Tyr

“ Tyr is the son of Odin, and it is through him the latter, as the god of war, awakens wild courage. Thus he is the god of honor, and when the noble gods desire to tame the raging flames he naturally has to arouse all his courage and even sacrifice a part of himself, just as we frequently have to sacrifice some of our comforts to keep clear of rogues and scoundrels. ”

“ So Thor and Tyr hid themselves, and listened for Hymer’s coming. After a time, the great hall-door opened, and they heard the heavy steps of the giant.
“Welcome home!” cried the woman, as Hymer shook the frost from his hair and beard, and stamped the snow from his feet. “I am so glad that you have come! for there are two strangers in the hall, and they have asked for you. One of them I know is Thor, the foe of the giants, and the friend of man. The other is the one-armed god of war, the brave Tyr. What can be their errand at Hymer’s hall?” ”

“ Among rude nations the men who carried with them Peace, Law, and Order must naturally have been deemed supermen or gods, hence perhaps why in Scandinavia Tyr meant god. Our Thursday is from Thor—a divinity who was sometimes assigned three eyes—and our Tuesday from Tyr, who was supposed to be the Scandinavian Joupiter. The plural form of Tyr meant “glorious ones,” and according to The Edda, not only were the Danes and Scandinavians wanderers from Troy or Tyrkland, but Asgard itself—the Scandinavian Paradise—preserved the old usages and customs brought from Troy. ”

“ Tyr, whose name was synonymous with bravery and wisdom, was also considered by the ancient Northern people to have the white-armed Valkyrs, Odin’s attendants, at his command, and they thought that he it was who designated the warriors whom they should transfer to Valhalla to aid the gods on the last day. ”

“ Tyr did not hesitate to put his hand in the monster's mouth, but when Fenrir perceived that the Æsir had no intention to unchain him, he bit the hand off at that point, which has ever since been called the wolf's joint. From that time Tyr has had but one hand. He is not regarded as a peacemaker among men."
OF THE OTHER GODS.
27. "There is another god," continued Har, "named Bragi, who is celebrated for his wisdom, and more [Pg 282] especially for his eloquence and correct forms of speech. ”

“ While some mythologists see in this myth an emblem of crime restrained and made innocuous by the power of the law, others see the underground fire, which kept within bounds can injure no one, but which unfettered fills the world with destruction and woe. Just as Odin's second eye is said to rest in Mimir's well, so Tyr's second hand (sword) is found in Fenris's jaws. He has no more use for two weapons than the sky for two suns. ”

“ Tyr. Methinks the day e'en darkens at her absence,
I stand as in a shade, when a great cloud
Muffles the sun, whose beauties shine far off
On tow'rs and mountains; but I keep the vallies,
The place that is last serv'd.
Hel. My lord!
[Tyrant and Helvetius converse apart.
Tyr. Your reason, sir?
Hel. Your Grace is mild to all but your own bosom;
They should have both been sent to several prisons,
And not committed to each other's arms.
There's a hot durance: he'll ne'er wish more freedom.
Tyr. Tis true; let 'em be both forc'd back!
[To the Officers.
[Pg 396] Stay, we command you. ”

“ At the crack of doom, the Ragnaroks, Frey, Woden, Thor, and Tyr, are predestined to perish. A wolf shall devour the sun, and another shall swallow the moon, and the stars shall vanish out of heaven. Woden shall go first, and shall encounter Fenriswolf, but the wise, one-eyed god shall die. ”

“ All the pent-up antagonism of ages was now let loose in a torrent of hate, each member of the opposing hosts fighting with grim determination, as did our ancestors of old, hand to hand and face to face. With a mighty shock, heard above the roar of battle which filled the universe, Odin and the Fenris wolf came into impetuous contact, while Thor attacked the Midgard snake, and Tyr came to grips with the dog Garm. Frey closed with Surtr, Heimdall with Loki, whom he had defeated once before, and the remainder of the gods and all the Einheriar engaged foes equally worthy of their courage. ”

“ Tyr was the son of Odin and brother of Thor.
U
Ulin.—An enchantress, who had no power over those who remained faithful to Allah and their duty; but if any fell into error or sin, she had full power to do as she liked. Thus, when Misnar (sultan of India) mistrusted the protection of Allah, she transformed him into a toad. When the Vizier Horam believed a false report, obviously untrue, she transformed him also into a toad. ”

“ She turned to examine the slaves, and her eyes immediately encountered Alwin's. She did not blush; she looked him up and down critically, as if he were a piece of armor, or a horse. It was he who flushed, with sudden shame and anger, as he realized that in the eyes of this beautiful Norse maiden he was merely an animal put up for sale.
"Yonder is a handsome thrall," she said; "he looks as though his strength were such that he could stand something."
"True it is that he cannot a lame wolf be who with the pack from Greenland is to run," Tyrker assented. ”

“ And then from the tiny churches of the mountain side and valley one hears the Angelus ringing forth with a peaceful sound; or if one be approaching Innsbruck itself, then the mellow tones of the greater bell of Wilten float upward from the valley and come to one borne on the still evening air. Under such circumstances of beauty and in the impressive solitude of the forest ways one must be, indeed, unimpressionable if one fails to feel something of the spirit and love of Tyrol, and of restful peace which has enslaved so many hearts throughout the country's history. ”

“ There were endless more stories, all of which delighted the boys immensely, but we could not begin to relate them all, for Tyrol is so overladen with the spirit of the past, and with the charm of legend, that the very air itself breathes of fairies and giants, and days of yore, so that in invading its territory one feels he is no longer in this work-a-day world, but in some enchanted spot. ”

“ TYROLESE COURTSHIP. A YOUNG man is busily examining the water-worn rocks along the edge of a Tyrolese stream. Now and then he strikes them with a large sledge-hammer, eagerly snatches up something alive, and pops it into a basket. A wild jödel from a mountain-side, half a mile off, makes him look up, and discovers the face of our old, but not very respectable, acquaintance, Franz.
The wild cry was uttered by a girl, who, in course of time, drew near him, knitting as she came along; for a Tyrolese woman never is idle. ”

“ The wolf Fenrir is annihilation; he was destined to swallow the chief of the gods at Ragnarök. We see him here as destruction chained until his time for mischief should come again—the destructive side of nature morally and physically is personified in him. Why the dwarfs should be able to make a chain strong enough to bind him, which the gods had failed to do, is a puzzle. May it mean that subtlety can compass ends which force has to relinquish, or possibly a better thing than subtlety, gentleness?
Tyr, who plays an important part in this myth, was the son of Odin and a giantess. ”

“ This is not the Jauffen, but above it; the amphitheatre of rocky peaks around and below them, and the wild glaciers of the Oetzthal and Stubagerthal, are familiar to them all; yet not so much so as to have lost their power of impressing the imagination. They stand a few minutes, silent and serious, in the felt presence of the God who made the mountains. The Tyrolese are deeply religious: the scenes around them continually bring them into communion with the God of nature ”

“ Though Tyre is not a very old city, it is not so new as to be denied a few of those associations known as "historical." Tyre had once the honour to be taken by Prince Rupert, and long before that its nucleus had existed as a monk's ferry, by which travellers were rowed across the river to the monastery and posting-house at Sidon. Sometimes of an evening Henry and Mike would think of those far-off times as they looked over the ferry-boat at the long lines of river lights, with their restless heaving reflections ”

“ Tyre was at that time seated on an island of the sea, about a quarter of a league from the continent. It was surrounded by a strong wall, a hundred and fifty feet high, which the waves of the sea washed; and the Carthaginians, a colony from Tyre, a mighty people, and sovereigns of the ocean, promised to come to the assistance of their parent State. Encouraged, therefore, by these favorable circumstances, the Tyrians determined not to surrender, but to hold out the place to the last extremity. ”

“ Tyrrel,” said Captain Jekyl, “you must allow me to speak with candour. There is too great a stake betwixt your brother and you to permit you to be friends; but I do not see it is necessary that you should therefore be mortal enemies.”
“I am not my brother's enemy, Captain Jekyl,” said Tyrrel—“I have never been so—His friend I cannot be, and he knows but too well the insurmountable barrier which his own conduct has placed between us.” ”

“ The ancient city of Tyre is to-day a collection of stone and mud huts covering less than a third of the sandy point that was once filled with the life of a great city. Its four thousand humble people are now without education, art, or ambition. To the north, in the wretched harbor, were a few old fishing-boats, far different from the fleets whose sailors once made merry and sang in the streets of Tyre. Down on the encircling beach, half buried under the drifting sands and worn away by the lapping waves, lay the ruins of what must long ago have been great business blocks. ”

“ The national songs of the Tyrolese likewise prove the violence of their passions. Always lively and gay, they frequently pass from low natural tones to the highest sharps. From the expressions of these songs, you may know that they belong to men wandering in vast solitudes, and whose strains, crossing deep valleys, excite the voices of the herdsmen on the opposite hills. It is to this wildness and irregularity that the national airs of the Tyrol owe the celebrity which they have acquired. What traveller, who has ever witnessed the sensations they produce, could hear them without emotion! ”

“ Close by lies a dense forest of fir-trees, the rendezvous of tribes of ravens, which render the surroundings still more dismal with their ominous croakings. If, perchance, the traveller hears the cuckoo, he crosses himself, for it bears in the Tyrol the reputation of being the devil’s own bird, and the evil one himself, the worst of the phantoms, rejoices in adopting his voice. ”

“ Tyrus stood in the estimation of the world like a majestic Temple, which all mankind had aided in building, but when erected and secure, none of the builders were allowed to enter. If a foreign nation required a naval expedition, Tyrus was the only power to furnish it in every department,—material, shipwrights, pilots, and mariners:—this is proved by the fleets loaned to the Kings of Israel and Egypt;—and the Tyrians never made a voyage for another country, that they were not the especial gainers by the expedition. ”

“ There are no railroads in the mountains, and even cart-tracks are “few and far between,” and those who wish to see the almost hidden beauty, must, in passing through this enchanted land, undergo all the authoress has undergone, and share with her the pleasure as well as the pain.
All that is grand and beautiful, all that is gorgeous and sublime, all that is shocking and terrible, is to be met with at every step in the Tyrol ”

“ It is truly a land of mountains, valleys, lakes, and rushing torrents that may well have bred the race of romance-loving, poetic, and hardy people who dwell in it. In the minds of those who know it there arises almost inevitably a comparison with the nowadays overcrowded and over-exploited Switzerland—and the comparison is, both as regards scenery and general interest, greatly in favour of Tyrol. ”

“ She interrupted him with a low cry of anguish. "But if Tyrker is not found, Sigurd! If Tyrker is not found, Leif will vent his rage upon the nearest excuse. A Norseman in grief is like a bear with a wound: it matters not whom he bites." ”

“ Tyrrell said to Sir Richard, lifting his nose into the thin air as he tottered upon the young knight's arm toward his waiting barb.
With Harold's assistance Sir Richard contrived to seat Tyrrell upon his horse; though it was no easy task, all encumbered as he was in the heaviest of armor.
"Put hand upon my shoulder, man," Sir Richard said to him after they had started, riding close to his side.
"Without aid have I come through life ... alone I'll sit till I fall ... sire," Tyrrell answered gloomily. ”

“ TROLD, in Swedish Troll, means an evil demon or goblin in the Scandinavian mythology; they were very fantastic and grotesque in their appearance. The French word drôle (anglicè droll) is probably derived therefrom, and was introduced by the Norsemen when they conquered Neustria.
TROLDKÆMPELAND; the giants’ territory was often so called. Etym.: trold (goblin) , kæmpe (warrior) , land (land) .
TYR, an Asa, renowned for his valour, and younger brother to Thor. His celebrated adventure with the wolf Fenris, who bites off his hand, is related in the 26th canto of this poem. ”

“ The King of Sidon Next morning the sun came up in a sky of perfect blue and the Hapi, driven forward by the oars, since her mast was gone, passed northward over a quiet sea. Not a league away upon our right, gleaming like gold, were the roofs of the glorious city of Tyre, set like a queen upon her island throne, Tyre that as yet did not dream of evil days when her marble palaces should melt in flame and her merchant princes and citizens lie butchered by the thousand in her streets; Tyre the wanton, the beauteous, the wealthy, who sucked riches from all the lands. ”