ᛏ *tīwaz (or *teiwaz): the Elder Futhark rune for t

Name: *tīwaz (or *teiwaz)
Meaning: the god Týr
Name known from: Old Norse Týr (Norwegian and Icelandic poems), Old English Tīw/Tīr (rune poem; Tir in Hickes); Gothic letter name tyz in Codex Vindobonensis 795
Transliteration: t
Sound: /t/
Unicode: U+16CF runic letter tiwaz tir tyr t

Line of descent

ᛏ*tīwaz (or *teiwaz)Elder Futhark →ᛏTýrYounger Futhark ᛏtir (Tiw)Anglo-Saxon Futhorc

History

t begins the third ætt. It is an upward-pointing arrow, a stave with two branches falling from the top, and is commonly taken from Latin T. Some very early inscriptions show it with level strokes.

The name is the god's name, *tīwaz, which became Old Norse Týr and Old English Tīw. The English name survives in Tuesday, Tīw's day, a translation of Latin dies Martis. The Icelandic poem glosses the rune with Mars for the same reason. The Scandinavian poems describe Týr as the one-handed god, the one who lost his hand to the wolf Fenrir. The Old English poem has tir and describes a guiding star that "never fails". Dickins thought tir was a misreading of Tīw or a confusion with tīr "glory".

The rune is common. Examples include tawido "made" on the Gallehus horn and staina on the Tune stone. The Lindholm bone piece has a group of three, ttt, in its string of repeated runes. On the Kylver stone a branched, tree-like sign follows the rune-row. It is often taken as several t runes stacked on one stave, but its meaning is uncertain.

In the Younger Futhark the rune wrote both t and d, after dagaz was dropped. A short-twig form ᛐ keeps only one branch. In England it continued as tir.

In the rune poems

The Old English Rune Poem, stanza 17

Tir biþ tacna sum, healdeð trywa wel
wiþ æþelingas; a biþ on færylde
ofer nihta genipu, næfre swiceþ.

Tir is a certain sign; it keeps faith well
with princes; it is always on its course
over the mists of night, and it never fails.

The original name was the god's name, Old English Tiw (Old Norse Týr). The stanza describes a star or constellation used for steering, perhaps the Pole Star; tir may be a confusion with the noun tir 'glory'.

The Old Norwegian Rune Poem, stanza 12

Týr er æinendr ása;
opt værðr smiðr blása.

Týr is the one-handed among the gods;
often the smith has to blow.

Týr lost his hand to the wolf Fenrir, according to Snorri's Gylfaginning.

The Old Icelandic Rune Poem, stanza 12 · Latin gloss Mars · chieftain word tiggi

Týr er einhendr áss
ok ulfs leifar
ok hofa hilmir.

Týr is the one-handed god
and the wolf's leavings
and ruler of temples.

The Latin gloss equates Týr with Mars, the same match made in the Germanic name for Tuesday (Old English Tiwesdæg for Latin dies Martis).

Original text from the public-domain editions named on each poem's page; translations are our own.

Where it is found

Gallehus horn (DR 12): tawido
Tune stone (N KJ72): staina
Lindholm bone piece (DR 261): muttt

On inscriptions described on this site

Einang stone Tune stone Kylver stone Ring of Pietroassa Golden horns of Gallehus

Sources

Samnordisk runtextdatabas (Rundata), signa DR 12, N KJ72, DR 261, G 88
Dickins (1915), note to Old English rune poem l. 48
Wikipedia, 'Kylver Stone' (checked 2026-10-26)