Definition of "thyrse" []

• A dense, paniclelike flower cluster, as of the lilac, in which the lateral branches terminate in cymes. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Grendel is referred to once in Beowulf as ‘thyrse’, line 426."
• "The Old English word ‘thyrse’ or ‘thurse’ is obsolete in modern English but occasionally appears in place names, e.g."
• "Michael Alexander translates ‘thyrse’ as ‘troll’ in Beowulf for the alliteration – “a trial against this troll”."