Tyr ("God"), the god of war and of the sky, was (propably) the son of Odin and Frigg.

Tyr was the bravest of the gods and a honourable warrior. He chained the wolf Fenrir, which bit off Tyr's right hand.

At Ragnarok he'll kill the hell-hound Garm, but will bleed to death for his wounds.

We know that he had a wife, whose name never mentioned in the eddas. Her only appearence in the Poetic Edda was in the "Lokasenna", where Loki said that he (Loki) had a son with her.

In the Hymiskvitha, Tyr's calling Hymir his father (Finnur Jonsson changed the word "father" into "grand-father", which don't makes much more sense than 'father'):
"A kettle my father | fierce doth own,
A mighty vessel | a mile in depth."

Supposing that Tyr really was the son of Hymir (instead of Odin), he was the grandson of Hymir's mother, the nine hundred headed giantess that lived by her son's dwelling.

About Hymir's wife, Tyr's mother there's nothing known, neither her name nor where she came from. Her only appearence in the Edda was in the Hymiskvitha:
"The youth found his grandam, | that greatly he loathed,
And full nine hundred | heads she had;
But the other fair | with gold came forth,
And the bright-browed one | brought beer to her son."

The Hymiskvitha tells about the journey of Thor and Tyr (Snorri said, it was Loki not Tyr), when they went to Hymir's home, searching a cattle for the god's beer.

Tyr's anglo-saxon name was Tiw, Tiv or Tiu, the germans called him Tiwaz and the Goths Tyz.
During the roman period he was called Mars Thingsus.
He was identified with the roman god of war Mars and the greek war-god Ares.

The rune Tiwaz and the day Tuesday were dedicated to the god of war.

There's strong believe that Tyr was the original chief-god of norse mythology. Some say, that he was later replaced by Odin, but my oppinion's that Tyr was just renamed as 'Odin'.
And the 'Tyr', who bound Fenrir was another god.

Another reason, why we're thinking that he was the chief-god is 'couse his name means god (in general).

 

 

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