Difficult Norse god nearly dispensing with earl (6)
I believe the answer is:
thorny
'difficult' is the definition.
('thorny' can be similar in meaning to 'difficult')
'norse god nearly dispensing with earl' is the wordplay.
'norse god' becomes 'thor' (Thor is an example**).
'dispensing with' is a deletion indicator.
'nearly' with 'earl' removed is 'ny'.
'thor'+'ny'='THORNY'
(Other definitions for thorny that I've seen before include "Spiny - difficult and controversial" , "Troublesome or difficult - having spikes?" , "Prickly, problematic" , "Trying" , "Unpleasant" .)