the rune is þorn "thorn", and the rune poem describes the pain of grasping one. In Scandinavia it is þurs "giant", and the Norwegian poem says the giant "causes sickness in women". The Gothic name in Codex Vindobonensis 795, thyth, matches neither. Nobody knows which name is older, which is why the elder name is given as *þurisaz with a warning (see thurisaz). Some scholars suspect that English þorn replaced an older name considered unlucky or heathen, but there is no direct evidence for this.
The rune had a long second life outside runic writing. English scribes writing in the Latin alphabet took it over to spell the th sounds, for which Latin had no letter. As the letter thorn it stayed in English writing through the Middle Ages and survives in Icelandic today.
Inscriptions with þ include warþga and þær on the front of the Franks Casket and gibroþær "brothers" on its left side.
In the rune poems
anfeng ys yfyl, ungemetum reþe
manna gehwelcum, ðe him mid resteð.
taking hold of it is bad, beyond measure cruel
to every man who lies down among it.
Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.
Where it is found
- Seax of Beagnoth, position 3
- Franks Casket: warþga, þær (front); gibroþær (left side)
- Ruthwell Cross: þer 'there'
On inscriptions described on this site
Sources
- Dickins (1915), pp. 12–13 and notes to v. 7.
- Wikipedia, 'Franks Casket' and 'Ruthwell Cross', checked 2026-10.