Hail Tyr!
With Tyr’s familial connection to the Jotans, Tyr seems one of the more primordial Gods to me. I am drawn to him but I don't know why as there aren't a lot of stories about him in the primary sources. We do know that Tyr's Name was carved onto many of our ancestor's weapons. Also, when naming their weapons our ancestors often included a reference to Tyr e.g. calling your sword 'Tyr's blood bringer' etc. When looking at ancient Gods, one only has to scan through the archaeological sources to see which God was prominent on grave markers (often Odin) and which God was prominent on weapons (often Tyr or Thor) to know who the important Gods were in specific time periods.
Tyr has been known by several variations of his name in different regions over different time periods. This alone shows his importance to our ancestors. Tyr, Tiw, Tiwaz, Tyz, Ziu, Tuisto, Tuisco though some of these names are disputed. The etymological study of Tyr’s name suggests its roots are in a proto-Germanic word similar to ‘twist’ and ‘two’ which is thought to mean dispute/conflict. This ties in with Tyr being known as the God of war and Justice. I tend not to use these types of terms for the Gods as I think they are so much more complex than being a God of ‘war’ or ‘love’ etc. The Gods are complex beings with personalities and attributes often more complex than our own. It does them an injustice to limit their legend to one attribute.
Historians suggest that Tyr is one of the older Gods worshipped before Odin came to the forefront of the Germanic cultures but it is hard to know for sure. So much knowledge is lost to the sands of time. The Romans identified Tyr with Mars, their own principal war god. This connection survives in the modern English “Tuesday,” from Old English “Day of Tiw (Tyr)” (Tiwesdæg), which was in turn based on the Latin Dies Martis, “Day of Mars.”[5] (The Romans’ identification of Tyr with Mars also reinforces the point that he was quite a significant god; otherwise they surely wouldn’t have identified him with one of their own major gods.) Hundreds of year later in The Poetic Edda, the valkyrie Sigrdrifa instructs the human hero Sigurd to invoke Tyr for victory in battle. This shows Tyr was associated with war over many centuries (most likely a lot longer) by many people from varying regions.
In addition to Tyr’s role with regard to War and Justice, we should consider his history may go back a lot further. Before the Germanic peoples had become a distinct branch of the Indo-European family tree, they worshipped the god *Dyeus, who would later evolve into Tyr as the Germanic religion became more and more distinct from the general Proto-Indo-European religion. Both the name *Dyeus and the basic Proto-Indo-European word for “god,” *deiwós, are variations of the root *dyeu-, “the daytime sky.”[11]*Dyeus was the quintessential “Sky Father” and likely one of the chief deities of the Proto-Indo-European pantheon. After all, his name was effectively identical with the word for godhood itself. Other gods derived from him include the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter (from *Dyeus Phater, “Sky Father”). Fascinatingly, the modern English words “day” and “deity” both come from this same root. (ref - https://norse-mythology.org/Tyr)
One of the few surviving stories to feature Tyr prominently is ‘The Binding of Fenrir’. The dreadful wolf Fenrir seemed to be invulnerable to harm and was growing stronger thus was a threat to all. The gods feared for their lives, so they endeavoured to tie up Fenrir in fetters from which he couldn’t escape. When Fenrir laid eyes on the chain that would eventually bind him, he was suspicious and declared that he would only allow the gods to put it around him if one of them would stick an arm in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. Only Tyr was willing to do so. When the wolf found himself unable to break free, he bit off Tyr’s arm.
This is a classic example of Germanic, heroic sacrifice for the good of others. This type of heroism is the highest aspiration of any warrior. It is a theme often seen throughout the tribes of Europe that were descended from the Proto Indo Europeans (PIE). In modern times people seem to aspire to be the biggest victim….. Our politics revolves around victimhood and our people gloat on Facebook when they’ve had some drama or other. It’s hard to believe how far our culture has fallen into sh&t! In virtually every story you’ll read about our ancient Gods heroic sacrifice and perseverance is a central theme. People often believe that warriors who die in battle go to Valhalla. I would suggest that great warriors who sacrificed their lives for the greater good / their tribe went to Valhalla if chosen. ‘Sacrifice’ is the key word here.
We can also see a parallel with the way in which Odin sacrificed his eye for knowledge. To knowingly sacrifice part of your body for a greater good places these 2 particular Gods on a high pedestal. It’s something the average person or God might not have the courage to do.
Tyr’s name was noted in regard to the Angles quite a few times who Bede stated were descended from Tyr and Ing. The fact that he was important to our ancestors, of whom our country was named after, gives me more reason to explore my heart and mind when reading about Tyr. I wonder if in my lifetime the English will forget the likes of 'St George' and remember Tyr as their patron or even resume his rightful place in the hearts of men as a God of our people? One can only hope!
I am by no means an expert on any of this. It is just a subject that I am very interested in. This short blog which includes my own thoughts as well as referenced material and might be thought of as a good place to start for those interested in The God Tyr.
References: https://norse-mythology.org/ Tyr (some of the passages regarding etymology are not my words) Prose Edda Poetic Edda Tyr journals published by arcana & many books and discussions over the last couple of years.
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