Tyr

Tyr (Old Norse: ''T�r'') is the gods of warfare and battle in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man. He was a son of either Odin or Hymir. Corresponding names in other Germanic languages include Tyz (Gothic language), Ty (Old Norwegian), Ti (Old Swedish), Tiw, Tiu or Tew (Old English) and Ziu (Old High German). ==Origins== The name ''Tyr'' meant "god" (cf. ''Hangatyr'', the "hanged god" as one of Odin's names) and goes back to a Proto-Germanic T�waz, continuing Proto-Indo-European Dyeus, originally the chief god, the precursor also of e. g. Zeus in Greek mythology, and Dyaus Pitar in Vedic religion. The oldest attestation of the God is Gothic Tyz (Vienna cod. 140 [http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/009_03.php]) T�waz was overtaken in popularity and in authority by Odin at some point in both the North Germanic and West Germanic traditions. In among East Germanic tribes, however, he seems to have remained the supreme god: the Goths of the 3rd century were feared because they sacrificed the captives they took in battle to Tyz, their god of war, and then hung the arms of the victims in trees as a token-offering. This custom of human sacrifice seems to have been transferred to Odin in Scandinavia, as reported by Adam von Bremen in the 11th century (c. f. also Odin himself hanging from a tree as a sacrifice to himself in the Havamal). It is possible that the transfer of supremacy from Tyr to Odin was facilitated by the Germanic custom of diarchy (see Germanic king and c.f. e.g. Hengest and Horsa, Yngvi and Alf and Erik and Alrik), so that the two gods might have ruled the early Germanic pantheon as equals at some point. A trace of their relationship may be seen in the appearance of Tyr as Odin's son in Norse mythology, and also in Anglo-Saxon, if Tiw is identified with ''Saxnot'' (''Seaxneat''), the 'war-god' and son of Woden, who was revered as the ancestor of the Saxons. There is sketchy evidence of a consort, in German named Zisa: Tacitus mentions one Germanic tribe who worshipped "Isis", and Jacob Grimm pointed to Cisa/Zisa, the patroness of Augsburg, in this connection. The name Zisa would be derived from Ziu etymologically, in agreement with other consorts to the chief god in Indo-European pantheons, e. g. Zeus and Dione_%28mythology%29. ==Tyr in the Edda== According to the Edda, at one stage the gods decided to shackle the wolf Fenrisulfr(Fenris), but the beast broke every chain they put upon him. Eventually they had the dwarfs make them a magical ribbon called Gleipnir from such items as a woman's beard and a mountain's roots. But Fenrir sensed the gods' deceit and refused to be bound with it unless one of them put his hand in the wolf's mouth. Tyr, known for his great courage, agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. Fenrir sensed that he had been tricked and bit off the god's hand. Fenrir will remain bound until the day of Ragnarok. During Ragnarok, Tyr is destined to kill and be killed by Garm, the guard dog of Helheim. In the Lokasenna, Tyr is taunted with cuckoldry by Loki, maybe another hint that he had a consort or wife at one time. ==Other traces== Tyr/Tiw had become relatively unimportant compared to Odin/Woden in both North and West Germanic. Traces of the god remain, however, in Tuesday ("Tiw's day"), named for Tyr in both the North and the West Germanic languages (corresponding to ''Martis dies'', dedicated to the Roman god of war, Mars (god)) and also in the names of some plants: Old Norse ''T�sfiola'' (after the Latin ''Viola Martis''), ''T�rhialm'' (Aconitum, one of the most poisonous plants in Europe whose helmet-like shape might suggest a warlike connection) and ''T�vi�r'', "T�'s wood", in the Helsingor dialect ''Tistbast'', modern Swedish language ''Tibast'' (the ''Daphne mezereum'', a shrub which blooms before the leaves appear in spring). The Swedish forest Tiveden may also be named after Tyr, or reflecting ''Tyr'' as a generic word for "god" (i.e. the forest of the gods). ==The Tyr rune== The ''t''-rune ᛏ is named after Tyr, and was indentified with this god. The rune was also identified with Mars as in the Icelandic rune poem: :ᛏ ''T�r er einhendr �ss'' : ''ok ulfs leifar'' : ''ok hofa hilmir.'' : Mars ''tiggi.'' :Tyr is a one-handed god, : and leavings of the wolf : and prince of temples. In the Anglo-Saxon rune poem however, same rune is identified with polaris (c.f. Shakespeare's sonnet 116): :ᛏ ''Tir bi� tacna sum, healde� trywa wel'' : ''wi� ��elingas; a bi� on f�rylde'' : ''ofer nihta genipu, n�fre swice�. '' :ᛏ Tir is a star, it keeps faith well :with athlings, always on its course :over the mists of night it never fails. A bonepiece from Lindholm (Skane), dated 2nd to 4th century and usually interpreted as an amulet, is inscribed with ekerilazsawilagazhateka:aaaaaaaazzznnn?bmuttt:alu:. The part between the colons has been interpreted as a magical formula: the three consecutive ''t'' runes as an invocation of Tyr, and the eight ''As'' runes as an invocation or symbolic list of eight Aesir. ===Fascist use=== The Tyr rune has been used as a Fascist symbolism. It was the badge of the Sturmabteilung training schools, the ''Reichsf�hrerschulen'' in Nazi Germany. In Neo-Nazism it has appeared, together with the Sigel rune, in the emblem of the Kassel based "think tank" Thule Seminar, and, probably based on the this, in the logo of the fashion label ''Thor Steinar'' (incorrectly, it might be added, since both ''Thor'' and ''Thule'' would be spelled with a �) rune. The ''Thor Steinar'' label was popular among neo-Nazis until it was banned as containing symbols prohibited by the German Grundgesetz on 17 November 2004. == Popular culture == *Tyr_(album) by the rock band Black Sabbath is named after Tyr. *The Faroese viking metal group Týr is also named after Tyr. *Tyr had a slight mention in Neil Gaiman's book, American Gods, referring to his importance in the Norse Mythos. *Tyr is one of the gods in the computer game Nethack. *Rudyard Kipling poem [http://whitewolf.newcastle.edu.au/words/authors/K/KiplingRudyard/verse/p3/menside.html Song of the Men's Side] *Tyr is also the name of the bassist of the Norwegian Black metal band Emperor (band) *Tyr is the name of the character Tyr Anasazi in the TV series Andromeda. *Tyr is a main god in the Role-playing game-setting Dungeons and Dragons. ==External links== *[http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/009_01.php Grimm's Teutonic Mythology] (English translation, chapter 9) *[http://www.angelfire.com/empire/martiana/tyr/index.html Tyr in Germanic Religion] *[http://www.thetroth.org/resources/william/tyr.html T�r and Zisa] by William Bainbridge Norse mythology Norse gods War gods Runes

Tyr

Does anyone know which hand he lost? -User:Finn-Zoltan 22:00, 3 Aug 2004 (UTC) : A random search on Internet gave several pages all claiming that it was the right hand. This makes sense, showing the god's courage in risking his main hand. (Unless he was left-handed.) I don't know if that was explicitly told in the original sources, But maybe some scholars of norse mythology could tell what was written in them... :Hmmm, this is strange. Marvel Comics version of Tyr: http://www.immortalthor.net/bio-tyr.html "According to Norse mythology, it was Tyr's right hand that was lost, but in the Asgard of the Marvel Universe, he lacks his left" =="Fountain"== :''"The Fountain of Tyr" was the alleged practice of Berserker_(viking)s of cutting off their own hand to use the blood from the spurting artery to blind an opponent.'' I removed this for lack of reference (nothing was to be found on the web. is it in the Edda?) User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 16:36, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC) :I have never heard of it. I believe it is crank.--User:Wiglaf 20:02, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::seems like it. [http://en.wikipedia.org/w/wiki.phtml?title=Tyr&diff=3840861&oldid=3459210] it was here for 7 months. never cite WP as a reference... seems to strkie a chord, though [http://www.warriortalk.com/showpost.php?p=24353&postcount=12]... User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 21:55, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::I guess the last link is the source of the info. Well, the fact that it is about ''Vikings vs. Romans'' is a tell-tale sign it is bogus. I have wondered about veracity of the ''fountain of Tyr'' for seven months. It is sad that Wikipedia is littered with things like that.--User:Wiglaf 22:23, 7 Dec 2004 (UTC) ==runeswords== Consequently, the Tyr rune was carved onto spearheads and onto the hilts of swords, so that Tyr would aid the owner in battle. :I was unable to find a pre-700 example of this (n Looijenga). Maybe during the Viking Age? In any case, I replaced it with a reference to the Lindholm amulet. User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 15:32, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::I am afraid I lack a book on it at the moment. User:OlofE, who is somewhat of an expert on runes, wrote at Talk:Norse mythology:''The most visible deity in runic text is Tyr. The name itself, and the rune, was used for a long time as an incantation of power. Many old inscriptions consist only of a tyr (T) rune, often repeated or multiplied (a stem with 7 bars on each side for instance). This is especially common in old, short inscriptions on weapons.'' The problem with Looijenga is that he he excludes the vast majority of runic inscriptions by limiting himself to the period prior to 700 and to the area around the North Sea (but as both of us know, limiting the scope is one of the major tasks when writing a dissertation).--User:Wiglaf 17:32, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::(Looijenga is a she, I think) that's right. Maybe I shouldn't have removed it. I readily believe the rune was used in this way, but I would have liked a rough reference as to when the practice was common. Often on WP, all things Germanic seem to be lumped together, and I have grown wary of general statements about "Germanic" customs. I have tried to find out about the practice of inscribing runes on swords, and it seems there is not a single example of runes actually being written on the blade. There are quite a few examples of runes on the hilt or on the scabbard, though, but most examples I have found seem to be names. I would just ask that the statement about the Tyr runes is re-introduced with a rough reference to a time period, and maybe a couple of prominent examples. User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 18:10, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::::I am not sure I can satisfy those demands at the moment, but I am not insisting on having it in the text. I just thought it might be interesting to the general reader.--User:Wiglaf 19:01, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::the "especially in old inscriptions" part at least seems unsubstantiated, however. because in a runic context, 'old' would certainly mean Elder Futhark / pre-8th-century. User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 18:36, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) ::::Well, in my mind ''old inscriptions'' means prior to the 11th century when most inscriptions were made in Sweden.--User:Wiglaf 19:01, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) :::::I see. this is probably a question of "Germanic" vs. "Norse" mindset. (the name ''Tyr'' is Norse, but the article treats the proto/pan-Germanic god). I suppose at the moment it seems probable that this use of the Tyr rune was common during the Viking Age, i.e. post-800, pre-1000. I have really had a hard time finding any swords inscribed with runes, no matter where (hilt, pommel, blade, scabbard...) User:Dbachmann User_talk:Dbachmann 19:09, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC) The reference at the end to Tyr being a god in "Bioware's ''Neverwinter Nights''" is wrong. The game had no direct link to the Tyr in Norse mythology, but rather Tyr has been a god in the Forgotten Realms game world for many years, and ''that'' was drawn from Norse mythology. I'm not going to change it, but someone else should.

T�r

This story begins one evening in January 1998, when Heri Joensen met his old bandmate, K�ri Streymoy, at a ball in central Copenhagen, and shouted at him in a raspy drunken voice through the noise and smoke, "You know, we should jam someday". K�ri shook his head in hopelessness and replied. "No way man, I haven't held a drumstick in two years". However sad and hopeless this situation may seem, it escalated, and the plot thickened with the joining of another old bandmate, Gunnar H. Thomsen, making the duo a trio. Before they could say "Hey, let's make a band!", they found themselves making music heavily inspired by Faroese traditional music, Black Sabbath, old Norse mythology, Dream Theater and classical music. The years passed, line-ups changed, and time took it's toll on these guys, grinding the band down to it's hard core, which lists as follows: Heri Joensen - Vocals & Guitar Terji Skiben�s - Guitar Gunnar H. Thomsen - Bass K�ri Streymoy - Drums These characters all originate from an inconspicuously small group of windy islands in the north Atlantic, named the Faeroes (F�royar in Faeroese) by Gr�mur Kamban. It means "sheep islands" in old Norse. People from these very islands frequently travel to Denmark for educational purposes, driven by their curious nature. A thousand years ago these people believed in other gods, as did the neighbouring kingdoms across the sea. Amongst these gods were T�rur, ��in and Loki. Another one was named T�r, the god of war. He was the bravest of the gods, and in time he was privileged to give name to the band at the peak of music evolution. Website [www.tyr.net] == Discography == T�r Demo (Autumn 2000) How Far To Asgaard (January 2002) �lavur Riddarar�s (October 2002) Eric The Red (27 June 2003)

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