Tyr ( Old Norse Týr) is a Norse war god. Tyr’s was one of the principal war gods of the Norse mythology alongside with Odin and Thor. In one of the poems from the Poetic Edda, Sigrdrífumál, the valkyrie Sigrdrifa instructs the human hero Sigurd to invoke Tyr for victory in battle. In the Eddic poem, the Lokasenna, Loki insults Tyr by saying that he could only stir people to strife but never reconcile them.
Tyr is one the upholders of law and justice. His role in the tale of The Binding of Fenrir, where Tyr features prominently. The offspring of Loki and the witch Angrboda, wolf Fenrir grew quickly from pup to monstrous size. The Norse gods feared Fenrir and his prophesied role in consuming the world, so they tried to bind Fenrir in fetters he couldn’t escape. When Fenrir was confronted with a dwarf-forged chain that he couldn’t escape, he grew suspicious. He declared he’d only allow the gods to put the chain around him if one of them would put an arm in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. Among the Norse gods, only Tyr would willing to do so as a pledge of good faith. When Fenrir was unable to break free, he bit off Tyr’s arm.
Odin too showed himself to be a god of faith, sacrificing one of his eyes in to gain wisdom, so Tyr upholds justice by sacrificing his arm. The disfigurement of both gods are similar and demonstrate a predominance of justice to ensure the protection of the Norse gods.
Tyr’s Associations:
Day:
Tuesday (Tyr’s Day)
Attribute:
Arrow, spear
Plant:
Flowering spurge
Rune:
Teiwaz
Sacred sites:
Groves
Leanbh Pearson 