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TYR
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TYR, the Scandinavian god of battle. He is not a prominent figure in Northern mythology, for even in this special capacity he is overshadowed by Odin, and there are hardly any traces of worship being paid to him. Among other Teutonic peoples, however, he seems at one time to have been a deity of consider-able importance. In Anglo-Saxon he was called Ti (Ti, Tiig, gen. Tiwes, whence " Tuesday ") and equated with the Roman Mars. He is also identified with the German god mentioned more than once by Tacitus, as well as in inscriptions, by the name Mars. His Teutonic name is the same as the word for " god "in several other Indo-European languages (e.g. Lat. diuus, Lith. devas, Skr. devas), and even in Old Norse the plural (tivar) was still used in the same sense. (See TEUTONIC PEOPLES ยง Religion, ad fin.) (H. M. C.)