Which traditions do they belong to?

Tu belongs to the Polynesian Pantheon; Tyr belongs to the Norse Pantheon.

Side by side

Tu vs Tyr

Both are warrior gods, though Tyr is associated more with honor and law

At a glance

Polynesian Pantheon

tradition

Norse Pantheon

war, hunting, fishing, agriculture, masculinity

domains

war, justice, law, courage, oaths

spear, war club, feather cloak, red color

symbols

sword, one hand, rune Tiwaz

Ku (Hawaiian), Tu-matauenga (Maori), Tu-of-the-angry-face

also called

Tiw, Ziu

Where they meet

Both are gods of war.

Where they part

Tu alone

hunting, fishing, agriculture, masculinity

Tyr alone

justice, law, courage, oaths

How each was worshipped

Cult sites: War tapu; niu and related rites in Maori tradition.

Tu-mata-uenga, man as warrior. Not a peaceable harvest god. Cult is restriction around fighting and the oven of war.

Tyr

Cult sites: Place-names in Denmark and England more than standing temples.

Festivals: Thing-assemblies under his name in reconstruction.

Tuesday is his. One-handed keeper of the thing and of the wolf's binding. Cult evidence is linguistic and onomastic. He looks older than Odin in the weekday layer, then recedes in the written myths.

Tu

Polynesian Pantheon

The fierce god of war and human endeavor. Tu represents the aggressive, active principle necessary for survival, from warfare to hunting to the cultivation of crops.

Tu was born in darkness between Rangi and Papa. When the gods debated their fate, he advocated killing their parents but accepted the decision to separate them. After Tawhirimatea attacked, Tu alone stood firm and then conquered his brothers' children to be food for humanity, establishing himself as the ancestor and protector of humans.

Tu-matauenga, whose name means 'Tu of the Angry Face,' is the god of war and all human activities that require conflict and struggle. Unlike war gods in some other traditions, Tu represents not just battle but all forms of human striving against nature, including hunting, fishing, and agriculture.

Read the full Tu entry

Tyr

Norse Pantheon

God of war, justice, and law. Bravest of the gods. Sacrificed his right hand to bind the wolf Fenrir, demonstrating his courage and willingness to uphold cosmic order.

Tyr's origins are mysterious and debated among scholars of the myths. Some accounts name him as a son of Odin, while others claim he is the son of the giant Hymir, making him older than the Aesir themselves. Indeed, linguistic evidence suggests Tyr may have once been the chief sky god of the Germanic peoples before Odin rose to prominence. The rune Tiwaz, which bears his name, is among the oldest of the runic alphabet. Regardless of his parentage, Tyr became the god whom warriors invoked before battle and to whom oaths were sworn, embodying the sacred bond between valor and honor.

Tyr is the ancient god of war and the guarantor of justice and oaths (`thing`). While Thor represents the physical strength of a warrior, Tyr represents the legal and moral principles of war.

Read the full Tyr entry

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