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Týr

Týr (/tɪər/;[1] Old Norse: Týr, pronounced [tyːr]) is a god in Germanic mythology, a valorous and powerful member of the Æsir and patron of warriors and mythological heroes. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, Týr sacrifices his hand to the monstrous wolf Fenrir, who bites it off when he realizes the gods have bound him. Týr is foretold of being consumed by the similarly monstrous dog Garmr during the events of Ragnarök.

"Týr" by Lorenz Frølich, 1895

The interpretatio romana[a] generally renders the god as Mars, the ancient Roman war god, and it is through that lens that most Latin references to the god occur. For example, the god may be referenced as Mars Thingsus (Latin 'Mars of the Assembly [Thing]') on 3rd century Latin inscription, reflecting a strong association with the Germanic thing, a legislative body among the ancient Germanic peoples. By way of the opposite process of interpretatio germanica, Tuesday is named after Týr ('Týr's day'), rather than Mars, in English and other Germanic languages.

In Old Norse sources, Týr is alternately described as the son of the jötunn Hymir (in Hymiskviða) or of the god Odin (in Skáldskaparmál). Lokasenna makes reference to an unnamed and otherwise unknown consort, perhaps also reflected in the continental Germanic record (see Zisa).

Due to the etymology of the god's name and the shadowy presence of the god in the extant Germanic corpus, some scholars propose that Týr may have once held a more central place among the deities of early Germanic mythology.

Name

In wider Germanic mythology, he is known in Old English as Tīw and in Old High German as Ziu, all stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym *Tīwaz, meaning 'God'. Little information about the god survives beyond Old Norse sources. Týr is the eponym of the Tiwaz rune (), a letter of the runic alphabet corresponding to the Latin letter T. By way of the process of interpretatio germanica, the deity is the namesake of Tuesday ('Týr's day') in Germanic languages, including English.

Various place names in Scandinavia refer to the god, and a variety of objects found in England and Scandinavia seem to depict Týr or invoke him.

Etymology

The Old Norse theonym Týr stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form reconstructed as *Tīwaʀ,[2] which derives – like its Germanic cognates Tīw (Old English) and *Ziu (Old High German) – from the Proto-Germanic theonym *Tīwaz, meaning 'God'.[3] The name of a Gothic deity named *Teiws (later *Tīus) may also be reconstructed based on the associated rune tyz.[2][4] In Old Norse poetry, the plural tívar is used for 'the gods', and the singular týr, meaning '(a) god', occurs in kennings for Odin and Thor.[5][6] Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god's name by dropping the proper noun's diacritic, rendering Old Norse's Týr as Tyr.[b]

The Proto-Germanic masculine noun *tīwaz (pl. *tīwōz) means 'a god, a deity', and it probably served as a title that came to be associated with a specific deity whose original name is now lost.[c][d] It stems from Proto-Indo-European *deywós, meaning 'celestial, heavenly one', hence a 'god' (cf. Sanskrit: devá 'heavenly, divine', Old Lithuanian: deivas, Latin: deus 'a god, deity'), itself a derivation from *dyēus, meaning 'diurnal sky', hence 'daylight-sky god' (cf. Sanskrit: Dyáuṣ, Ancient Greek: Zeus, Latin: Jove).[8][9][10] The Germanic noun *tīwaz is further attested in the Finnic loanword teivas, found as a suffix in the deities Runkoteivas [fi] and Rukotiivo.[2] The Romano-Germanic deity Alateivia may also be related,[2] although its origin remains unclear.[4]

Due to linguistic evidence and early native comparisons between *Tīwaz and the Roman god Mars, especially under the name Mars Thingsus, a number of scholars have interpreted *Tīwaz as a Proto-Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god.[11][10] Other scholars reject however his identification as a 'sky-god', since *tīwaz was likely not his original name but rather an epithet that came to be associated with him and eventually replaced it.[c]

Origin of Tuesday

The modern English weekday name Tuesday comes from the Old English tīwesdæg, meaning 'day of Tīw'. It is cognate with Old Norse Týsdagr, Old Frisian Tīesdi, and Old High German Ziostag (Middle High German Zīstac). All of them stem from Late Proto-Germanic *Tiwasdag ('Day of *Tīwaz'), a calque of Latin Martis dies ('Day of Mars'; cf. modern Italian martedì, French mardi, Spanish martes). This attests to an early Germanic identification of *Tīwaz with Mars.[12][10]

Germanic weekday names for Tuesday that do not transparently extend from the above lineage may also ultimately refer to the deity, including Middle Dutch Dinxendach and Dingsdag, Middle Low German Dingesdach, and Old High German Dingesdag (modern Dienstag). These forms may refer to the god's association with the thing, a traditional legal assembly common among the ancient Germanic peoples with which the god is associated. This may be either explained by the existence of an epithet, Thingsus (*Þingsaz 'thing-god'), frequently attached to Mars (*Tīwaz), or simply by the god's strong association with the assembly.[13]

T-rune

 
The t-rune takes its name from the deity

The god is the namesake of the rune representing /t/ (the Tiwaz rune) in the runic alphabets, the indigenous alphabets of the ancient Germanic peoples prior to their adaptation of the Latin alphabet. On runic inscriptions, often appears as a magical symbol.[5] The name first occurs in the historical record as tyz, a character in the Gothic alphabet (4th century), and it was also known as or tir in Old English, and týr in Old Norse.[4][13] The name of Týr may also occur in runes as ᛏᛁᚢᛦ on the 8th century Ribe skull fragment.[14]

Toponyms

A variety of place names in Scandinavia refer to the god. For example, Tyrseng, in Viby, Jutland, Denmark (Old Norse *Týs eng, 'Týr's meadow') was once a stretch of meadow near a stream called Dødeå ('stream of the dead' or 'dead stream'). Viby also contained another theonym, Onsholt ("Odin's Holt"), and religious practices associated with Odin and Týr may have occurred in these places. A spring dedicated to Holy Niels that was likely a Christianization of prior indigenous pagan practice also exists in Viby. Viby may mean 'the settlement by the sacred site'. Archaeologists have found traces of sacrifices going back 2,500 years in Viby.[15]

The forest Tiveden, between Närke and Västergötland, in Sweden, may mean 'Tyr's forest', but its etymology is uncertain, and debated.[16] Ti- may refer to týr meaning 'god' generally, and so the name may derive from Proto-Indo-European *deiwo-widus, meaning 'the forest of the gods'.[16] According to Rudolf Simek, the existence of a cult of the deity is also evidenced by place names such as Tislund ('Týr's grove'), which is frequent in Denmark, or Tysnes ('Týr's peninsula') and Tysnesø ('Tysnes island') in Norway, where the cult appears to have been imported from Denmark.[5]

Attestations

Roman era

While Týr's etymological heritage reaches back to the Proto-Indo-European period, very few direct references to the god survive prior to the Old Norse period. Like many other non-Roman deities, Týr receives mention in Latin texts by way of the process of interpretatio romana,[a] in which Latin texts refer to the god by way of a perceived counterpart in Roman mythology. Latin inscriptions and texts frequently refer to Týr as Mars.

 
Týr equated with Mars in an 18th-century manuscript (ÍB 299 4to)

The first example of this occurs on record in Roman senator Tacitus's ethnography Germania:

Among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship. They regard it as a religious duty to sacrifice to him, on fixed days, human as well as other sacrificial victims. Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind. Part of the Suebi sacrifice to Isis as well.
A.R. Birley translation[17]

These deities are generally understood by scholars to refer to *Wōđanaz (known widely today as Odin), *Þunraz (known today widely as Thor), and *Tīwaz, respectively. The identity of the "Isis" of the Suebi remains a topics of debate among scholars.[18] Later in Germania, Tacitus also mentions a deity referred to as regnator omnium deus venerated by the Semnones in a grove of fetters, a sacred grove. Some scholars propose that this deity is in fact *Tīwaz.[19]

A votive altar has been discovered during excavations at Housesteads Roman Fort at Hadrian's Wall in England that had been erected at the behest of Frisian legionaries. The altar dates from the 3rd century CE and bears the Latin inscription Deo Marti Thingso Et Duabus Alaisiagis Bede Et Fimmilene. In this instance, the epithet Thingsus is a Latin rendering of Proto-Germanic theonym *Þingsaz. This deity is generally interpreted by scholars to refer to Týr. The goddesses referred to as Beda and Fimmilene are otherwise unknown, but their names may refer to Old Frisian legal terms.[20]

In the sixth century, the Roman historian Jordanes writes in his De origine actibusque Getarum that the Goths, an east Germanic people, saw the same "Mars" as an ancestral figure:

Moreover so highly were the Getae praised that Mars, whom the fables of poets call the god of war, was reputed to have been born among them. Hence Vergil says:
"Father Gradivus rules the Getic fields."
Now Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths with cruel rites, and captives were slain as his victims. They thought that he who was lord of war ought to be appeased by the shedding of human blood. To him they devoted the first share of the spoil, and in his honor arms stripped from the foe were suspended from trees. And they had more than all races a deep spirit of religion, since the worship of this god seemed to be really bestowed upon their ancestor.
C.C. Mierow translation [21]

Old English

The Latin deity Mars was occasionally glossed by Old English writers by the name Tīw or Tīg. The genitive tīwes also appears in the name for Tuesday, tīwesdæg.[4]

Viking Age and post-Viking Age

By the Viking Age, *Tīwaz had developed among the North Germanic peoples into Týr. The god receives numerous mentions in North Germanic sources during this period, but far less than other deities, such as Odin, Freyja, or Thor. The majority of these mentions occur in the Poetic Edda, compiled in the 13th century from traditional source material reaching into the pagan period, and the Prose Edda, composed by Icelandic skald and politician Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century.

Poetic Edda

 
Týr among the gods during the events of Lokasenna as illustrated by Lorenz Frølich, 1895

Although Týr receives several mentions in the Poetic Edda, of the three poems in which he is mentioned—Hymiskviða, Sigrdrífumál, and Lokasenna—only the incomplete poem, Hymiskviða, features him in a prominent role. In Hymiskviða, Týr says that his father, Hymir, owns a tremendous cauldron with which he and his fellow gods can brew fathoms of ale. Thor and Týr set out to retrieve it. Týr meets his nine-hundred headed grandmother ("who hates him"), and a girl clad in gold helps the two hide from Hymir.[22]

Upon his return from hunting, Hymir's wife (unnamed) tells Hymir that his son has come to visit, that Týr has brought with him Thor, and that the two are behind a pillar. With just one glance, Hymir immediately smashes the pillar and eight nearby kettles. The kettle containing Týr and Thor, particularly strong in its construction, does not break, and out of it the two gods stride.[22]

Hymir sees Thor and his heart jumps. The jötunn orders three headless oxen boiled for his guests, and Thor eats two of the beasts. Hymir tells the two that the following night, "we'll have to hunt for us three to eat". Thor asks for bait so that he might row out into the bay. Hymir says that the god can take one of his oxen for bait; Thor immediately chooses a black ox, and the poem continues without further mention of Týr.[22]

In Sigrdrífumál, the valkyrie Sigrdrífa imparts in the hero Sigurd knowledge of various runic charms. One charm invokes the god Týr:

'You must know victory-runes
if you want to know victory. Carve them
into your sword's hilt, on the blade guards
and the blades, invoking Tyr's name twice.'
Jeramy Dodds translation[23]

In Lokasenna, the gods hold a feast. Loki bursts in and engages in flyting, a contest of insults, with the gods. The prose introduction to the poem mentions that "Tyr was in attendance, even though he had only one hand because the wolf Fenrir had recently ripped off the other while the wolf was being bound."[24] Loki exchanges insults with each of the gods. After Loki insults the god Freyr, Týr comes to Freyr's defense. Loki says that "you can't be the right hand of justice among the people" because his right hand was torn off by Fenrir, elsewhere described as Loki's child. Týr says that although he misses his hand, Loki misses Fenrir, who is now bound and will remain so until the events of Ragnarök.[25]

Prose Edda

 
Týr sacrifices his arm to Fenrir in an illustration by John Bauer, 1911

The Prose Edda sections Gylfaginning and Skáldskaparmál reference Týr several times. The god is introduced in part 25 of the Gylfaginning section of the book:

High said: 'There is also an As called Tyr. He is the bravest and most valiant, and he has great power over victory in battles. It is good for men of action to pray to him. There is a saying that a man is ty-valiant who surpasses other men and does not hesitate. He was so clever that a man who is clever is said to be ty-wise. It is one proof of his bravery that the Æsir were luring Fenriswolf so as to get the fetter Gleipnir on him, he did not trust them that they would let him go until they placed Tyr's hand in the wolf's mouth as a pledge. And when the Æsir refused to let him go then he bit off the hand at the place that is now called the wolf-joint [wrist], and he is one-handed and he is not considered a promoter of settlements between people.
A. Faulkes translations (notes are by Faulkes)

[26] This tale receives further treatment in section 34 of Gylfaginning ("The Æsir brought up the wolf at home, and it was only Tyr who had the courage to approach the wolf and give it food.").[27] Later still in Gylfaginning, High discusses Týr's foreseen death during the events of Ragnarök:

Then will also have got free the dog Garm, which is bound in front of Gnipahellir. This is the most evil creature. He will have a battle with Tyr and they will each be the death of each other.
A. Faulkes translation[28]

Skáldskaparmál opens with a narrative wherein twelve gods sit upon thrones at a banquet, including Týr.[29] Later in Skáldskaparmál, the skald god Bragi tells Ægir (described earlier in Skáldskaparmál as a man from the island of Hlesey)[29] how kennings function. By way of kennings, Bragi explains, one might refer to the god Odin as "Victory-Tyr", "Hanged-Tyr", or "Cargo-Tyr"; and Thor may be referred to as "Chariot-Tyr".[30]

Section nine of Skáldskaparmál provides skalds with a variety of ways in which to refer to Týr, including "the one handed As", "feeder of the wolf", "battle-god", and "son of Odin".[31] The narrative found in Lokasenna occurs in prose later in Skáldskaparmál. Like in Lokasenna, Týr appears here among around a dozen other deities.[32] Similarly, Týr appears among a list of Æsir in section 75.[33]

In addition to the above mentions, Týr's name occurs as a kenning element throughout Skáldskaparmál in reference to the god Odin.[34]

Archaeological record

 
An illustration of an image on a bracteate found in Trollhättan, Västergötland, Sweden. Drawing by Gunnar Creutz.

Scholars propose that a variety of objects from the archaeological record depict Týr. For example, a Migration Period gold bracteate from Trollhättan, Sweden, features a person receiving a bite on the hand from a beast, which may depict Týr and Fenrir.[e] A Viking Age hogback in Sockburn, County Durham, England may depict Týr and Fenrir.[35] In a similar fashion, a silver button was found in Hornsherred, Denmark, during 2019 that is interpreted to portrait Týr fighting against the wolf Fenrir.[36]

Scholarly reception

Due in part to the etymology of the god's name, scholars propose that Týr once held a far more significant role in Germanic mythology than the scant references to the deity indicate in the Old Norse record. Some scholars propose that the prominent god Odin may have risen to prominence over Týr in prehistory, at times absorbing elements of the deity's domains. For example, according to scholar Hermann Reichert, due to the etymology of the god's name and its transparent meaning of "the god", "Odin ... must have dislodged Týr from his pre-eminent position. The fact that Tacitus names two divinities to whom the enemy's army was consecrated ... may signify their co-existence around 1 A.D."[37]

The Sigrdrífumál passage above has resulted in some discourse among runologists. For example, regarding the passage, runologists Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees say:

Similar descriptions of runes written on swords for magical purposes are known from other Old Norse and Old English literary sources, though not in what seem to be religious contexts. In fact very few swords from the middle ages are engraved with runes, and those that are tend to carry rather prosaic maker's formulas rather than identifiable 'runes of victory'. The call to invoke Tyr here is often thought to have something to do with T-runes, rather than Tyr himself, given that this rune shares his name. In view of Tyr's martial role in Norse myth, however, this line seems simply to be a straightforward religious invocation with 'twice' alliterating with 'Tyr'.[38]

In popular culture

The 15th studio album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Tyr, released in 1990, is named after Týr.[39][40]

Týr is featured in several video games.

Notes

  1. ^ a b The interpretatio romana or "Roman interpretation", is the tendency of the Romans to interpret all foreign gods as alternate forms of gods from their own, familiar pantheon.
  2. ^ Faulkes translates Týr as Tyr throughout his 1987 version of the Poetic Edda.[7]
  3. ^ a b West 2007, p. 167 n. 8: "The Germanic: *Tīwaz (Norse: Týr, etc.) also goes back to *deiwós. But he does not seem to be the old Sky-god, and it is preferable to suppose that he once had another name, which came to be supplanted by the title 'God'."
  4. ^ Kroonen 2013, p. 519: "The general meaning of PGm. *tiwa- was simply 'god', cf. ON tívar pl. 'gods' < *tiwoz, but the word was clearly associated with the specific deity Týr-Tīw-Ziu".
  5. ^ See discussion in, for example, Davidson 1993, pp. 39–41.

References

  1. ^ "Tyr". Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  2. ^ a b c d de Vries 1962, p. 603.
  3. ^ de Vries 1962, p. 603; Simek 1996, p. 413; Orel 2003, p. 408; West 2007, p. 167; Kroonen 2013, p. 519
  4. ^ a b c d Lehmann 1986, p. 352.
  5. ^ a b c Simek 1996, p. 420.
  6. ^ West 2007, p. 120 n. 1.
  7. ^ Faulkes 1987.
  8. ^ Wodtko, Irslinger & Schneider 2008, pp. 70–71.
  9. ^ West 2007, p. 167–168.
  10. ^ a b c Kroonen 2013, p. 519.
  11. ^ Simek 1996, p. 413.
  12. ^ See discussion in Barnhart 1995, p. 837 and Simek 1996, pp. 334–336.
  13. ^ a b Simek 1996, p. 336.
  14. ^ Schulte, Michael (2006). "The transformation of the older fuþark: Number magic, runographic or linguistic principles?". Arkiv för nordisk filologi. 121: 41–74.
  15. ^ Damm 2005, pp. 42–45.
  16. ^ a b Hellquist, Elof (1922). "Tiveden". Svensk etymologisk ordbok [Swedish etymological dictionary] (in Swedish). Lund: Gleerup. p. 979.
  17. ^ Birley 1999, p. 42.
  18. ^ Birley 1999, pp. 106–107.
  19. ^ Birley 1999, pp. 57, 127.
  20. ^ See discussion in Turville-Petre 1964, p. 181 and Simek 1996, p. 203.
  21. ^ Mierow 1915, p. 61.
  22. ^ a b c Dodds 2014, pp. 90–95.
  23. ^ Dodds 2014, p. 178.
  24. ^ Dodds 2014, p. 96.
  25. ^ Dodds 2014, pp. 102–103.
  26. ^ Faulkes 1987, pp. 24–25.
  27. ^ Faulkes 1987, pp. 27–29.
  28. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 54.
  29. ^ a b Faulkes 1987, p. 59.
  30. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 64.
  31. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 76.
  32. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 95.
  33. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 157.
  34. ^ Faulkes 1987, p. 257.
  35. ^ McKinnell 2005, p. 16.
  36. ^ Jaramillo, Nicolas (2021). "Ráði saR kunni: REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF RUNICITY". Scandia: Journal of Medieval Norse Studies. 4: 192–229.
  37. ^ Reichert 2002, p. 398.
  38. ^ MacLeod & Mees 2006, p. 239.
  39. ^ Popoff, Martin (2011). Black Sabbath FAQ: All That's Left to Know on the First Name in Metal. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 206. ISBN 978-0879309572. The back cover quote reads, 'TYR—son of Odin and the supreme sky god of the Northern peoples; the god of war and martial valour, the protector of the community, and the giver of law and order.'
  40. ^ Rivadavia, Eduardo (20 August 2015). "How Black Sabbath Tried to Stay Relevant With 'Tyr'". Ultimate Classic Rock. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  41. ^ "The Minor Gods: Norse – Age of Mythology Wiki Guide – IGN".
  42. ^ "Age of Mythology".
  43. ^ "Age of Mythology Reference Manual".
  44. ^ https://www.smitegame.com/gods/[bare URL]
  45. ^ "Why Tyr is Just Important as Kratos in God of War: Ragnarok". 27 March 2021.
  46. ^ "God of War: Ragnarok's Tyr is a Very Tall Asgardian, but Not Lady Dimitrescu Big".
  47. ^ "Tyr – War Robots". warrobots.com. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

Sources

External links

  • "Illustrations of Týr from manuscripts and early print books". MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository). — Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it.

týr, tiwaz, redirect, here, anatolian, tiwaz, luwian, deity, rune, tiwaz, rune, other, uses, disambiguation, ɪər, norse, pronounced, tyːr, germanic, mythology, valorous, powerful, member, Æsir, patron, warriors, mythological, heroes, norse, mythology, which, p. Tyr and Tiwaz redirect here For the Anatolian sun god see Tiwaz Luwian deity For the rune see Tiwaz rune For other uses see Tyr disambiguation Tyr t ɪer 1 Old Norse Tyr pronounced tyːr is a god in Germanic mythology a valorous and powerful member of the AEsir and patron of warriors and mythological heroes In Norse mythology which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples Tyr sacrifices his hand to the monstrous wolf Fenrir who bites it off when he realizes the gods have bound him Tyr is foretold of being consumed by the similarly monstrous dog Garmr during the events of Ragnarok Tyr by Lorenz Frolich 1895 The interpretatio romana a generally renders the god as Mars the ancient Roman war god and it is through that lens that most Latin references to the god occur For example the god may be referenced as Mars Thingsus Latin Mars of the Assembly Thing on 3rd century Latin inscription reflecting a strong association with the Germanic thing a legislative body among the ancient Germanic peoples By way of the opposite process of interpretatio germanica Tuesday is named after Tyr Tyr s day rather than Mars in English and other Germanic languages In Old Norse sources Tyr is alternately described as the son of the jotunn Hymir in Hymiskvida or of the god Odin in Skaldskaparmal Lokasenna makes reference to an unnamed and otherwise unknown consort perhaps also reflected in the continental Germanic record see Zisa Due to the etymology of the god s name and the shadowy presence of the god in the extant Germanic corpus some scholars propose that Tyr may have once held a more central place among the deities of early Germanic mythology Contents 1 Name 1 1 Etymology 1 2 Origin of Tuesday 1 3 T rune 1 4 Toponyms 2 Attestations 2 1 Roman era 2 2 Old English 2 3 Viking Age and post Viking Age 2 3 1 Poetic Edda 2 3 2 Prose Edda 3 Archaeological record 4 Scholarly reception 5 In popular culture 6 Notes 7 References 8 Sources 9 External linksName EditIn wider Germanic mythology he is known in Old English as Tiw and in Old High German as Ziu all stemming from the Proto Germanic theonym Tiwaz meaning God Little information about the god survives beyond Old Norse sources Tyr is the eponym of the Tiwaz rune ᛏ a letter of the runic alphabet corresponding to the Latin letter T By way of the process of interpretatio germanica the deity is the namesake of Tuesday Tyr s day in Germanic languages including English Various place names in Scandinavia refer to the god and a variety of objects found in England and Scandinavia seem to depict Tyr or invoke him Etymology Edit The Old Norse theonym Tyr stems from an earlier Proto Norse form reconstructed as Tiwaʀ 2 which derives like its Germanic cognates Tiw Old English and Ziu Old High German from the Proto Germanic theonym Tiwaz meaning God 3 The name of a Gothic deity named Teiws later Tius may also be reconstructed based on the associated rune tyz 2 4 In Old Norse poetry the plural tivar is used for the gods and the singular tyr meaning a god occurs in kennings for Odin and Thor 5 6 Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god s name by dropping the proper noun s diacritic rendering Old Norse s Tyr as Tyr b The Proto Germanic masculine noun tiwaz pl tiwōz means a god a deity and it probably served as a title that came to be associated with a specific deity whose original name is now lost c d It stems from Proto Indo European deywos meaning celestial heavenly one hence a god cf Sanskrit deva heavenly divine Old Lithuanian deivas Latin deus a god deity itself a derivation from dyeus meaning diurnal sky hence daylight sky god cf Sanskrit Dyauṣ Ancient Greek Zeus Latin Jove 8 9 10 The Germanic noun tiwaz is further attested in the Finnic loanword teivas found as a suffix in the deities Runkoteivas fi and Rukotiivo 2 The Romano Germanic deity Alateivia may also be related 2 although its origin remains unclear 4 Due to linguistic evidence and early native comparisons between Tiwaz and the Roman god Mars especially under the name Mars Thingsus a number of scholars have interpreted Tiwaz as a Proto Germanic sky war and thing god 11 10 Other scholars reject however his identification as a sky god since tiwaz was likely not his original name but rather an epithet that came to be associated with him and eventually replaced it c Origin of Tuesday Edit The modern English weekday name Tuesday comes from the Old English tiwesdaeg meaning day of Tiw It is cognate with Old Norse Tysdagr Old Frisian Tiesdi and Old High German Ziostag Middle High German Zistac All of them stem from Late Proto Germanic Tiwasdag Day of Tiwaz a calque of Latin Martis dies Day of Mars cf modern Italian martedi French mardi Spanish martes This attests to an early Germanic identification of Tiwaz with Mars 12 10 Germanic weekday names for Tuesday that do not transparently extend from the above lineage may also ultimately refer to the deity including Middle Dutch Dinxendach and Dingsdag Middle Low German Dingesdach and Old High German Dingesdag modern Dienstag These forms may refer to the god s association with the thing a traditional legal assembly common among the ancient Germanic peoples with which the god is associated This may be either explained by the existence of an epithet Thingsus THingsaz thing god frequently attached to Mars Tiwaz or simply by the god s strong association with the assembly 13 T rune Edit The t rune takes its name from the deity The god is the namesake of the rune ᛏ representing t the Tiwaz rune in the runic alphabets the indigenous alphabets of the ancient Germanic peoples prior to their adaptation of the Latin alphabet On runic inscriptions ᛏ often appears as a magical symbol 5 The name first occurs in the historical record as tyz a character in the Gothic alphabet 4th century and it was also known as ti or tir in Old English and tyr in Old Norse 4 13 The name of Tyr may also occur in runes as ᛏᛁᚢᛦ on the 8th century Ribe skull fragment 14 Toponyms Edit A variety of place names in Scandinavia refer to the god For example Tyrseng in Viby Jutland Denmark Old Norse Tys eng Tyr s meadow was once a stretch of meadow near a stream called Dodea stream of the dead or dead stream Viby also contained another theonym Onsholt Odin s Holt and religious practices associated with Odin and Tyr may have occurred in these places A spring dedicated to Holy Niels that was likely a Christianization of prior indigenous pagan practice also exists in Viby Viby may mean the settlement by the sacred site Archaeologists have found traces of sacrifices going back 2 500 years in Viby 15 The forest Tiveden between Narke and Vastergotland in Sweden may mean Tyr s forest but its etymology is uncertain and debated 16 Ti may refer to tyr meaning god generally and so the name may derive from Proto Indo European deiwo widus meaning the forest of the gods 16 According to Rudolf Simek the existence of a cult of the deity is also evidenced by place names such as Tislund Tyr s grove which is frequent in Denmark or Tysnes Tyr s peninsula and Tysneso Tysnes island in Norway where the cult appears to have been imported from Denmark 5 Attestations EditRoman era Edit While Tyr s etymological heritage reaches back to the Proto Indo European period very few direct references to the god survive prior to the Old Norse period Like many other non Roman deities Tyr receives mention in Latin texts by way of the process of interpretatio romana a in which Latin texts refer to the god by way of a perceived counterpart in Roman mythology Latin inscriptions and texts frequently refer to Tyr as Mars Tyr equated with Mars in an 18th century manuscript IB 299 4to The first example of this occurs on record in Roman senator Tacitus s ethnography Germania Among the gods Mercury is the one they principally worship They regard it as a religious duty to sacrifice to him on fixed days human as well as other sacrificial victims Hercules and Mars they appease by animal offerings of the permitted kind Part of the Suebi sacrifice to Isis as well A R Birley translation 17 dd dd These deities are generally understood by scholars to refer to Wōđanaz known widely today as Odin THunraz known today widely as Thor and Tiwaz respectively The identity of the Isis of the Suebi remains a topics of debate among scholars 18 Later in Germania Tacitus also mentions a deity referred to as regnator omnium deus venerated by the Semnones in a grove of fetters a sacred grove Some scholars propose that this deity is in fact Tiwaz 19 A votive altar has been discovered during excavations at Housesteads Roman Fort at Hadrian s Wall in England that had been erected at the behest of Frisian legionaries The altar dates from the 3rd century CE and bears the Latin inscription Deo Marti Thingso Et Duabus Alaisiagis Bede Et Fimmilene In this instance the epithet Thingsus is a Latin rendering of Proto Germanic theonym THingsaz This deity is generally interpreted by scholars to refer to Tyr The goddesses referred to as Beda and Fimmilene are otherwise unknown but their names may refer to Old Frisian legal terms 20 In the sixth century the Roman historian Jordanes writes in his De origine actibusque Getarum that the Goths an east Germanic people saw the same Mars as an ancestral figure Moreover so highly were the Getae praised that Mars whom the fables of poets call the god of war was reputed to have been born among them Hence Vergil says Father Gradivus rules the Getic fields dd Now Mars has always been worshipped by the Goths with cruel rites and captives were slain as his victims They thought that he who was lord of war ought to be appeased by the shedding of human blood To him they devoted the first share of the spoil and in his honor arms stripped from the foe were suspended from trees And they had more than all races a deep spirit of religion since the worship of this god seemed to be really bestowed upon their ancestor C C Mierow translation 21 dd dd Old English Edit The Latin deity Mars was occasionally glossed by Old English writers by the name Tiw or Tig The genitive tiwes also appears in the name for Tuesday tiwesdaeg 4 Viking Age and post Viking Age Edit By the Viking Age Tiwaz had developed among the North Germanic peoples into Tyr The god receives numerous mentions in North Germanic sources during this period but far less than other deities such as Odin Freyja or Thor The majority of these mentions occur in the Poetic Edda compiled in the 13th century from traditional source material reaching into the pagan period and the Prose Edda composed by Icelandic skald and politician Snorri Sturluson in the 13th century Poetic Edda Edit Tyr among the gods during the events of Lokasenna as illustrated by Lorenz Frolich 1895 Although Tyr receives several mentions in the Poetic Edda of the three poems in which he is mentioned Hymiskvida Sigrdrifumal and Lokasenna only the incomplete poem Hymiskvida features him in a prominent role In Hymiskvida Tyr says that his father Hymir owns a tremendous cauldron with which he and his fellow gods can brew fathoms of ale Thor and Tyr set out to retrieve it Tyr meets his nine hundred headed grandmother who hates him and a girl clad in gold helps the two hide from Hymir 22 Upon his return from hunting Hymir s wife unnamed tells Hymir that his son has come to visit that Tyr has brought with him Thor and that the two are behind a pillar With just one glance Hymir immediately smashes the pillar and eight nearby kettles The kettle containing Tyr and Thor particularly strong in its construction does not break and out of it the two gods stride 22 Hymir sees Thor and his heart jumps The jotunn orders three headless oxen boiled for his guests and Thor eats two of the beasts Hymir tells the two that the following night we ll have to hunt for us three to eat Thor asks for bait so that he might row out into the bay Hymir says that the god can take one of his oxen for bait Thor immediately chooses a black ox and the poem continues without further mention of Tyr 22 In Sigrdrifumal the valkyrie Sigrdrifa imparts in the hero Sigurd knowledge of various runic charms One charm invokes the god Tyr You must know victory runes if you want to know victory Carve them into your sword s hilt on the blade guards and the blades invoking Tyr s name twice Jeramy Dodds translation 23 dd dd In Lokasenna the gods hold a feast Loki bursts in and engages in flyting a contest of insults with the gods The prose introduction to the poem mentions that Tyr was in attendance even though he had only one hand because the wolf Fenrir had recently ripped off the other while the wolf was being bound 24 Loki exchanges insults with each of the gods After Loki insults the god Freyr Tyr comes to Freyr s defense Loki says that you can t be the right hand of justice among the people because his right hand was torn off by Fenrir elsewhere described as Loki s child Tyr says that although he misses his hand Loki misses Fenrir who is now bound and will remain so until the events of Ragnarok 25 Prose Edda Edit Tyr sacrifices his arm to Fenrir in an illustration by John Bauer 1911 The Prose Edda sections Gylfaginning and Skaldskaparmal reference Tyr several times The god is introduced in part 25 of the Gylfaginning section of the book High said There is also an As called Tyr He is the bravest and most valiant and he has great power over victory in battles It is good for men of action to pray to him There is a saying that a man is ty valiant who surpasses other men and does not hesitate He was so clever that a man who is clever is said to be ty wise It is one proof of his bravery that the AEsir were luring Fenriswolf so as to get the fetter Gleipnir on him he did not trust them that they would let him go until they placed Tyr s hand in the wolf s mouth as a pledge And when the AEsir refused to let him go then he bit off the hand at the place that is now called the wolf joint wrist and he is one handed and he is not considered a promoter of settlements between people A Faulkes translations notes are by Faulkes dd dd 26 This tale receives further treatment in section 34 of Gylfaginning The AEsir brought up the wolf at home and it was only Tyr who had the courage to approach the wolf and give it food 27 Later still in Gylfaginning High discusses Tyr s foreseen death during the events of Ragnarok Then will also have got free the dog Garm which is bound in front of Gnipahellir This is the most evil creature He will have a battle with Tyr and they will each be the death of each other A Faulkes translation 28 dd dd Skaldskaparmal opens with a narrative wherein twelve gods sit upon thrones at a banquet including Tyr 29 Later in Skaldskaparmal the skald god Bragi tells AEgir described earlier in Skaldskaparmal as a man from the island of Hlesey 29 how kennings function By way of kennings Bragi explains one might refer to the god Odin as Victory Tyr Hanged Tyr or Cargo Tyr and Thor may be referred to as Chariot Tyr 30 Section nine of Skaldskaparmal provides skalds with a variety of ways in which to refer to Tyr including the one handed As feeder of the wolf battle god and son of Odin 31 The narrative found in Lokasenna occurs in prose later in Skaldskaparmal Like in Lokasenna Tyr appears here among around a dozen other deities 32 Similarly Tyr appears among a list of AEsir in section 75 33 In addition to the above mentions Tyr s name occurs as a kenning element throughout Skaldskaparmal in reference to the god Odin 34 Archaeological record Edit An illustration of an image on a bracteate found in Trollhattan Vastergotland Sweden Drawing by Gunnar Creutz Scholars propose that a variety of objects from the archaeological record depict Tyr For example a Migration Period gold bracteate from Trollhattan Sweden features a person receiving a bite on the hand from a beast which may depict Tyr and Fenrir e A Viking Age hogback in Sockburn County Durham England may depict Tyr and Fenrir 35 In a similar fashion a silver button was found in Hornsherred Denmark during 2019 that is interpreted to portrait Tyr fighting against the wolf Fenrir 36 Scholarly reception EditDue in part to the etymology of the god s name scholars propose that Tyr once held a far more significant role in Germanic mythology than the scant references to the deity indicate in the Old Norse record Some scholars propose that the prominent god Odin may have risen to prominence over Tyr in prehistory at times absorbing elements of the deity s domains For example according to scholar Hermann Reichert due to the etymology of the god s name and its transparent meaning of the god Odin must have dislodged Tyr from his pre eminent position The fact that Tacitus names two divinities to whom the enemy s army was consecrated may signify their co existence around 1 A D 37 The Sigrdrifumal passage above has resulted in some discourse among runologists For example regarding the passage runologists Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees say Similar descriptions of runes written on swords for magical purposes are known from other Old Norse and Old English literary sources though not in what seem to be religious contexts In fact very few swords from the middle ages are engraved with runes and those that are tend to carry rather prosaic maker s formulas rather than identifiable runes of victory The call to invoke Tyr here is often thought to have something to do with T runes rather than Tyr himself given that this rune shares his name In view of Tyr s martial role in Norse myth however this line seems simply to be a straightforward religious invocation with twice alliterating with Tyr 38 In popular culture EditThe 15th studio album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath Tyr released in 1990 is named after Tyr 39 40 Tyr is featured in several video games Tyr spelled Tyr in the English version of the game is one of nine minor gods Norse players can worship 41 42 43 in Ensemble Studios 2002 game Age of Mythology Tyr spelled Tyr in game is also one of the playable gods in the third person multiplayer online battle arena game Smite 44 Tyr is mentioned several times in Santa Monica Studio s 2018 game God of War and appears in its sequel God of War Ragnarok which was released in 2022 45 46 Tyr spelled Tyr in game is one of the available healer mechs in Pixonic s War Robots released as Walking War Robots in 2014 47 Notes Edit a b The interpretatio romana or Roman interpretation is the tendency of the Romans to interpret all foreign gods as alternate forms of gods from their own familiar pantheon Faulkes translates Tyr as Tyr throughout his 1987 version of the Poetic Edda 7 a b West 2007 p 167 n 8 The Germanic Tiwaz Norse Tyr etc also goes back to deiwos But he does not seem to be the old Sky god and it is preferable to suppose that he once had another name which came to be supplanted by the title God Kroonen 2013 p 519 The general meaning of PGm tiwa was simply god cf ON tivar pl gods lt tiwoz but the word was clearly associated with the specific deity Tyr Tiw Ziu See discussion in for example Davidson 1993 pp 39 41 References Edit Tyr Random House Webster s Unabridged Dictionary a b c d de Vries 1962 p 603 de Vries 1962 p 603 Simek 1996 p 413 Orel 2003 p 408 West 2007 p 167 Kroonen 2013 p 519 a b c d Lehmann 1986 p 352 a b c Simek 1996 p 420 West 2007 p 120 n 1 Faulkes 1987 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Wodtko Irslinger amp Schneider 2008 pp 70 71 West 2007 p 167 168 a b c Kroonen 2013 p 519 Simek 1996 p 413 See discussion in Barnhart 1995 p 837 and Simek 1996 pp 334 336 a b Simek 1996 p 336 Schulte Michael 2006 The transformation of the older futhark Number magic runographic or linguistic principles Arkiv for nordisk filologi 121 41 74 Damm 2005 pp 42 45 a b Hellquist Elof 1922 Tiveden Svensk etymologisk ordbok Swedish etymological dictionary in Swedish Lund Gleerup p 979 Birley 1999 p 42 Birley 1999 pp 106 107 Birley 1999 pp 57 127 See discussion in Turville Petre 1964 p 181harvnb error no target CITEREFTurville Petre1964 help and Simek 1996 p 203 Mierow 1915 p 61 a b c Dodds 2014 pp 90 95 Dodds 2014 p 178 Dodds 2014 p 96 Dodds 2014 pp 102 103 Faulkes 1987 pp 24 25 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 pp 27 29 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 54 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help a b Faulkes 1987 p 59 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 64 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 76 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 95 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 157 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help Faulkes 1987 p 257 sfn error no target CITEREFFaulkes1987 help McKinnell 2005 p 16 Jaramillo Nicolas 2021 Radi saR kunni REMARKS ON THE ROLE OF RUNICITY Scandia Journal of Medieval Norse Studies 4 192 229 Reichert 2002 p 398 MacLeod amp Mees 2006 p 239 sfn error no target CITEREFMacLeodMees2006 help Popoff Martin 2011 Black Sabbath FAQ All That s Left to Know on the First Name in Metal Hal Leonard Corporation p 206 ISBN 978 0879309572 The back cover quote reads TYR son of Odin and the supreme sky god of the Northern peoples the god of war and martial valour the protector of the community and the giver of law and order Rivadavia Eduardo 20 August 2015 How Black Sabbath Tried to Stay Relevant With Tyr Ultimate Classic Rock Retrieved 25 July 2022 The Minor Gods Norse Age of Mythology Wiki Guide IGN Age of Mythology Age of Mythology Reference Manual https www smitegame com gods bare URL Why Tyr is Just Important as Kratos in God of War Ragnarok 27 March 2021 God of War Ragnarok s Tyr is a Very Tall Asgardian but Not Lady Dimitrescu Big Tyr War Robots warrobots com Retrieved 13 March 2022 Sources EditBarnhart Robert K 1995 The Barnhart concise dictionary of etymology 1st ed New York NY HarperCollins ISBN 0 06 270084 7 Birley Anthony R Trans 1999 Agricola and Germany Oxford World s Classics ISBN 978 0 19 283300 6 Damm Annette 2005 Viking Aros Moesgard Museum ISBN 87 87334 63 1 Davidson Hilda E 1993 The Lost Beliefs of Northern Europe Routledge ISBN 978 1 134 94468 2 de Vries Jan 1962 Altnordisches Etymologisches Worterbuch 1977 ed Brill ISBN 978 90 04 05436 3 Kroonen Guus 2013 Etymological Dictionary of Proto Germanic Brill ISBN 9789004183407 Dodds Jeramy 2014 The Poetic Edda Coach House Books ISBN 978 1 55245 296 7 Dumezil Georges 1973 1959 Les Dieux des Germains Gods of the Ancient Northmen University of California Press ISBN 978 0 520 03507 2 Faulkes Anthony trans 1995 1987 Edda Everyman ISBN 0 460 87616 3 Lehmann Winfred P 1986 A Gothic Etymological Dictionary Brill ISBN 978 90 04 08176 5 MacLeod Mindy Mees Bernard Mierow Charles C trans 2006 Runic amulets and magic objects Boydell Press ISBN 978 1 84615 504 8 McKinnell John 2005 Meeting the Other in Norse Myth and Legend D S Brewer ISBN 978 1 84615 414 0 Mierow Charles C 1915 The Gothic History of Jordanes Princeton University Press Orel Vladimir E 2003 A Handbook of Germanic Etymology Brill ISBN 978 90 04 12875 0 Reichert Hermann 2002 Nordic language history and religion ecclesiastical history I The Pre Christian period The Nordic Languages An international handbook of the history of the North Germanic languages Walter de Gruyter pp 389 403 ISBN 978 3 11 019705 1 Simek Rudolf 1996 Dictionary of Northern Mythology 2007 ed D S Brewer ISBN 978 0 85991 513 7 Turville Petre Gabriel 1975 1964 Myth and Religion of the North Holt Rinehart and Winston ISBN 978 0837174204 West Martin L 2007 Indo European Poetry and Myth Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 928075 9 Wodtko Dagmar S Irslinger Britta Sofie Schneider Carolin 2008 Nomina im Indogermanischen Lexikon in German Universitaetsverlag Winter ISBN 978 3 8253 5359 9 External links Edit Look up Tyr or tyr in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tyr Wikiquote has quotations related to Tyr Illustrations of Tyr from manuscripts and early print books MyNDIR My Norse Digital Image Repository Clicking on the thumbnail will give you the full image and information concerning it Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Tyr amp oldid 1134513779, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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