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The document discusses the etymology and origins of the Proto-Germanic deity Týr. It explains that Týr stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form meaning "God". The name is also found in other Germanic languages like Old English and Old High German. The Proto-Germanic masculine noun *tīwaz meant "a god, a deity" and likely referred originally to a specific deity whose name is now lost. Scholars have interpreted *Tīwaz as a Proto-Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god based on linguistic evidence and comparisons to the Roman god Mars. The modern English name for Tuesday comes from the Old English "day of Tīw" and

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22 views

T2

The document discusses the etymology and origins of the Proto-Germanic deity Týr. It explains that Týr stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form meaning "God". The name is also found in other Germanic languages like Old English and Old High German. The Proto-Germanic masculine noun *tīwaz meant "a god, a deity" and likely referred originally to a specific deity whose name is now lost. Scholars have interpreted *Tīwaz as a Proto-Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god based on linguistic evidence and comparisons to the Roman god Mars. The modern English name for Tuesday comes from the Old English "day of Tīw" and

Uploaded by

Nihilo333
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Etymology

The Old Norse theonym Týr stems from an earlier Proto-Norse form reconstructed as *Tīwaʀ,[2] which
derives – like its Germanic cognates Tīw (Old English) and *Ziu (Old High German) – from the Proto-
Germanic theonym *Tīwaz, meaning 'God'.[3] The name of a Gothic deity named *Teiws (later *Tīus)
may also be reconstructed based on the associated rune tyz.[2][4] In Old Norse poetry, the plural tívar is
used for 'the gods', and the singular týr, meaning '(a) god', occurs in kennings for Odin and Thor.[5][6]
Modern English writers frequently anglicize the god's name by dropping the proper noun's diacritic,
rendering Old Norse's Týr as Tyr.[b]

The Proto-Germanic masculine noun *tīwaz (pl. *tīwōz) means 'a god, a deity', and probably also served
as a title or epithet that came to be associated with a specific deity whose original name is now lost.[c]
[d] It stems from Proto-Indo-European *deywós, meaning 'celestial, heavenly one', hence a 'god' (cf.
Sanskrit: devá 'heavenly, divine', Old Lithuanian: deivas, Latin: deus 'a god, deity'), itself a derivation
from *dyēus, meaning 'diurnal sky', hence 'daylight-sky god' (cf. Sanskrit: Dyáuṣ, Ancient Greek: Zeus,
Latin: Jove).[8][9][10] The Germanic noun *tīwaz is further attested in the Finnic loanword teivas, found
as a suffix in the deities Runkoteivas [fi] and Rukotiivo.[2] The Romano-Germanic deity Alateivia may also
be related,[2] although its origin remains unclear.[4]

Due to linguistic evidence and early native comparisons between *Tīwaz and the Roman god Mars,
especially under the name Mars Thingsus, a number of scholars have interpreted *Tīwaz as a Proto-
Germanic sky-, war- and thing-god.[11][10] Other scholars reject however his identification as a 'sky-
god', since *tīwaz was likely not his original name but rather an epithet that came to be associated with
him and eventually replaced it.[c]

Origin of Tuesday

The modern English weekday name Tuesday comes from the Old English tīwesdæg, meaning 'day of Tīw'.
It is cognate with Old Norse Týsdagr, Old Frisian Tīesdi, and Old High German Ziostag (Middle High
German Zīstac). All of them stem from Late Proto-Germanic *Tiwasdag ('Day of *Tīwaz'), a calque of
Latin Martis dies ('Day of Mars'; cf. modern Italian martedì, French mardi, Spanish martes). This attests to
an early Germanic identification of *Tīwaz with Mars.[12][10]

Germanic weekday names for Tuesday that do not transparently extend from the above lineage may also
ultimately refer to the deity, including Middle Dutch Dinxendach and Dingsdag, Middle Low German
Dingesdach, and Old High German Dingesdag (modern Dienstag). These forms may refer to the god's
association with the thing (*þingsaz), a traditional legal assembly common among the ancient Germanic
peoples with which the god is associated. This may be either explained by the existence of an epithet,
Thingsus (*Þingsaz 'thing-god'), frequently attached to Mars (*Tīwaz), or simply by the god's strong
association with the assembly.[13]

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