Týr

By way of the opposite process of interpretatio germanica, Tuesday is named after Týr ('Týr's day'), rather than Mars, in English and other Germanic languages.

In Old Norse sources, Týr is alternately described as the son of the jötunn Hymir (in Hymiskviða) or of the god Odin (in Skáldskaparmál).

Lokasenna makes reference to an unnamed and otherwise unknown consort, perhaps also reflected in the continental Germanic record (see Zisa).

[5][6] Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god's name by dropping the proper noun's diacritic, rendering Old Norse's Týr as Tyr.

[8][9][10] The Germanic noun *tīwaz is further attested in the Finnic loanword teivas, found as a suffix in the deities Runkoteivas [fi] and Rukotiivo.

This may be either explained by the existence of an epithet, Thingsus (*Þingsaz 'thing-god'), frequently attached to Mars (*Tīwaz), or simply by the god's strong association with the assembly.

[5] The name first occurs in the historical record as tyz, a character in the Gothic alphabet (4th century), and it was also known as tī or tir in Old English, and týr in Old Norse.

[19] A votive altar has been discovered during excavations at Housesteads Roman Fort at Hadrian's Wall in England that had been erected at the behest of Frisian legionaries.

The altar dates from the 3rd century CE and bears the Latin inscription Deo Marti Thingso Et Duabus Alaisiagis Bede Et Fimmilene.

The god receives numerous mentions in North Germanic sources during this period, but far less than other deities, such as Odin, Freyja, or Thor.

In Hymiskviða, Týr says that his father, Hymir, owns a tremendous cauldron with which he and his fellow gods can brew fathoms of ale.

Týr meets his nine-hundred headed grandmother ("who hates him"), and a girl clad in gold helps the two hide from Hymir.

Hymir says that the god can take one of his oxen for bait; Thor immediately chooses a black ox, and the poem continues without further mention of Týr.

[30] Section nine of Skáldskaparmál provides skalds with a variety of ways in which to refer to Týr, including "the one handed As", "feeder of the wolf", "battle-god", and "son of Odin".

[33] In addition to the above mentions, Týr's name occurs as a kenning element throughout Skáldskaparmál in reference to the god Odin.

For example, a Migration Period gold bracteate from Trollhättan, Sweden, features a person receiving a bite on the hand from a beast, which may depict Týr and Fenrir.

[35] In a similar fashion, a silver button was found in Hornsherred, Denmark, during 2019 that is interpreted to portray Týr fighting against the wolf Fenrir.

[36] Due in part to the etymology of the god's name, scholars propose that Týr once held a far more significant role in Germanic mythology than the scant references to the deity indicate in the Old Norse record.

The fact that Tacitus names two divinities to whom the enemy's army was consecrated ... may signify their co-existence around 1 A.D."[37] The Sigrdrífumál passage above has resulted in some discourse among runologists.

For example, regarding the passage, runologists Mindy MacLeod and Bernard Mees say: The 15th studio album by the English heavy metal band Black Sabbath, Tyr, released in 1990, is named after Týr.