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Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
: , ) is a god in
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. O ...
and member of the . In
Norse mythology Norse, Nordic, or Scandinavian mythology, is the body of myths belonging to the North Germanic peoples, stemming from Old Norse religion and continuing after the Christianization of Scandinavia as the Nordic folklore of the modern period. The ...
, which provides most of the surviving narratives about gods among the
Germanic peoples The Germanic peoples were tribal groups who lived in Northern Europe in Classical antiquity and the Early Middle Ages. In modern scholarship, they typically include not only the Roman-era ''Germani'' who lived in both ''Germania'' and parts of ...
, sacrifices his right hand to the monstrous wolf , who bites it off when he realizes the gods have bound him. is foretold of being consumed by the similarly monstrous dog during the events of
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...
. The 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 (
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
'Mars of the Assembly Thing">thing_(assembly).html" ;"title="nowiki/>thing (assembly)">Thing) on 3rd century Latin inscription, reflecting a strong association with the Germanic thing (assembly)">thing, a legislative body among the ancient Germanic peoples. By way of the opposite process of , Tuesday is named after (''s day'), rather than Mars, in English and other Germanic languages. In Old Norse sources, is alternately described as the son of the (in ) or of the god
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
(in ). 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 may have once held a more central place among the deities of early Germanic mythology.


Name

In wider
Germanic mythology Germanic mythology consists of the body of myths native to the Germanic peoples, including Norse mythology, Anglo-Saxon paganism#Mythology, Anglo-Saxon mythology, and Continental Germanic mythology. It was a key element of Germanic paganism. O ...
, he is known in
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
as and in
Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...
as , both stemming from the
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
theonym , meaning 'God'. Little information about the god survives beyond
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
sources. could be the eponym of the Tiwaz rune (), a letter of the
runic alphabet Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
corresponding to the
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
letter ''T''. Various place names in Scandinavia refer to the god, and a variety of objects found in England and Scandinavia seem to depict or invoke him.


Etymology

The Old Norse theonym stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form reconstructed as , which derives – like its Germanic
cognate In historical linguistics, cognates or lexical cognates are sets of words that have been inherited in direct descent from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language change can have radical effects on both the s ...
s (
Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...
) and (Old High German) – from the
Proto-Germanic Proto-Germanic (abbreviated PGmc; also called Common Germanic) is the linguistic reconstruction, reconstructed proto-language of the Germanic languages, Germanic branch of the Indo-European languages. Proto-Germanic eventually developed from ...
theonym , meaning 'God'. The name of a Gothic deity named (later ) may also be reconstructed based on the associated rune '' tiwaz''. In
Old Norse poetry Old Norse poetry encompasses a range of verse forms written in the Old Norse language, during the period from the 8th century to as late as the far end of the 13th century. Old Norse poetry is associated with the area now referred to as Scandinav ...
, the plural is used for 'the gods', and the singular , meaning '(a) god', occurs in kennings for
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
and
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
. Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god's name by dropping the proper noun's
diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign, or accent) is a glyph added to a letter or to a basic glyph. The term derives from the Ancient Greek (, "distinguishing"), from (, "to distinguish"). The word ''diacrit ...
, rendering
Old Norse Old Norse, also referred to as Old Nordic or Old Scandinavian, was a stage of development of North Germanic languages, North Germanic dialects before their final divergence into separate Nordic languages. Old Norse was spoken by inhabitants ...
's ' as ''Tyr''. The Proto-Germanic masculine noun ( ) 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. It stems from
Proto-Indo-European Proto-Indo-European (PIE) is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European language family. No direct record of Proto-Indo-European exists; its proposed features have been derived by linguistic reconstruction from documented Indo-Euro ...
, meaning 'celestial, heavenly one', hence a 'god' (
cf. The abbreviation cf. (short for either Latin or , both meaning 'compare') is generally used in writing to refer the reader to other material to make a comparison with the topic being discussed. However some sources offer differing or even contr ...
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
: 'heavenly, divine', Old Lithuanian: , 'a god, deity'), itself a derivation from , meaning 'diurnal sky', hence 'daylight-sky god' (cf. , , ). The Germanic noun is further attested in the Finnic loanword , found as a
suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...
in the deities and . The Romano-Germanic deity may also be related, although its origin remains unclear. Due to linguistic evidence and early native comparisons between and the Roman god
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
, especially under the name , a number of scholars have interpreted as a Proto-Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god. Other scholars reject however his identification as a 'sky-god', since was likely not his original name but rather an epithet that came to be associated with him and eventually replaced it.


Origin of ''Tuesday''

The modern English weekday name '' Tuesday'' comes from the Old English , meaning 'day of Tīw'. It is cognate with Old Norse ,
Old Frisian Old Frisian was a West Germanic language spoken between the late 13th century and the end of 16th century. It is the common ancestor of all the modern Frisian languages except for the North Frisian language#Insular North Frisian, Insular North ...
, and Old High German (
Middle High German Middle High German (MHG; or ; , shortened as ''Mhdt.'' or ''Mhd.'') is the term for the form of High German, High German language, German spoken in the High Middle Ages. It is conventionally dated between 1050 and 1350, developing from Old High ...
). All of them stem from Late Proto-Germanic ('Day of '), a
calque In linguistics, a calque () or loan translation is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal word-for-word or root-for-root translation. When used as a verb, "to calque" means to borrow a word or phrase from another language ...
of Latin ('Day of
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
'; cf. modern Italian , French , Spanish ). This attests to an early Germanic identification of with Mars.See discussion in and . Germanic weekday names for ''Tuesday'' that do not transparently extend from the above lineage may also ultimately refer to the deity, including
Middle Dutch Middle Dutch is a collective name for a number of closely related West Germanic dialects whose ancestor was Old Dutch. It was spoken and written between 1150 and 1500. Until the advent of Modern Dutch after 1500 or , there was no overarching sta ...
and , Middle Low German , and Old High German (modern ). 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 An epithet (, ), also a byname, is a descriptive term (word or phrase) commonly accompanying or occurring in place of the name of a real or fictitious person, place, or thing. It is usually literally descriptive, as in Alfred the Great, Suleima ...
, ( 'thing-god'), frequently attached to Mars (), or simply by the god's strong association with the assembly.


T-rune

The god is the namesake of the rune representing (the Tiwaz rune) in the
runic alphabets Runes are the Letter (alphabet), letters in a set of related alphabets, known as runic rows, runic alphabets or futharks (also, see ''#Futharks, futhark'' vs ''#Runic alphabets, runic alphabet''), native to the Germanic peoples. Runes were ...
, the indigenous alphabets of the ancient Germanic peoples prior to their adaptation of the
Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet, also known as the Roman alphabet, is the collection of letters originally used by the Ancient Rome, ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered except several letters splitting—i.e. from , and from � ...
. On runic inscriptions, often appears as a magical symbol. The name first occurs in the historical record as ''tyz'', a character in the
Gothic alphabet The Gothic alphabet is an alphabet for writing the Gothic language. It was developed in the 4th century AD by Ulfilas (or Wulfila), a Gothic preacher of Cappadocian Greek descent, for the purpose of translating the Bible. The alphabet e ...
(4th century), and it was also known as or in Old English, and in Old Norse. The name of may also occur in runes as on the 8th century Ribe skull fragment.


Toponyms

A variety of place names in Scandinavia refer to the god. For example, , in Viby, Jutland, Denmark (Old Norse , ''s meadow') was once a stretch of meadow near a stream called ('stream of the dead' or 'dead stream'). Viby also contained another theonym, ("Odin's Holt"), and religious practices associated with Odin and 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. may mean 'the settlement by the sacred site'. Archaeologists have found traces of sacrifices going back 2,500 years in Viby. The forest , between
Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the sou ...
and
Västergötland Västergötland (), also known as West Gothland or the Latinized version Westrogothia in older literature, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden (''landskap'' in Swedish), situated in the southwest of Sweden. Vä ...
, in Sweden, may mean 'Tyr's forest', but its etymology is uncertain, and debated. may refer to meaning 'god' generally, and so the name may derive from Proto-Indo-European , meaning 'the forest of the gods'. According to Rudolf Simek, the existence of a cult of the deity is also evidenced by place names such as (''s grove'), which is frequent in Denmark, or (''s peninsula') and ('Tysnes island') in Norway, where the cult appears to have been imported from Denmark.


Attestations


Roman era

While '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, receives mention in Latin texts by way of the process of , in which Latin texts refer to the god by way of a perceived counterpart in
Roman mythology Roman mythology is the body of myths of ancient Rome as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans, and is a form of Roman folklore. "Roman mythology" may also refer to the modern study of these representations, and to th ...
. Latin inscriptions and texts frequently refer to as
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
. The first example of this occurs on record in Roman senator
Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...
's ethnography : :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 file:1st century Germani.png, 300px, The approximate positions of some Germanic peoples reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 1st century. Suebian peoples in red, and other Irminones in purple. The Suebi (also spelled Suavi, Suevi or Suebians ...
sacrifice to Isis as well. ::: A.R. Birley translation These deities are generally understood by scholars to refer to (known widely today as ''Odin''), (known today widely as ''Thor''), and , respectively. The identity of the "Isis" of the Suebi remains a topic of debate among scholars. Later in , Tacitus also mentions a deity referred to as venerated by the Semnones in a grove of fetters, a
sacred grove Sacred groves, sacred woods, or sacred forests are groves of trees that have special religious importance within a particular culture. Sacred groves feature in various cultures throughout the world. These are forest areas that are, for the most ...
. Some scholars propose that this deity is in fact . A votive altar has been discovered during excavations at Housesteads Roman Fort at
Hadrian's Wall Hadrian's Wall (, also known as the ''Roman Wall'', Picts' Wall, or ''Vallum Aelium'' in Latin) is a former defensive fortification of the Roman province of Roman Britain, Britannia, begun in AD 122 in the reign of the Emperor Hadrian. Ru ...
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 . In this instance, the epithet is a Latin rendering of Proto-Germanic theonym . This deity is generally interpreted by scholars to refer to . The goddesses referred to as and are otherwise unknown, but their names may refer to Old Frisian legal terms.See discussion in and . In the sixth century, the Roman historian
Jordanes Jordanes (; Greek language, Greek: Ιορδάνης), also written as Jordanis or Jornandes, was a 6th-century Eastern Roman bureaucrat, claimed to be of Goths, Gothic descent, who became a historian later in life. He wrote two works, one on R ...
writes in his that the
Goths The Goths were a Germanic people who played a major role in the fall of the Western Roman Empire and the emergence of medieval Europe. They were first reported by Graeco-Roman authors in the 3rd century AD, living north of the Danube in what is ...
, 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


Old English

The Latin deity
Mars Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
was occasionally glossed by Old English writers by the name or . The
genitive In grammar, the genitive case ( abbreviated ) is the grammatical case that marks a word, usually a noun, as modifying another word, also usually a noun—thus indicating an attributive relationship of one noun to the other noun. A genitive can ...
also appears in the name for Tuesday, .


Viking Age and post-Viking Age

By the Viking Age, had developed among the
North Germanic peoples North Germanic peoples, Nordic peoples and in a medieval context Norsemen, were a Germanic peoples, Germanic linguistic group originating from the Scandinavian Peninsula. They are identified by their cultural similarities, common ancestry and com ...
into . The god receives numerous mentions in North Germanic sources during this period, but far less than other deities, such as
Odin Odin (; from ) is a widely revered god in Norse mythology and Germanic paganism. Most surviving information on Odin comes from Norse mythology, but he figures prominently in the recorded history of Northern Europe. This includes the Roman Em ...
,
Freyja In Norse mythology, Freyja (Old Norse "(the) Lady") is a goddess associated with love, beauty, fertility, sex, war, gold, and seiðr (magic for seeing and influencing the future). Freyja is the owner of the necklace Brísingamen, rides a char ...
, or
Thor Thor (from ) is a prominent list of thunder gods, god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding æsir, god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred trees and groves in Germanic paganism and mythology, sacred g ...
. The majority of these mentions occur in the ''
Poetic Edda The ''Poetic Edda'' is the modern name for an untitled collection of Old Norse anonymous narrative poems in alliterative verse. It is distinct from the closely related ''Prose Edda'', although both works are seminal to the study of Old Norse ...
'', compiled in the 13th century from traditional source material reaching into the pagan period, and the ''Prose Edda'', composed by Icelandic
skald A skald, or skáld (Old Norse: ; , meaning "poet"), is one of the often named poets who composed skaldic poetry, one of the two kinds of Old Norse poetry in alliterative verse, the other being Eddic poetry. Skaldic poems were traditionally compo ...
and politician
Snorri Sturluson Snorri Sturluson ( ; ; 1179 – 22 September 1241) was an Icelandic historian, poet, and politician. He was elected twice as lawspeaker of the Icelandic parliament, the Althing. He is commonly thought to have authored or compiled portions of th ...
in the 13th century.


''Poetic Edda''

Although receives several mentions in the ''Poetic Edda'', of the three poems in which he is mentioned—, , and —only the incomplete poem, , features him in a prominent role. In , says that his father, , owns a tremendous cauldron with which he and his fellow gods can brew fathoms of ale. Thor and set out to retrieve it. meets his nine-hundred headed grandmother ("who hates him"), and a girl clad in gold helps the two hide from . Upon his return from hunting, 's wife (unnamed) tells that his son has come to visit, that has brought with him Thor, and that the two are behind a pillar. With just one glance, immediately smashes the pillar and eight nearby kettles. The kettle containing and Thor, particularly strong in its construction, does not break, and out of it the two gods stride. sees Thor and his heart jumps. The orders three headless oxen boiled for his guests, and Thor eats two of the beasts. 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. 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 . In , the valkyrie imparts in the hero Sigurd knowledge of various runic charms. One charm invokes the god : :'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 In , 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." Loki exchanges insults with each of the gods. After Loki insults the god , comes to '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. says that although he misses his hand, Loki misses , who is now bound and will remain so until the events of
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...
.


''Prose Edda''

The ''Prose Edda'' sections and reference several times. The god is introduced in part 25 of the 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 were luring Fenriswolf so as to get the fetter 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 refused to let him go then he bit off the hand at the place that is now called the wolf-joint rist and he is one-handed and he is not considered a promoter of settlements between people. ::: A. Faulkes translations (notes are by Faulkes) This tale receives further treatment in section 34 of ("The brought up the wolf at home, and it was only Tyr who had the courage to approach the wolf and give it food."). Later still in , High discusses 's foreseen death during the events of
Ragnarök In Norse mythology, (also Ragnarok; or ; ) is a foretold series of impending events, including a great battle in which numerous great Norse mythological figures will perish (including the Æsir, gods Odin, Thor, Týr, Freyr, Heimdall, a ...
: :Then will also have got free the dog Garm, which is bound in front of . 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 opens with a narrative wherein twelve gods sit upon thrones at a banquet, including . Later in , the skald god tells (described earlier in as a man from the island of ) how
kenning A kenning ( Icelandic: ) is a figure of speech, a figuratively-phrased compound term that is used in place of a simple single-word noun. For instance, the Old English kenning () means , as does (). A kenning has two parts: a base-word (a ...
s function. By way of kennings, 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". Section nine of provides skalds with a variety of ways in which to refer to , including "the one handed As", "feeder of the wolf", "battle-god", and "son of Odin". The narrative found in occurs in prose later in . Like in , appears here among around a dozen other deities. Similarly, appears among a list of in section 75. In addition to the above mentions, 's name occurs as a kenning element throughout in reference to the god Odin.


Archaeological record

Scholars propose that a variety of objects from the archaeological record depict . For example, a
Migration Period The Migration Period ( 300 to 600 AD), also known as the Barbarian Invasions, was a period in European history marked by large-scale migrations that saw the fall of the Western Roman Empire and subsequent settlement of its former territories ...
gold
bracteate A bracteate (from the Latin ''bractea'', a thin piece of metal) is a flat, thin, single-sided gold medal worn as jewelry that was produced in Northern Europe predominantly during the Migration Period of the Germanic Iron Age (including the Ven ...
from Trollhättan, Sweden, features a person receiving a bite on the hand from a beast, which may depict and . A Viking Age hogback in Sockburn,
County Durham County Durham, officially simply Durham, is a ceremonial county in North East England.UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. The county borders Northumberland and Tyne an ...
, England may depict and . In a similar fashion, a silver button was found in Hornsherred, Denmark, during 2019 that is interpreted to portray Týr fighting against the wolf .


Scholarly reception

Due in part to the etymology of the god's name, scholars propose that 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 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 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." The 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'.


In popular culture

The 15th studio album by the English heavy metal band
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
, '' Tyr'', released in 1990, is named after . is featured in several video games. * (spelled Tyr in the English version of the game) is one of nine minor gods Norse players can worship in Ensemble Studios' 2002 game '' Age of Mythology'' * (spelled Tyr in game) is also one of the playable gods in the third-person
multiplayer online battle arena Multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) is a Video game genre, subgenre of strategy video games in which two teams of Gamer, players compete on a structured battlefield, each controlling a single Player character, character with distinctive abilit ...
game '' Smite''. * 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. * Týr (spelled Tyr in game) is one of the available healer mechs in Pixonic's '' War Robots'' (released as "Walking War Robots" in 2014).


See also

* Mitra-Varuna § Binding of evil * Nuada Airgetlám


Notes


References


Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


MyNDIR (My Norse Digital Image Repository)
Illustrations of Týr from manuscripts and early print books. {{DEFAULTSORT:Tyr Æsir Germanic gods Justice gods Killed deities Norse gods War gods Mars (mythology) Sons of Odin