The God of War
Tyr Tiu, or Ziu was the son of Odin, and, according to different
mythologists, his mother was Frigga, queen of the gods, or a beautiful
giantess whose name is unknown, but who was a personification of the
raging sea. He is the god of martial honour, and one of the twelve
principal deities of Asgard. Although he appears to have had no
special dwelling there, he was always welcome to Vingolf or Valhalla,
and occupied one of the twelve thrones in the great council hall
of Glads-heim.
"The hall Glads-heim, which is built of gold;
Where are in circle, ranged twelve golden chairs,
And in the midst one higher, Odin's Throne."
Balder Dead (Matthew Arnold).
As the God of courage and of war, Tyr was frequently invoked by the
various nations of the North, who cried to him, as well as to Odin,
to obtain victory. That he ranked next to Odin and Thor is proved
by his name, Tiu, having been given to one of the days of the week,
Tiu's day, which in modern English has become Tuesday. Under the name
of Ziu, Tyr was the principal divinity of the Suabians, who originally
called their capital, the modern Augsburg, Ziusburg. This people,
venerating the god as they did, were wont to worship him under the
emblem of a sword, his distinctive attribute, and in his honour held
great sword dances, where various figures were performed. Sometimes
the participants forming two long lines, crossed their swords, point
upward, and challenged the boldest among their number to take a flying
leap over them. At other times the warriors joined their sword points
closely together in the shape of a rose or wheel, and when this
figure was complete invited their chief to stand on the navel thus
formed of flat, shining steel blades, and then they bore him upon it
through the camp in triumph. The sword point was further considered
so sacred that it became customary to register oaths upon it.
"... Come hither, gentlemen,
And lay your hands again upon my sword;
Never to speak of this that you have heard,
Swear by my sword."
Hamlet (Shakespeare).
A distinctive feature of the worship of this god among the Franks and
some other Northern nations was that the priests called Druids or Godi
offered up human sacrifices upon his altars, generally cutting the
bloody- or spread-eagle upon their victims, that is to say, making a
deep incision on either side of the back-bone, turning the ribs thus
loosened inside out, and tearing out the viscera through the opening
thus made. Of course only prisoners of war were treated thus, and it
was considered a point of honour with north European races to endure
this torture without a moan. These sacrifices were made upon rude
stone altars called dolmens, which can still be seen in Northern
Europe. As Tyr was considered the patron god of the sword, it was
deemed indispensable to engrave the sign or rune representing him
upon the blade of every sword--an observance which the Edda enjoined
upon all those who were desirous of obtaining victory.
"Sig-runes thou must know,
If victory (sigr) thou wilt have,
And on thy sword's hilt rist them;
Some on the chapes,
Some on the guard,
And twice name the name of Tyr."
Lay of Sigdrifa (Thorpe's tr.).
Tyr was identical with the Saxon god Saxnot (from sax, a sword),
and with Er, Heru, or Cheru, the chief divinity of the Cheruski,
who also considered him god of the sun, and deemed his shining sword
blade an emblem of its rays.
"This very sword a ray of light
Snatched from the Sun!"
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Tyr's Sword
According to an ancient legend, Cheru's sword, which had been fashioned
by the same dwarfs, sons of Ivald, who had also made Odin's spear,
was held very sacred by his people, to whose care he had entrusted it,
declaring that those who possessed it were sure to have the victory
over their foes. But although carefully guarded in the temple, where
it was hung so that it reflected the first beams of the morning sun,
it suddenly and mysteriously disappeared one night. A Vala, druidess,
or prophetess, consulted by the priests, revealed that the Norns had
decreed that whoever wielded it would conquer the world and come
to his death by it; but in spite of all entreaties she refused to
tell who had taken it or where it might be found. Some time after
this occurrence a tall and dignified stranger came to Cologne, where
Vitellius, the Roman prefect, was feasting, and called him away from
his beloved dainties. In the presence of the Roman soldiery he gave
him the sword, telling him it would bring him glory and renown, and
finally hailed him as emperor. The cry was taken up by the assembled
legions, and Vitellius, without making any personal effort to secure
the honour, found himself elected Emperor of Rome.
The new ruler, however, was so absorbed in indulging his taste for
food and drink that he paid but little heed to the divine weapon. One
day while leisurely making his way towards Rome he carelessly left it
hanging in the antechamber to his pavilion. A German soldier seized
this opportunity to substitute in its stead his own rusty blade, and
the besotted emperor did not notice the exchange. When he arrived at
Rome, he learned that the Eastern legions had named Vespasian emperor,
and that he was even then on his way home to claim the throne.
Searching for the sacred weapon to defend his rights, Vitellius
now discovered the theft, and, overcome by superstitious fears, did
not even attempt to fight. He crawled away into a dark corner of his
palace, whence he was ignominiously dragged by the enraged populace to
the foot of the Capitoline Hill. There the prophecy was duly fulfilled,
for the German soldier, who had joined the opposite faction, coming
along at that moment, cut off Vitellius' head with the sacred sword.
The German soldier now changed from one legion to another, and
travelled over many lands; but wherever he and his sword were found,
victory was assured. After winning great honour and distinction, this
man, having grown old, retired from active service to the banks of the
Danube, where he secretly buried his treasured weapon, building his hut
over its resting-place to guard it as long as he might live. When he
lay on his deathbed he was implored to reveal where he had hidden it,
but he persistently refused to do so, saying that it would be found
by the man who was destined to conquer the world, but that he would
not be able to escape the curse. Years passed by. Wave after wave
the tide of barbarian invasion swept over that part of the country,
and last of all came the terrible Huns under the leadership of Attila,
the "Scourge of God." As he passed along the river, he saw a peasant
mournfully examining his cow's foot, which had been wounded by some
sharp instrument hidden in the long grass, and when search was made
the point of a buried sword was found sticking out of the soil.
Attila, seeing the beautiful workmanship and the fine state of
preservation of this weapon, immediately exclaimed that it was
Cheru's sword, and brandishing it above his head he announced that
he would conquer the world. Battle after battle was fought by the
Huns, who, according to the Saga, were everywhere victorious, until
Attila, weary of warfare, settled down in Hungary, taking to wife the
beautiful Burgundian princess Ildico, whose father he had slain. This
princess, resenting the murder of her kin and wishing to avenge it,
took advantage of the king's state of intoxication upon his wedding
night to secure possession of the divine sword, with which she slew
him in his bed, once more fulfilling the prophecy uttered so many
years before.
The magic sword again disappeared for a long time, to be unearthed once
more, for the last time, by the Duke of Alva, Charles V.'s general,
who shortly after won the victory of Mühlberg (1547). The Franks
were wont to celebrate yearly martial games in honour of the sword;
but it is said that when the heathen gods were renounced in favour
of Christianity, the priests transferred many of their attributes to
the saints, and that this sword became the property of the Archangel
St. Michael, who has wielded it ever since.
Tyr, whose name was synonymous with bravery and wisdom, was also
considered by the ancient Northern people to have the white-armed
Valkyrs, Odin's attendants, at his command, and they thought that
he it was who designated the warriors whom they should transfer to
Valhalla to aid the gods on the last day.
"The god Tyr sent
Gondul and Skogul
To choose a king
Of the race of Ingve,
To dwell with Odin
In roomy Valhal."
Norse Mythology (R. B. Anderson).
The Story of Fenris
Tyr was generally spoken of and represented as one-armed, just as Odin
was called one-eyed. Various explanations are offered by different
authorities; some claim that it was because he could give the victory
only to one side; others, because a sword has but one blade. However
this may be, the ancients preferred to account for the fact in the
following way:
Loki married secretly at Jötun-heim the hideous giantess Angur-boda
(anguish boding), who bore him three monstrous children--the wolf
Fenris, Hel, the parti-coloured goddess of death, and Iörmungandr,
a terrible serpent. He kept the existence of these monsters secret as
long as he could; but they speedily grew so large that they could no
longer remain confined in the cave where they had come to light. Odin,
from his throne Hlidskialf, soon became aware of their existence,
and also of the disquieting rapidity with which they increased in
size. Fearful lest the monsters, when they had gained further strength,
should invade Asgard and destroy the gods, Allfather determined to
get rid of them, and striding off to Jötun-heim, he flung Hel into
the depths of Nifl-heim, telling her she could reign over the nine
dismal worlds of the dead. He then cast Iörmungandr into the sea,
where he attained such immense proportions that at last he encircled
the earth and could bite his own tail.
"Into mid-ocean's dark depths hurled,
Grown with each day to giant size,
The serpent soon inclosed the world,
With tail in mouth, in circle-wise;
Held harmless still
By Odin's will."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
None too well pleased that the serpent should attain such fearful
dimensions in his new element, Odin resolved to lead Fenris to
Asgard, where he hoped, by kindly treatment, to make him gentle
and tractable. But the gods one and all shrank in dismay when they
saw the wolf, and none dared approach to give him food except Tyr,
whom nothing daunted. Seeing that Fenris daily increased in size,
strength, voracity, and fierceness, the gods assembled in council
to deliberate how they might best dispose of him. They unanimously
decided that as it would desecrate their peace-steads to slay him,
they would bind him fast so that he could work them no harm.
With that purpose in view, they obtained a strong chain named Læding,
and then playfully proposed to Fenris to bind this about him as a test
of his vaunted strength. Confident in his ability to release himself,
Fenris patiently allowed them to bind him fast, and when all stood
aside, with a mighty effort he stretched himself and easily burst
the chain asunder.
Concealing their chagrin, the gods were loud in praise of his strength,
but they next produced a much stronger fetter, Droma, which, after
some persuasion, the wolf allowed them to fasten around him as
before. Again a short, sharp struggle sufficed to burst this bond,
and it is proverbial in the North to use the figurative expressions,
"to get loose out of Læding," and "to dash out of Droma," whenever
great difficulties have to be surmounted.
"Twice did the Æsir strive to bind,
Twice did they fetters powerless find;
Iron or brass of no avail,
Naught, save through magic, could prevail."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
The gods, perceiving now that ordinary bonds, however strong, would
never prevail against the Fenris wolf's great strength, bade Skirnir,
Frey's servant, go down to Svart-alfa-heim and bid the dwarfs fashion
a bond which nothing could sever.
By magic arts the dark elves manufactured a slender silken rope from
such impalpable materials as the sound of a cat's footsteps, a woman's
beard, the roots of a mountain, the longings of the bear, the voice of
fishes, and the spittle of birds, and when it was finished they gave
it to Skirnir, assuring him that no strength would avail to break it,
and that the more it was strained the stronger it would become.
"Gleipnir, at last,
By Dark Elves cast,
In Svart-alf-heim, with strong spells wrought,
To Odin was by Skirnir brought:
As soft as silk, as light as air,
Yet still of magic power most rare."
Valhalla (J. C. Jones).
Armed with this bond, called Gleipnir, the gods went with Fenris to the
Island of Lyngvi, in the middle of Lake Amsvartnir, and again proposed
to test his strength. But although Fenris had grown still stronger,
he mistrusted the bond which looked so slight. He therefore refused to
allow himself to be bound, unless one of the Æsir would consent to put
his hand in his mouth, and leave it there, as a pledge of good faith,
and that no magic arts were to be used against him.
The gods heard the decision with dismay, and all drew back except
Tyr, who, seeing that the others would not venture to comply with
this condition, boldly stepped forward and thrust his hand between
the monster's jaws. The gods now fastened Gleipnir securely around
Fenris's neck and paws, and when they saw that his utmost efforts to
free himself were fruitless, they shouted and laughed with glee. Tyr,
however, could not share their joy, for the wolf, finding himself
captive, bit off the god's hand at the wrist, which since then has
been known as the wolf's joint.
Loki.
"Be silent, Tyr!
Thou couldst never settle
A strife 'twixt two;
Of thy right hand also
I must mention make,
Which Fenris from thee took.
Tyr.
I of a hand am wanting,
But thou of honest fame;
Sad is the lack of either.
Nor is the wolf at ease:
He in bonds must abide
Until the gods' destruction."
Sæmund's Edda (Thorpe's tr.).
Deprived of his right hand, Tyr was now forced to use the maimed arm
for his shield, and to wield his sword with his left hand; but such
was his dexterity that he slew his enemies as before.
The gods, in spite of the wolf's struggles, drew the end of the fetter
Gelgia through the rock Gioll, and fastened it to the boulder Thviti,
which was sunk deep in the ground. Opening wide his fearful jaws,
Fenris uttered such terrible howls that the gods, to silence him,
thrust a sword into his mouth, the hilt resting upon his lower jaw
and the point against his palate. The blood then began to pour out
in such streams that it formed a great river, called Von. The wolf
was destined to remain thus chained fast until the last day, when he
would burst his bonds and would be free to avenge his wrongs.
"The wolf Fenrir,
Freed from the chain,
Shall range the earth."
Death-song of Hâkon (W. Taylor's tr.).
While some mythologists see in this myth an emblem of crime restrained
and made innocuous by the power of the law, others see the underground
fire, which kept within bounds can injure no one, but which unfettered
fills the world with destruction and woe. Just as Odin's second
eye is said to rest in Mimir's well, so Tyr's second hand (sword)
is found in Fenris's jaws. He has no more use for two weapons than
the sky for two suns.
The worship of Tyr is commemorated in sundry places (such as Tübingen,
in Germany), which bear more or less modified forms of his name. The
name has also been given to the aconite, a plant known in Northern
countries as "Tyr's helm."