Tyr
- This article is about Tyr, the god. Tyr is also the abbreviation for the amino acid tyrosine
Tyr (Old Norse: Týr) is the god of warfare and battle in Norse mythology, portrayed as a one-handed man. He was a son of either Odin or Hymir. He also seems to have been called Saxnot (Anglo-Saxon Seaxneat), the 'war-god' and son of Wotan/Odin, who was the ancestor of the Saxons. The Goths sacrificed to this one-armed war god by hanging the arms of captured prisoners from the branches of trees.
Other names
- Ti (Old Swedish)
- Tiw or Tiu (Old English)
- Tîwaz (Proto-Germanic)
- Tivar (Old Norse)
- Ty (Old Norwegian)
- Tyz (Gothic), Gothic form of Tyr surviving in Vienna cod. 140 [1] (http://www.northvegr.org/lore/grimmst/009_03.php)
- Ziu (Old German)
Tuesday is named for Tyr (in Old English, Tiw or Tiu) in both English and in the Scandinavian languages. The Swedish forest Tiveden may also be named after Tyr.
Mythology of Tyr
Scholars believe that he was originally the chief god, derived from Proto-Indo-European Dyeus, the equivalent of the gods Zeus in Greek mythology, and Dyaus Pitar in Vedic religion, who was later overtaken in popularity and therefore in authority by Odin.
He was known for his courage: at one stage the gods decided to shackle the wolf Fenrisulfr, 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 agreed, and the other gods bound the wolf. Fenrir sensed that he had been tricked and bit off the god's hand. Fenrir remained bound until the day of Ragnarok.
During Ragnarok, Tyr is destined to kill and be killed by Garm, the guard dog of Helheim.
The Fountain of Tyr was the alleged practice of berserkers of cutting off their own hand to use the blood from the spurting artery to blind an opponent.
External links
- Tyr in Germanic Religion (http://www.angelfire.com/empire/martiana/tyr/index.html)
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