Associated with legislation and law, justice and war, god of the thing (governing assembly).

Name(s): The word týr is Old Norse/Old Icelandic for “god.”

Parents: In Skaldskaparmal Tyr is said to be a son of Odin, while in Hymiskvida he is said to be a son of the jotun Hymir.

Spouses: In Lokasenna a partner is mentioned for Tyr, but is not named.

Children: Unknown.

Affiliations: Tyr is one of the Aesir.

Tales: In Gylfaginning the Aesir had raised the wolf Fenrir, but he had grown so large that they decided to bind him, telling him that surely he could break any fetter. Suspicious (and rightly so) Fenrir said he would only do so if someone would put their hand in his mouth. Only Tyr was brave enough to do so, and when it was apparent what they were doing, Fenrir bit off Tyr’s hand.

According to the Voluspa, during Ragnarok Tyr will battle the great wolf Garmr and both will die.

Literary evidence: In his Germania Tacitus describes the worship of “Mars”; it’s believed that the Romans referred to Tyr as Mars by way of the interpretatio romana.

Historical evidence: An altar was raised to Mars Thingsus (“Mars of the Thing”) by soldiers at Housesteads near Hadrian’s wall.

Other details: Our modern word “Tuesday” bears his name—it translates to “Tiw’s day.”

The rune Tiwaz (t) represents Tyr.

Tyr is said to be the bravest of gods, great in battle and a bringer of victory.