Tyr

Tyr is the Norse god of war and of law, and he is remembered for one story above all. When the gods needed someone to put a hand between the jaws of a monstrous wolf, knowing what it would cost, Tyr was the only one who stepped forward. He is the god of doing the right thing when it is going to hurt.

What Tyr is the god of

The Icelandic writer Snorri Sturluson calls Tyr the boldest and most courageous of the gods, and the one who decides victory in battle. He adds that brave men should call on him. Tyr is also tied to law and to the keeping of oaths, which the Norse settled at an open air assembly called the thing. War and law may seem an odd pair, but to the Vikings a battle and a lawsuit were two ways of settling the same dispute.

How Tyr lost his hand

The wolf Fenrir, one of the children of Loki, was raised in Asgard. He grew so quickly, and the prophecies about him were so grim, that the gods decided to bind him. Tyr was the only god brave enough to go near and feed him.

Twice the gods brought a heavy chain and asked Fenrir to test his strength against it, and twice he snapped it with ease. So they sent to the dwarves, who made a binding called Gleipnir. It was as soft and thin as a silk ribbon, and it was made from six things: the sound of a cat's footfall, the beard of a woman, the roots of a mountain, the sinews of a bear, the breath of a fish and the spittle of a bird. That, the story says, is why none of these things can be found in the world today.

Fenrir was suspicious of anything that looked so harmless. He agreed to be tied only if one of the gods would lay a hand in his mouth as a pledge that there was no trick. The gods looked at one another. Then Tyr put out his right hand. The ribbon held, the wolf struggled, and the more he fought the tighter it grew. All the gods laughed, the story says, except Tyr, who lost his hand.

The honest god who broke an oath

There is an irony at the centre of the story, and the Vikings surely noticed it. The god of oaths gave a false pledge. Tyr knew the gods were deceiving the wolf, and he paid the price for the lie with his own hand so that the others would be safe. It makes him a more thoughtful figure than a simple god of battle.

Tyr's rune

The rune named after Tyr is shaped like an arrow pointing upwards and stands for the sound t. In the poem Sigrdrifumal, a valkyrie tells the hero Sigurd to carve victory runes on his sword and to name Tyr twice. It is the clearest surviving instruction for using a rune as a charm. Our guide to rune meanings covers the whole alphabet.

Tyr and Tuesday

The Anglo-Saxons knew the same god as Tiw, and Tuesday is Tiw's day. When the Germanic peoples borrowed the Roman week, they matched their gods to the Roman ones, and Tiw was paired with Mars, the god of war. There is a trace of this in the north of England. In the third century, Germanic soldiers serving on Hadrian's Wall set up an altar at Housesteads to Mars Thincsus, Mars of the assembly, which is thought to be the same god under a Roman name.

Was Tyr once the chief god

Tyr has few stories in the surviving myths, but his name hints at a grander past. It comes from a very old word that simply meant god, and it is related to the names of the Greek Zeus and the Roman Jupiter. Many scholars think he was a major sky god among the early Germanic peoples and that Odin gradually took his place. By the Viking age he was respected more than he was worshipped.

Tyr at Ragnarok

At the end of the world Tyr faces Garm, the great hound chained at the entrance to Hel, and the two kill each other. Fenrir, the wolf who took his hand, breaks free and swallows Odin instead.

Last reviewed 12 November 2026