Tyr (Old Norse Týr) is one of the most intriguing and least understood gods of the Norse pantheon. In the surviving myths he appears rarely, and nearly always in the same memorable pose: a god standing with his right hand in the jaws of a monstrous wolf, knowing that the wolf will bite it off. Yet the scattered evidence of language, place-names, and runic inscriptions suggests that Tyr was once far more important — perhaps the chief sky-god of the early Germanic peoples, before Odin rose to take his place.
Tyr is the god of war, but not of battle-frenzy. He is the god of the lawful fight, of oaths and treaties, of justice and the courage to pay what honour demands. His single great deed is an act of self-sacrifice so that the gods may be safe, and it makes him the bravest of the Aesir.
The Name and the Sky Father
The name Týr comes from Proto-Germanic *Tīwaz, which in turn derives from the Proto-Indo-European *deiwós, “god” or “celestial one.” It is the same root that produced the Greek Zeus, the Latin deus and Jupiter (from Dyeu-pater, “sky father”), and the Sanskrit Dyaus Pita. In Old Norse poetry, týr could even be used as a common noun meaning simply “god”: Odin is called Hangatýr, “god of the hanged,” and Sigtýr, “god of victory.”
This linguistic evidence has led many scholars to suggest that Tyr was originally the supreme sky-god of the Germanic peoples, later eclipsed by Odin, whose cult spread with the warrior aristocracies of the Migration Period. The theory is appealing but difficult to prove; by the time the myths were written down in thirteenth-century Iceland, Tyr was a minor figure.
Tuesday
Tyr’s most lasting legacy is in the calendar. When the Germanic peoples adopted the Roman seven-day week, they translated the names of the Roman gods into their own. The Latin dies Martis, “day of Mars,” the god of war, became *Tīwas dagaz, “day of Tiw.” In Old English it was Tīwesdæg, which became Tuesday. The same god appears in the Old Norse Týsdagr, Danish and Norwegian tirsdag, and Swedish tisdag. The equation of Tyr with Mars shows how the Romans and Germans themselves understood him: a war god.
The Roman historian Tacitus, writing about the Germanic tribes around 98 CE, mentions that they worshipped a god he calls Mars, alongside Mercury (Odin) and Hercules (probably Thor). A Roman-era altar found at Housesteads on Hadrian’s Wall is dedicated to Mars Thingsus — “Mars of the Thing,” the Germanic legal assembly — by Frisian soldiers serving in the Roman army. This strongly suggests that Tyr was the god who presided over the assembly, over law and judgement, as well as war.
Family
The Norse sources disagree about Tyr’s parentage. In the Prose Edda, Snorri Sturluson calls him a son of Odin. But in the Eddic poem Hymiskviða, Tyr is the son (or stepson) of the giant Hymir, and he and Thor go together to Hymir’s hall to fetch a great cauldron for brewing the gods’ ale. The inconsistency may reflect Tyr’s shifting place in the pantheon over time. He has no known wife or children.
The Binding of Fenrir
The one great myth of Tyr concerns the wolf Fenrir, the monstrous son of Loki and the giantess Angrboða. The gods raised the wolf cub in Asgard, but he grew so fast and so fierce that only Tyr dared approach him to feed him. When prophecies warned that Fenrir would one day destroy them, the gods resolved to bind him.
Two chains failed. The third, Gleipnir, was made by the dwarves from six impossible things and was as soft as a silk ribbon. Fenrir, suspecting a trick, agreed to be bound only if one of the gods placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge of good faith. None of them moved — except Tyr, who put his right hand between the wolf’s jaws. When Fenrir found he could not break free, he bit it off at the wrist. The full story is told in Tyr and Fenrir: The Binding of the Wolf.
Snorri comments that because of this, Tyr “is not considered a peacemaker among men.” The wrist, he says, is called “the wolf’s joint” in poetry.
The Bravest of the Gods
Snorri’s description of Tyr in the Gylfaginning is short but telling. He is “the boldest and most courageous” of the gods, and “has great power over victory in battles; it is good for men of action to pray to him.” A man who is outstandingly brave and never gives way is called “Tyr-valiant” (týhraustr), and a very wise man “Tyr-clever.”
Tyr’s bravery differs from Thor’s. Thor charges into danger with his hammer and trusts his strength. Tyr walks into a loss he knows is coming, and pays it, because an oath must be kept and a promise must be backed with a pledge.
Tyr in Loki’s Mockery
In the Eddic poem Lokasenna (“Loki’s Flyting”), Loki insults each of the gods at a feast. To Tyr he says that he could never make peace between two people, and mocks the loss of his hand: “Your right hand, I must mention, which Fenrir tore from you.” Tyr replies with dignity: “I lack a hand, but you lack Hróðvitnir [Fenrir]. The wolf does not fare well either; he must wait in bonds until the ruin of the gods.” Loki then boasts that he fathered a son with Tyr’s wife — the only reference to her anywhere, and possibly just an insult.
The Tiwaz Rune
Tyr gave his name to a rune in the older and younger futharks: ᛏ, called *Tīwaz in the older and Týr in the younger alphabet, representing the sound t. It is shaped like an upward-pointing arrow or spear. The Old Norwegian rune poem says: “Týr is a one-handed god; often the smith must blow.” The Anglo-Saxon rune poem describes the rune Tir as a guiding star that “keeps faith well with princes” and never fails through the darkness of night.
The Icelandic poem Sigrdrífumál advises warriors to carve “victory-runes” on the hilt of their sword and call twice on Tyr — and the Tiwaz rune has been found carved on weapons and amulets from the early Germanic period. (In the twentieth century, the rune was unfortunately adopted by Nazi organizations, which has complicated its modern use.)
Tyr at Ragnarök
At Ragnarök, the final battle, Tyr fights not the wolf who took his hand but the hound Garmr, the monstrous dog that guards the gates of Hel and howls before the Gnipa Cave. The two kill each other. (Fenrir, freed at last, swallows Odin.) See Ragnarök: The Twilight of the Gods.
Place-Names and Worship
Tyr’s name appears in place-names across Scandinavia, especially in Denmark, such as Tislund (“Tyr’s grove”) and Tyrsted. These suggest that he once had sacred sites and an active cult. In England, some scholars have connected the name of Tysoe in Warwickshire, where a red horse was once cut into a hillside, with Tiw. The evidence is scattered but consistent: Tyr was worshipped over a wide area, long before the Viking Age.
Symbolism
Tyr stands for a kind of heroism that the Norse admired deeply: the courage to keep one’s word at personal cost. The binding of Fenrir is not a victory won by strength or cunning but a sacrifice freely given. The gods cannot bind the wolf without deceiving him, and someone must pay for the deception. Tyr pays, and so the order of the world is preserved — for a time.
In an age when oaths, pledges, and the assembly were the foundation of society, Tyr was the god who made them binding. His lost hand was the price of trust.
Last reviewed: September 2026.