Hey everyone, welcome to Mythology Explained. In today’s video we’re going to be discussing
Tyr, one of the Norse gods of war.
Here’s what you can expect: a war between two tribes of gods that’s settled by a prisoner
exchange; a nearly invincible wolf imprisoned by a ribbon fashioned from the spittle of
a bird, the beard of a woman, the breath of a fish, and the sound of a cat’s footsteps;
a cauldron that’s a mile deep; someone who goes fishing and inadvertently hooks the World
Serpent; and a god who fights the hound of hell to the death;
Let’s get into it.
Tyr was one of the Aesir, which was the tribe of Norse gods who made their home in Asgard.
The Vanir, the other tribe of Norse gods, dwelt on Vanaheim, another of the nine realms.
These two tribes were at war in the mythic past. Neither tribe could gain a meaningful
advantage over the other, so the war was eventually resolved through an exchange of prisoners.
Considered the boldest and most courageous of all the Norse gods, Tyr was a Norse god
of war. The other two were Thor and Odin. Tyr was also among the wisest of the gods,
so much so that exceedingly clever people were said to be Tyr wise.
For such a prominent god in the Norse pantheon, Tyr’s appearances in Norse myths are limited.
There’s really only a few he has a central role in. Of those, his best known appearance
is in the description of Loki’s monstrous children. These children were Jormungandr,
the world serpent, the goddess Hel, and the indomitable wolf Fenrir, the youngest. The
gods were stricken by a deep sense of foreboding about Loki’s three children. The world serpent
and the goddess Hel were subject to a sort of banishment, with the world serpent being
cast down to the ocean that encircled midgard, humanity’s world, and Hel being sent to
rule Hel. For Fenrir, though, the gods decided that a simple banishment wasn’t radical
enough. The wolf was immensely powerful, more so than his two siblings, and even as a young
pup roaming Asgard, only Tyr was intrepid enough to feed it. As time passed, it became
increasingly apparent that the wolf would need to be incapaciated in some way. It was
growing bigger and stronger by the day. The solution the gods settled on was to chain
Fenrir below Asgard. Every time the wolf broke a chain, the next one used was thicker and
stronger. Fenrir went along with this because the process of chaining him was presented
as a series of contests to test his strength. When it was clear that any chain they could
craft lacked the durability to withstand the wolf’s awesome strength, the gods turned
to the dwarves, who crafted an unconventional restraint of cunning make. It was fashioned
from an array of elements that didn’t really exist, such as the spittle of a bird, the
beard of a woman, the sound of a cat’s footsteps, and the roots of a mountain. The wolf was
wary of this new restraint, for it was fine and supple, almost delicate looking, more
so resembling a ribbon than a chain. The wolf agreed to be bound by this, but only if one
of the gods placed a hand in his mouth. Only Tyr was undaunted, and predictably, his hand
was bitten off when the wolf could not break free. A sword was then wedged, point to hilt,
in the wolf’s snapping maw.
Tyr makes two other notable appearances in Norse mythology. In the poem Hymiskvidha,
the gods developed a thirst upon their return from a hunt. Thor demanded that the giant
Aegir throw them a feast, which the giant agreed to do, but only if a great cauldron
was fetched to brew beer. The gods were at a loss, for none of them knew where to obtain
a cauldron. That is, none of them except for Tyr, who took Thor aside in a confidential
manner and explained that his mighty father, Hymir, had a great cauldron that was a mile
deep and would be perfect for their need; and so, Tyr and Thor traveled to Hymir’s
house. Several events ensued. Thor goes fishing with Hymir and hooks the World Serpent; Thor
shatters a virtually unbreakable cup over Hymir’s head; Thor destroys a group of giants
with his hammer; and in the end, Thor and Tyr leave with the cauldron.
Tyr is also featured in the description of the events of Ragnarok, which, at its peak,
is essentially a series of one-on-one duels to the death between several powerful gods
and several powerful monsters. Tyr - it was said - becomes pitted against Garm. Garm was
an apex canine in Norse mythology, and he and Tyr were fated to kill one another come
Ragnarok. Depending on the interpretation, Garm was either Fenrir or the hound of hell.
On one hand, it would make sense for Garm to be Fenrir because Tyr and Fenrir killing
each other would make sense given that Tyr was the god most responsible for Fenrir’s
imprisonment, but on the other hand, there’s other contradictory information, which is
that Odin’s son, Vidar, kills Fenrir, avenging his father, whom Fenrir will devour. Regardless,
Garm and Fenrir are fundamentally duplicates of each other as they’re both incredibly
powerful canines who are agents of Chaos that break free at the onset of Ragnarok.
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