The name is absent

hand in the mouth of the wolf Fenris, when he de-
manded a pledge that the gods would unbind the
chain they had forged for him, and on their breach
of faith Tyr paid the penalty¹. The Boman his-
torian tells of the Hermunduri having vowed to
sacrifice the beaten Catti -to Mercury and Mars, by
which vow the whole of the horses and men be-
longing to the defeated force were devoted to
slaughter. Jomandes says of the Goths, “ Martem
semper asperrima placavere cultura ; nam victimae
ejus mortes fuere captorum, opinantes bellorum
praesulem aptius humani sanguinis effusione pla-
catum².” Procopius tells the same tale of his θoυ-
λlτaι, that is the Scandinavians ; τw δe iepelωv σφlσι
to κaλλιστov avθpωπoc eστιv, ovπep av δopιαλωτo⅛^, πoι-
∙ησaιι>τo πpωτov' τoυτoι> y<∣p τω ''Apei θvoυσιv, eτteι θeov
aυτov ι>oμιζoυσι μeγιστov e'ιυaι³. The NθΓSβ traditions,
although they acknowledge Opinn as the giver of
victory, are still very explicit as to Tyr : he is par-
ticularly Wigaguft, deus praeliorwm, and an especial
granter of success in battle, “ ræftr miδc sigri i
orostom⁴.” Perhaps the Tencteri may be added to
the number of those who paid an especial honour
to Tyr (in German Ziu), since Tacitus makes them
say, “ communibus deis et praecipuo deorum Marti
grates agimus⁵,” where it is not at all necessary to
suppose Woden is meant ; and Grimm has good rea-

* Hence in Norse he is called the one-handed god, as 0)>inn is the
one-eyed. The Teutonic gods, unlike the Indian, have not a super-
fluity, but on the contrary sometimes a lack, of limbs. It is otherwise
with their horses, etc.

² Hist. Goth. cap. v.                      ³ Bell. Goth. ii. 15.

⁴ Grimm, D. Myth. p. 179.              ⁵ Hist. iv. 64.

son to number the Suevi among the worshipers of
Ziu¹.

The Anglosaxon runic alphabet, which in several
letters recalls the names or attributes of the an-
cient gods, uses Tir for T : the German runes want-
ing a Z=T, apply Ziu : there is however another
rune, similar in shape to the runic T, but having
the power of EA ; this bears the name of Ear, but
sometimes also in MSS. that of Tir : there are ety-
mological grounds on which the word Tir, gloria,
must be connected with Tiw, and we are hence led
to the supposition that Ear may have been another
name for that god. This gains a great importance
when we bear in mind that in some parts of south
Germany, the third day of the week is called, not
Zistag, but Ertag, Eritag, Erichtag, for which we
should indeed have expected Erestag: and when
we find in Saxon Westphalia an undeniably hea-
then spot called Eresburg, Mons Martis, now Mers-
berg, i. e. Eresberg, the hill of Er, Ziu or Mars.

Now the Anglosaxon poem on the runic charac-
ters has something to tell us of Ear. It says of him,

Ear bið egle
eorla gehwylcum,
ðoɪɪne fæstlɪee
fl½sc onginneð
hra eolian,
~^, hn'ɪsan ce6san
blac to gebeddan.
Blïéda gedreosa`ð,
wynna gewιtaδ,
ʌvera geswicaδ².

ɪ Deut. Myth. pp. 180,181.

On the Runes of the Anglosaxons, by J. M. Kemble. Archaeo-
ɪɑgia, vol. xxviii.

VOL. I.                                 2 A

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