Daily Rune for 3/16

teiwaz : Tyr

Phonetic equivalent: t

DIVINATORY MEANINGS:

duty, discipline, responsibility, self-sacrifice, conflict, strength, a wound, physicality, the warrior path

MAGICAL USES:

protection, victory, strength, strengthening the will, healing a wound

ASSOCIATED MYTHS & DEITIES:

Tyr and the Fenris Wolf, Odin’s ordeals

ANALYSIS:

Just as the second aett began with the cleansing destruction of hagalaz, so too does the third aett begin with a loss. However, hail is imposed by the Gods to force the sacrifice of those things which aren’t really vital to our development. Teiwaz, on the other hand, represents a voluntary sacrifice, made by someone who understands exactly what they are giving up and why.

Tyr’s sacrifice of his hand to allow the binding of the Fenris Wolf was a noble one, and notable in a pantheon of deities not known for their sense of duty and ethical responsibility. He is believed to be one of the oldest of the Norse Gods – a Bronze-age rock carving was found in Scandinavia depicting a one-handed warrior – and his position may well have originally superseded that of Odin. Tyr’s rune is also one of the oldest in the fuþark, having survived virtually unchanged from the earliest Bronze-age carvings. It represents all those qualities associated with the God: strength, heroism, duty and responsibility. But it also represents a deeper mystery – that of the wounded God. Like þurisaz, the pain of teiwaz focuses the attention and forces discipline. However, in this case the effect is more conscious and the wound carries a greater significance. Uruz has been confronted and bound, and the lessons of teiwaz and hagalaz have been learned. This is the path of the warrior.

http://www.tarahill.com/runes/aett_3.html