Tyr's Day

We are Tuesday today, which means, of course, Tyr's Day. The day of the Norse god Tyr. I have blogged about the god Tyr, this too little known Viking god here and here. I have decided to celebrate the almost forgotten Aesir (the name of the Viking gods) again, because I like him a lot. Therefore I have downloaded again a picture from Gods & Heroes from Viking Mythology. Drawn of course by the admirable Giovanni Caselli. It is from the story of Fenrir being chained, when Tyr had to give his hand as guarantee to the demonic wolf. An admirable act of courage and sacrifice by Tyr, as he knew he was sacrificing his hand for the greater good. The image is in fact the second half of this one. You see Tyr with his freshly chopped off hand, Odin behind him and other gods, looking very carefree in spite of the gravity of the moment. So yes, Tyr is my favourite Viking god because of his courage and this is an example why. It may not be as impressive as fighting a giant, but it is much more admirable.