Tiwaz (rune)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
NameProto-GermanicOld EnglishOld Norse
*Tē₂wazTī/TīrTýr
ShapeElder FutharkFuthorcYounger Futhark
Unicode
U+16CF
U+16CF
U+16D0
Transliterationt
Transcriptiontt, d
IPA[t][t], [d]
Position in
rune-row
1712

The t-

ideographic symbol for a spear.[citation needed
]

Rune poems

Tiwaz is mentioned in all three rune poems. In the Icelandic and Norwegian poems, the rune is associated with the god Týr.

Language Stanza Translation Comments
Old Norwegian Týr er æinendr ása;
opt værðr smiðr blása.[1]
Tyr is a one-handed god;
often has the smith to blow.[2]

"smiðr blása" means to blow on coals, making them hot for metal working

Old Icelandic
Týr er einhendr áss
ok ulfs leifar
ok hofa hilmir
Mars tiggi.[3]

Tyr = god with one hand
and leavings of the wolf
and prince of temples.

"Mars tiggi" is a "more or less accurate [Latin gloss]".[4]
Old English

Tir biþ tacna sum, healdeð trẏƿa ƿel
ƿiþ æþelingas; a biþ on færylde
ofer nihta genipu, næfre sƿiceþ.[5]

(?) is a (guiding) star; well does it keep faith
with

princes
; it is ever on its course
over the mists of night and never fails.

"Fame, honour" is a gloss written alongside the rune. Several interpretations have been offered, typically involving association with the north star, as the words tacna and færyld have astronomical connotations (used for "sign of the zodiac" and "path of a planet", respectively).[citation needed]

Usage

Ancient

Multiple Tiwaz runes

The inscription on the Kylver stone ends with stacked Tiwaz runes at the end of the line.

Multiple Tiwaz runes either stacked atop one another to resemble a tree-like shape, or repeated after one another, appear several times in Germanic paganism:

Poetic Edda

Drävle Runestone
.

According to the runologist Lars Magnar Enoksen, the Tiwaz rune is referred to in a stanza in Sigrdrífumál, a poem in the Poetic Edda.[7]

Sigrdrífumál tells that

Sigrdrífa, offers him the secrets of the runes in return for delivering her from the sleep, on condition that he shows that he has no fear.[7] She begins by teaching him that if he wants to achieve victory in battle, he is to carve "victory runes" on his sword and twice say the name "Týr" - the name of the Tiwaz rune.[7]

6. Sigrúnar skaltu kunna,
ef þú vilt sigr hafa,
ok rísta á hjalti hjörs,
sumar á véttrimum,
sumar á valböstum,
ok nefna tysvar Tý.[9]
6. Winning-runes learn,
if thou longest to win,
And the runes on thy sword-hilt write;
Some on the furrow,
and some on the flat,
And twice shalt thou call on Tyr.[10]

Name in Futhorc

Futhorc manuscripts give different names to the t-rune. Sangallensis 270 (9th century) and Vindobonensis 795 (9th century) call the rune "Ti", while Cotton MS Domitian A IX (10th century?) calls it "Tir", and the Byrhtferth's Manuscript (12th century) calls it "Tyr". Ti may be an uninflected form of the possessive "Tiwes" as found in "Tiwesdæg", which would make it the name of an English god. Similar spellings of this god's name (such as Tii) are attested to in Old English.[11]

Modern

Germanic neopaganism

The Týr rune is commonly used by

Germanic neopagans
to symbolize veneration of the god Týr.

Usage in Nazism and Neo-Nazism

An SA-Obergruppenführer wearing a Týr rune on his left arm

The Týr rune in

32nd SS Volunteer Grenadier Division "30 Januar"
.

Flag of the Nordic Resistance Movement

In

the Kolovrat swastika, the Fourteen Words, and the Archangel Michael's Cross of the pro-Nazi Romanian organization Iron Guard.[13]

Olympics

In 2018 the symbol was incorporated on the sweaters of the 2018 Norwegian Alpine ski team.[14]

The sweaters were however quickly pulled from market, when the Nazi and far-right association raised controversy.[15]

Popular culture

  • In Vinland Saga, Thors has carved two Týr-runes into his dagger, likely in the same context as stated in Sigrdrífumál: to achieve victory in battle.
  • In Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Teiwaz is a mafia-like faction representing the Outer Sphere and the largest conglomerate on Jupiter.

See also

References

  1. ^ Dickins (1915), p. 26.
  2. ^ Dickins (1915), p. 27.
  3. ^ Dickins (1915), p. 30.
  4. ^ Dickins (1915), p. 28, note to verse 1.
  5. ^ Dickins (1915), p. 18.
  6. .
  7. ^ a b c Enoksen (1998), p. 27.
  8. ^ Enoksen (1998), p. 26.
  9. ^ Jónsson, Guðni (ed.). "Sigrdrífumál". Heimskringla (in Icelandic). Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  10. ^ Adams Bellows, Henry (ed.). "Sigrdrifumol". Internet Sacred Texts Archive. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  11. ^ "Tíw". An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary Online. 21 March 2010. Retrieved 29 April 2019.
  12. Spiegel Online
    . Retrieved 3 June 2019.
  13. ^ "White Supremacist Terrorist Attacks at Mosques in New Zealand". Anti-Defamation League. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 24 March 2019.
  14. ^ Martyn-Hemphill, Richard (30 January 2018). "Norway Ski Team's Sweater Gets Tangled in a Neo-Nazi Uproar". The New York Times. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Alpinlandslagets offisielle plagg prydes av nazitilknyttede symboler". www.vg.no (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2022-09-06.

Bibliography