Týr

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Template:Lang (Template:IPAc-en;<ref>Template:Cite encyclopedia</ref> Old Norse: Template:Lang, Template:IPA) is a god in Germanic mythology and member of the Template:Lang. In Norse mythology, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the Germanic peoples, Template:Lang sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf Template:Lang, who bites it off when he realizes the gods have bound him. Template:Lang is foretold of being consumed by the similarly monstrous dog Template:Lang during the events of Ragnarök.

The Template:Lang Template:Efn 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 Template:Lang (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 Template:Lang, Tuesday is named after Template:Lang ('Template:Lang's day'), rather than Mars, in English and other Germanic languages.

In Old Norse sources, Template:Lang is alternately described as the son of the Template:Lang Template:Lang (in Template:Lang) or of the god Odin (in Template:Lang). Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang and in Old High German as Template:Lang, both stemming from the Proto-Germanic theonym Template:Lang, meaning 'God'. Little information about the god survives beyond Old Norse sources. Template:Lang could be the eponym of the Tiwaz rune (Template:Runic), a letter of the runic alphabet corresponding to the Latin letter T.

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

Etymology

The Old Norse theonym Template:Lang stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form reconstructed as Template:Lang,Template:Sfn which derives – like its Germanic cognates Template:Lang (Old English) and Template:Lang (Old High German) – from the Proto-Germanic theonym Template:Lang, meaning 'God'.<ref>Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb; Template:Harvnb</ref> The name of a Gothic deity named Template:Transliteration (later Template:Transliteration) may also be reconstructed based on the associated rune tiwaz.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn In Old Norse poetry, the plural Template:Lang is used for 'the gods', and the singular Template:Lang, meaning '(a) god', occurs in kennings for Odin and Thor.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god's name by dropping the proper noun's diacritic, rendering Old Norse's Template:Lang as Tyr.Template:Efn

The Proto-Germanic masculine noun Template:Lang (Template:Abbr Template:Lang) means 'a god, a deity', and probably also served as a title or epithet that came to be associated with a specific deity whose original name is now lost.Template:Efn Template:Efn It stems from Proto-Indo-European Template:Lang, meaning 'celestial, heavenly one', hence a 'god' (cf. Sanskrit: Template:Transliteration 'heavenly, divine', Old Lithuanian: Template:Lang, Template:Langx 'a god, deity'), itself a derivation from Template:Lang, meaning 'diurnal sky', hence 'daylight-sky god' (cf. Template:Langx, Template:Langx, Template:Langx).Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The Germanic noun Template:Lang is further attested in the Finnic loanword Template:Lang, found as a suffix in the deities Template:Lang and Template:Lang.Template:Sfn The Romano-Germanic deity Template:Lang may also be related,Template:Sfn although its origin remains unclear.Template:Sfn

Due to linguistic evidence and early native comparisons between Template:Lang and the Roman god Mars, especially under the name Template:Lang, a number of scholars have interpreted Template:Lang as a Proto-Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn Other scholars reject however his identification as a 'sky-god', since Template:Lang was likely not his original name but rather an epithet that came to be associated with him and eventually replaced it.Template:Efn

Origin of Tuesday

The modern English weekday name Tuesday comes from the Old English Template:Lang, meaning 'day of Tīw'. It is cognate with Old Norse Template:Lang, Old Frisian Template:Lang, and Old High German Template:Lang (Middle High German Template:Lang). All of them stem from Late Proto-Germanic Template:Lang ('Day of Template:Lang'), a calque of Latin Template:Lang ('Day of Mars'; cf. modern Italian Template:Lang, French Template:Lang, Spanish Template:Lang). This attests to an early Germanic identification of Template:Lang with Mars.<ref name="BARNHART-SIMEK2">See discussion in Template:Harvnb and Template:Harvnb.</ref>Template:Sfn

Germanic weekday names for Tuesday that do not transparently extend from the above lineage may also ultimately refer to the deity, including Middle Dutch Template:Lang and Template:Lang, Middle Low German Template:Lang, and Old High German Template:Lang (modern Template:Lang). These forms may refer to the god's association with the thing (Template:Lang), 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, Template:Lang (Template:Lang 'thing-god'), frequently attached to Mars (Template:Lang), or simply by the god's strong association with the assembly.Template:Sfn

T-rune

File:Tiwaz rune.svg

The t-rune takes its name from the deity.

The god is the namesake of the rune Template:Runic representing Template:IPA (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, Template:Runic often appears as a magical symbol.Template:Sfn The name first occurs in the historical record as tyz, a character in the Gothic alphabet (4th century), and it was also known as Template:Lang or Template:Lang in Old English, and Template:Lang in Old Norse.Template:Sfn Template:Sfn The name of Template:Lang may also occur in runes as Template:Script on the 8th century Ribe skull fragment.<ref name=Schulte-2006/>

Toponyms

A variety of place names in Scandinavia refer to the god. For example, Template:Lang, in Viby, Jutland, Denmark (Old Norse Template:Lang, 'Template:Lang's meadow') was once a stretch of meadow near a stream called Template:Lang ('stream of the dead' or 'dead stream'). Viby also contained another theonym, Template:Lang ("Odin's Holt"), and religious practices associated with Odin and Template:Lang 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. Template:Lang may mean 'the settlement by the sacred site'. Archaeologists have found traces of sacrifices going back 2,500 years in Viby.Template:Sfn

The forest Template:Lang, between Närke and Västergötland, in Sweden, may mean 'Tyr's forest', but its etymology is uncertain, and debated.<ref name=Hellquist-l979-Tiveden/> Template:Lang may refer to Template:Lang meaning 'god' generally, and so the name may derive from Proto-Indo-European Template:Lang, meaning 'the forest of the gods'.<ref name=Hellquist-l979-Tiveden/> According to Rudolf Simek, the existence of a cult of the deity is also evidenced by place names such as Template:Lang ('Template:Lang's grove'), which is frequent in Denmark, or Template:Lang ('Template:Lang's peninsula') and Template:Lang ('Tysnes island') in Norway, where the cult appears to have been imported from Denmark.Template:Sfn

Attestations

Roman era

While Template:Lang'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, Template:Lang receives mention in Latin texts by way of the process of Template:Lang,Template:Efn in which Latin texts refer to the god by way of a perceived counterpart in Roman mythology. Latin inscriptions and texts frequently refer to Template:Lang as Mars.

File:IB 299 4to Tyr.jpg

Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang:

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 translationTemplate:Sfn

These deities are generally understood by scholars to refer to Template:Lang (known widely today as Odin), Template:Lang (known today widely as Thor), and Template:Lang, respectively. The identity of the "Isis" of the Suebi remains a topic of debate among scholars.Template:Sfn Later in Template:Lang, Tacitus also mentions a deity referred to as Template:Lang venerated by the Semnones in a grove of fetters, a sacred grove. Some scholars propose that this deity is in fact Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

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 Template:Lang. In this instance, the epithet Template:Lang is a Latin rendering of Proto-Germanic theonym Template:Lang. This deity is generally interpreted by scholars to refer to Template:Lang. The goddesses referred to as Template:Lang and Template:Lang are otherwise unknown, but their names may refer to Old Frisian legal terms.<ref name=Simek-Turville-Petre>See discussion in Template:Harvnb and Template:Harvnb.</ref>

In the sixth century, the Roman historian Jordanes writes in his Template:Lang 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 translationTemplate:Sfn

Old English

The Latin deity Mars was occasionally glossed by Old English writers by the name Template:Lang or Template:Lang. The genitive Template:Lang also appears in the name for Tuesday, Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

Viking Age and post-Viking Age

By the Viking Age, Template:Lang had developed among the North Germanic peoples into Template:Lang. 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

File:Lokasenna by Lorenz Frølich.jpg

Template:Lang among the gods during the events of Template:Lang as illustrated by Lorenz Frølich, 1895

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

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

Template:Lang sees Thor and his heart jumps. The Template:Lang orders three headless oxen boiled for his guests, and Thor eats two of the beasts. Template:Lang 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. Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang.Template:Sfn

In Template:Lang, the valkyrie Template:Lang imparts in the hero Sigurd knowledge of various runic charms. One charm invokes the god Template:Lang:

'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 translationTemplate:Sfn

In Template:Lang, 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."Template:Sfn Loki exchanges insults with each of the gods. After Loki insults the god Template:Lang, Template:Lang comes to Template:Lang'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. Template:Lang says that although he misses his hand, Loki misses Template:Lang, who is now bound and will remain so until the events of Ragnarök.Template:Sfn

Prose Edda

File:Tyr and Fenrir-John Bauer.jpg

Template:Lang sacrifices his arm to Fenrir in an illustration by John Bauer, 1911.

The Prose Edda sections Template:Lang and Template:Lang reference Template:Lang several times. The god is introduced in part 25 of the Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang were luring Fenriswolf so as to get the fetter Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang 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)

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

Then will also have got free the dog Garm, which is bound in front of Template:Lang. 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 translationTemplate:Sfn

Template:Lang opens with a narrative wherein twelve gods sit upon thrones at a banquet, including Template:Lang.Template:Sfn Later in Template:Lang, the skald god Template:Lang tells Template:Lang (described earlier in Template:Lang as a man from the island of Template:Lang)Template:Sfn how kennings function. By way of kennings, Template:Lang 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".Template:Sfn

Section nine of Template:Lang provides skalds with a variety of ways in which to refer to Template:Lang, including "the one handed As", "feeder of the wolf", "battle-god", and "son of Odin".Template:Sfn The narrative found in Template:Lang occurs in prose later in Template:Lang. Like in Template:Lang, Template:Lang appears here among around a dozen other deities.Template:Sfn Similarly, Template:Lang appears among a list of Template:Lang in section 75.Template:Sfn

In addition to the above mentions, Template:Lang's name occurs as a kenning element throughout Template:Lang in reference to the god Odin.Template:Sfn

Archaeological record

File:Tyr-brakteaten från Naglum, Trollhättan (SHM 1164) tecknad.jpg

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 Template:Lang. 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 Template:Lang and Template:Lang.Template:Efn A Viking Age hogback in Sockburn, County Durham, England may depict Template:Lang and Template:Lang.Template:Sfn In a similar fashion, a silver button was found in Hornsherred, Denmark, during 2019 that is interpreted to portray Týr fighting against the wolf Template:Lang.<ref name=Jaramillo-2021>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Scholarly reception

Due in part to the etymology of the god's name, scholars propose that Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang 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 Template:Lang 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."Template:Sfn

The Template:Lang 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'.Template:Sfn

In popular culture

The 15th studio album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Tyr, released in 1990, is named after Template:Lang.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Template:Lang is featured in several video games.

Template:Lang (spelled Tyr in the English version of the game) is one of nine minor gods Norse players can worship<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> in Ensemble Studios' 2002 game Age of Mythology
Template:Lang (spelled Tyr in game) is also one of the playable gods in the third-person multiplayer online battle arena game Smite.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Týr is mentioned several times in Santa Monica Studio's 2018 game God of War and appears in its sequel God of War Ragnarök, which was released in 2022.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Týr (spelled Tyr in game) is one of the available healer mechs in Pixonic's War Robots (released as "Walking War Robots" in 2014).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Notes

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References

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Sources

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External links

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MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository) Illustrations of Týr from manuscripts and early print books.

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