Rune: Tíwaz — Elder Futhark position: 17 — Sound value: T
The Arrow That Points North
Tíwaz looks like an upward-pointing arrow, and that shape is not accidental. The rune is named for Tyr, the Norse god of justice and law, and the arrow-form carries two of his most important associations: direction (the North Star, sometimes called Tyr's star, was a navigation point for sailors and travellers) and the warrior who fights with purpose rather than mere rage.
Tíwaz is not a gentle rune. But it is a precise one. The arrow does not scatter — it goes exactly where it is aimed.
Tyr: The God Who Gave His Hand
To understand Tíwaz, you have to understand Tyr, because the rune is essentially a compressed portrait of the god's defining act.
Tyr was one of the most ancient gods in the Norse pantheon, and in the earliest Proto-Indo-European tradition, he was actually the chief sky god — his name derives from the same root as Zeus, Jupiter, and the Sanskrit Dyaus. All of these gods share an ancestor in *Dyeus, the shining sky father. By the time Norse mythology was recorded in the Eddas, Tyr had become more specifically associated with law, justice, and honourable combat, while Odin had taken the role of chief god. But something of that original cosmic weight remained.
The act that defines Tyr in Norse tradition is his role in the binding of Fenrir.
The gods needed to bind the great wolf before he grew too powerful to contain. The dwarves made Gleipnir — the unbreakable silk ribbon — and the gods brought it to Fenrir on an island. But Fenrir was suspicious. He agreed to let the gods bind him only if one of them placed a hand in his mouth as a pledge — proof that this was not a trap.
Every god refused. Every god except Tyr.
Tyr placed his right hand between Fenrir's jaws. The binding held. Fenrir could not break free. And the wolf bit off Tyr's hand at the wrist.
Tyr lost his hand knowing he would. He did it anyway, because the binding of Fenrir was necessary and someone had to pay the price for it.
This is the god the rune is named for. Not justice as an abstract principle, but justice as something that costs the person who upholds it.
What Tíwaz Means
Justice and law. Tíwaz is the rune of right action, of decisions made according to principle rather than advantage. In the Viking Age, Tyr was invoked at the thing — the legal assembly — and Tíwaz was carved on objects associated with lawful proceedings. The rune does not guarantee that justice will be done; it represents the commitment to pursue it.
Sacrifice for a right cause. Tyr's act is specifically about paying a cost that is not fair, not comfortable, and not recoverable, because the alternative is worse. Tíwaz holds this: sometimes the right thing requires you to give something that will not be given back.
Victory through discipline. Old Norse warriors carved Tíwaz on their weapons and spoke the name twice for victory in battle — but the victory Tíwaz grants is not the berserker's frenzy. It is the disciplined, directed force of someone who knows exactly what they are fighting for and why.
The North Star: direction and orientation. Tíwaz was associated with Polaris, the pole star, the point that does not move while everything rotates around it. This gives the rune a second meaning: steadiness, orientation, the fixed point that lets you navigate when nothing else is certain.
Tíwaz in the Rune Poems
The Old English rune poem says of Tíwaz: “Tíw is a guiding star; well does it keep faith with princes; it is ever on its course over the mists of night and never fails.” The navigation meaning is explicit here — Tíwaz is the star that guides when you cannot see, the fixed point that other things rotate around.
The Old Norse poem adds a martial dimension: “Tír is the one-handed god, and the leavings of the wolf, and the ruler of the temple.” Three images: the sacrifice (one-handed), the cost (the leavings of the wolf, meaning what Fenrir took), and the authority (ruler of the temple, the sacred space of law and oaths).
Working with Tíwaz
Tíwaz is engaged when the situation requires directed force, principled action, or the willingness to pay a cost for something that matters.
Legal and justice matters — the rune's historical connection to the thing (assembly) and lawful proceedings makes it appropriate for situations involving courts, agreements, or the need for fair outcome.
Conflict with a clear right answer — Tíwaz supports the person who is fighting for something genuinely worth fighting for, not just fighting to win. It is not neutral; it aligns with principle.
Finding direction — the North Star quality of Tíwaz makes it useful when you have lost your orientation, when everything seems to be moving and you need a fixed point to navigate from.
Sacrifice and difficult choices — when you already know that the right path costs something real, Tíwaz acknowledges that cost rather than minimising it. Tyr knew what he was giving. He gave it anyway.
Merkstave (reversed): injustice, betrayal of an oath or principle, cowardice in the face of what is right. The gods who would not put their hand in the wolf's mouth.
Tíwaz and Fenrir
The relationship between Tíwaz and Fenrir is one of the most interesting in Norse mythology. The wolf and the god are bound together by the same event: Fenrir's binding is what cost Tyr his hand, and Tyr's willingness is what made the binding possible. Each defines the other.
If you are drawn to Fenrir as a symbol, Tyr is the other side of that story. You can read more in our Fenrir Tattoo Meaning post.
Tíwaz in the Elder Futhark Series
Tíwaz follows Sowilo — the sun, victory, clarity — and precedes Berkano, the rune of growth, the birch, and new life. After Sowilo illuminates and energises, Tíwaz asks what that energy will be directed toward and what the commitment will cost. Then Berkano arrives with the reminder that after sacrifice, growth becomes possible. The three together are a cycle of light, choice, and renewal.
Continue the full series in the Rune Library, or work with Tíwaz in combination with other runes in our Bind Rune Maker.