Tiwaz
The One-Handed God
In 1915 Dickins thought Tir's English stanza fitted a circumpolar constellation better than Mars, despite the rune's inherited association with the god.
Bruce Dickins, Runic and Heroic Poems of the Old Teutonic Peoples (1915), English poem, lines 48–50 and note, pp. 18–19; Norwegian and Icelandic poems, stanza 12, pp. 26–27, 30–31.
The t-rune, named Tir in the English poem and Týr in the Scandinavian rune poems.
More context
The English Tir stanza describes a sign keeping its course above the night's mists and remaining faithful to princes. Dickins's 1915 note associates the inherited name with Týr but considers the description better suited to a circumpolar constellation than Mars. The Norwegian and Icelandic stanzas explicitly call Týr one-handed. In Snorri's Gylfaginning, he puts his hand in Fenrir's mouth as security; the wolf bites it off when the gods refuse release. These distinct texts should not be collapsed into a single promise of trustworthy power.
Light
The English stanza praises a sign that keeps faith and never fails in its course above the night’s mists.
Shadow
In Snorri, the gods refuse to release Fenrir after taking the pledge; Týr loses the hand offered as security.