Týr

"*Men prayed to Tyr for victory in battle, and justice in peace. He is renown for his wisdom as well as his valor. Tuesday is named in his honor. In some places he was called Tiwaz and was associated with the Roman God, Mars, the Celtic God Nadu [sic], as well as the Indian God, Mitra. Tyr was the original God of war, and the precursor of Odin, much in the same way that Mars was the God of war in Rome, and once held a higher place than Jupiter.*"
—Mimir.

**Týr** (/tɪər/; Old Norse: Týr [tyːr]) was the Æsir Norse god affiliated with war, law, honor and heroic glory, and one of the most beloeved, and benevolent Norse god across the Nine Realms.

Týr was the son of Odin, however, he may possibly be the child of the jötnar Hymir  and Hroðr. It is suggested the origins of his name and his possible relationship to Tuisto (see Tacitus' Germania) suggest he was once considered the father of the gods and head of the pantheon, since his name is ultimately cognate to that of \*Dyeus (cf. Dyaus), the reconstructed chief deity in Indo-European religion. It is assumed that Tîwaz was overtaken in popularity and in authority by both Odin and Thor at some point during the Migration Age, as Odin shares his role as God of war.

## History

Týr was said to be the firstborn son of Odin, but other suggests to be the jötnar Hymir  and Hroðr.

### Fenrir

At one stage the gods decided to shackle the wolf Fenrir, but the beast broke every chain they put upon him. Eventually they had the dwarves make them a magical ribbon called Gleipnir from such items as a woman's beard and a mountain's roots. But Fenrir sensed the gods' deceit and refused to be bound with it unless one of them put his hand in the wolf's mouth. Týr, known for his great courage, agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. Fenrir sensed that he had been tricked and bit off the god's hand. Fenrir will remain bound until the day of Ragnarök.

As a result of this deed, Týr is called the "Leavings of the Wolf". According to the Prose version of Ragnarök, Týr is destined to kill and be killed by Garm, the guard dog of the Helheim. However, in the two poetic versions of Ragnarök, he goes unmentioned; unless one believes that he is the "Mighty One".

In the Lokasenna he is taunted with cuckoldry by Loki.

### Leaving Asgard

When Thor was born, and became Asgard's protector, Týr left Asgard, and ventured into Midgard. While he still loved by the gods, he was more loved by the mortals of Midgard and they, with the help of the Norse god himself, created a temple in his honor. After making it, he left the Nine Realms and had been returning with relics, artifacts and items of other lands.

## Origins and Etymology

The name *Tyr* originally meant "god" (cf. *Hangatyr*, the "god who hung" (referring to when Odin hung in a tree for nine days) as one of Odin's names; probably inherited from Tyr in his role as judge (compare with the Irish "Midir", the judge par excellence) and goes back to a Proto-Germanic **Tîwaz**, earlier **Teiwaz**, continuing Proto-Indo-European language **\*deywos** "god", a word related to but distinct from the name of the sky-god Dyeus (in lith. both Dyeus and Deywos has the same meaning Dievas or goddess).

It should be noted however, that direct reference between Tyr/Teiw and "leader of the Gods" may be debatable. While the Proto-Indo-European origins of the term is common wisdom, "Dyaus", "Deywos" and "Devas" have always been used in a generic way to refer to the gods. "Dyaus-pater" which literally means the "father of Gods" later transformed through common uses in ancient Greece and Rome into "Zeus-pater" and then to "Jupiter" have been applied to Zeus/Jupiter and to Woden/Odin (Nordic). It is theorised Tyr was originally leader of the Norse/Germanic pantheon before being overtaken in popularity by Odin.

There is sketchy evidence of a consort, in German named **Zisa**: Tacitus mentions one Germanic tribe who worshipped "Isis", and Jacob Grimm pointed to Cisa/Zisa, the patroness of Augsburg, in this connection. The name Zisa would be derived from Ziu etymologically, in agreement with other consorts to the chief god in Indo-European pantheons, e. g. Zeus and Dione.

## Tyr rune

The *Tiwaz*-rune is named after Týr, and was identified with this god, the reconstructed Proto-Germanic name is **Tîwaz** (lith. Tevas - father, Dievas or Deivas - god). The rune is sometimes also referred to as **Teiwaz**, or spelling variants.