Origin and Character

Very little is known about Tyr. He clearly was a very important deity at one time, given the many places named after him in Denmark. The similarity of his name to Dyaus, Zeus, and Deus implies that Tyr began his existence as a sky god, probably the preeminent Germanic deity, or even the sole deity of a primitive monotheistic belief. Tyr represented the principles of law and justice in this early time, and maintained this attribute at the end of pagan times.

Only later did he acquire the attribute of warrior god, and as such, he became a less important deity. His character was more like that of Mars -- noble and brave -- than like that of the despicable Ares. The Romans thus equated him with their own Mars, who was a rising power in the Roman Pantheon, yet even this connection failed to rescue Tyr from descending obscurity. During the Viking age, he was overshadowed by Odin, Thor and Freja, and all but faded into oblivion.

Symbols

From its shape, the Tyr rune , which has the phonetic value "t", is a phallic symbol, much as the astronomical symbol for Mars is also the medical symbol for "male". The Tyr rune denotes victory in battle, divine justice, honor, and represents martial values and attributes. It brings to the wearer strength of purpose, power of will and a drive to a higher purpose. This rune was once carved on weapons to bring victory, and even now it is considered by some to be particularly useful to anyone involved in a physical, legal, or moral conflict.

According to the Anglo-Saxon tradition the same sign was called Tac and regarded as the rune of death. Law and order, sword and battle, victory or death, are all ancient Germanic associations with . This old runic structure has been used freely in Northern and Central Europe as a fascist symbol, and was a part of Nazi symbology.

Associated Deities

If Tyr is an obscure deity, Zisa may be his even lesser known consort. There is a reference to a consort, although not by name, in the Poetic Edda ("Lokasenna", verse 40). Tacitus wrote of one Germanic tribe who worshipped "Isis", and Jacob Grimm made a connection between Isis and Isa/Cisa/Zisa (patroness of Augsburg in Germany). The similarity of the name Zisa to Ziu leads to the conclusion that the two deities were closely related, and in turn, the etymological connection to Zeus and Dea, points to an extremely ancient origin.

Literary References

Although historically he probably preceded the other Germanic gods, according to some poems of the Viking age, Tyr was the son of the giant Hymir, while in others Odin was his father. The one important myth involving Tyr deals with how he lost his hand. Interestingly, while the wolf was the sacred animal of Mars and served as wet-nurse to Romulus and Remus, a mythical wolf is described in Germanic tales as the enemy of Tyr and the other gods of Asgard. The Fenriswolf, or Fenrir, was intent on swallowing the sun and wrecking the natural cosmic order. The gods of Asgard had tried repeatedly to restrain Fenris, but all the fetters they could devise were as cobwebs to the monstrous wolf. Finally, the gods engaged the services of the spirits of the mountains, who fashioned a deceptively flimsy-looking chain, called Gleipnir, made of six shadowy substances: the sound of a cat's footfall, the breath of fishes, the spittle of birds, the acute senses of bears, the beards of women, and the roots of mountains. It is difficult to explain how a race of gods could lack the power to impose but could somehow entreat an uncooperative foe to agree to being chained up, but that is how the tale runs, and Fenris, obviously suspecting some treachery, refused to consent unless a god placed his hand in the wolf's mouth. Knowing that the hand would be lost if the chain held, no god had the courage to place himself at risk except Tyr. Thus Tyr is the epitome of physical courage and self-sacrifice.

The German peoples believed that nothing lasts forever; that not even the gods were immortal, and like everything on Earth, the gods in their turn would finally perish. Well over a thousand years ago, their vision of the end or the world was unnervingly close to what scientists have predicted as the conditions resulting from an all-out strategic nuclear exchange. The poem Voluspa tells of mounting fire and smoke rising to the stars, and of a period of bitter and unrelieved cold during which summer shall not visit the Earth for three years -- nuclear winter! Fenrir at last breaks free of the chain Gleipnir and devours the sun. At Ragnarok, the Twilight of the Gods, Tyr battles the hound Garm in the final defense of heaven, and though he slays his adversary, Tyr himself is mortally wounded.

Rudyard Kipling's poem "Song of the Men's Side" pays homage to Tyr:

Once we feared The Beast - when he followed us we ran,
Ran very fast though we knew
It was not right that The Beast should master Man;
But what could we Flint-workers do?
The Beast only grinned at our spears round his ears -
Grinned at the hammers that we made;
But now we will hunt him for the life with the Knife -
And this is the Buyer of the Blade!

Room for his shadow on the grass - let it pass!
To left and right - stand clear!
This is the Buyer of the Blade - be afraid!
This is the great God Tyr!

Tyr thought hard till he hammered out a plan,
For he knew it was not right
(And it is not right) that The Beast should master Man;
So he went to the Children of the Night.
He begged a Magic Knife of their make for our sake.
When he begged for the Knife they said:
'The price of the Knife you would buy is an eye!'
And that was the price he paid.

Tell it to the Barrows of the Dead - run ahead!
Shout it so the Women's Side can hear!
This is the Buyer of the Blade - be afraid!
This is the great God Tyr!

Our women and our little ones may walk on the Chalk,
As far as we can see them and beyond.
We shall not be anxious for our sheep when we keep
Tally at the shearing-pond.
We can eat with both our elbows on our knees, if we please,
We can sleep after meals in the sun;
For Shepherd-of-the-Twilight is dismayed at the Blade,
Feet-in-the-Night have run!
Dog-without-a-Master goes away (Hai, Tyr aie!),
Devil-in-the-Dusk has run!

Then:

Room for his shadow on the grass - let it pass!
To left and right - stand clear!
This is the Buyer of the Blade - be afraid!
This is the great God Tyr!

Representations in Art

As the abandoned god of a barbarous people, few ancient artifacts pertaining to Tyr have survived. Moreover, the Renaissance looked to classical Greco-Roman themes for inspiration in celebration of the revival of European civilization, while the culture of the pagan Germanic peoples who had played a significant role in the collapse of classical civilization was understandably shunned. Thus the Nordic myths remained largely unexpressed in the arts until the 19th and 20th centuries, first when the unification of Germany occasioned a surge in national pride, then later as National Socialism sought to elevate ancient Nordic religion over Judeo-Christianity.

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