Tiw

Anglo-Saxon war and sky god, cognate with Norse Týr and the rune Tīr; possibly a displaced former sky-father.

Domains

• war

Powers

• Grant victory and govern the law of battle
• Lend his name to the victory-rune Tīr

Epithets

• Tīr Old English · Tir · liturgicalglory; the victory-rune named for the godOld English Rune Poem, 'Tir bith tacna sum' (primary)
• Mars Latin · Mars · interpretatioequated with Roman Mars in glosses (dies Martis > Tiwesdæg)Old English glosses rendering Mars by Tig/Tiw (secondary)

Relations

• equated with: TýrReciprocal of norse_tyr.equated-with — Cognates < PGmc *Tiwaz < PIE *deywos; Tiw survives mainly in the rune-name and Tiwesdæg (calquing dies Martis, matching Týr's war-slant); both are reduced reflexes of an older sky/justice god.J. de Vries, Altgermanische Religionsgeschichte, 2nd ed. (1956-57) (secondary); R. Simek, Dictionary of Northern Mythology (1993), s.v. 'Týr' (secondary)

Sources

• existence: Weekday 'Tīwesdæg'; OE Rune Poem (Tīr); glosses Tīg = Mars (primary); R. North, Heathen Gods in Old English Literature (1997) (secondary)