Tiwaz Rune Tattoo Meaning

ᛏ — the rune of Tyr: justice, honor, courage, victory, and righteous sacrifice.

Tiwaz (ᛏ) is the rune of Tyr, the Norse god of war, justice, and law — its arrow-like form pointing straight upward, the spear and the guiding star. It is the rune of justice, honor, courage, and victory won rightly, and of the willingness to sacrifice for what is right. To carry Tiwaz is to carry honor — justice, courage, righteous victory, and the integrity to sacrifice for the truth.

Tiwaz is the rune of Tyr (Týr), the Norse god of war, justice, law, and honor. His most famous myth defines the rune: when the gods sought to bind the monstrous wolf Fenrir, whose growing power threatened the world, the wolf would only submit to the binding if one of the gods placed a hand in its jaws as a pledge of good faith. Only Tyr was brave and honorable enough to do it — and when the binding held and the wolf could not break free, Fenrir bit off Tyr's hand. Tyr sacrificed his hand, knowingly, for the safety of the world: the god of justice keeping faith even at terrible cost.

So Tiwaz, with its upward-pointing arrow shape (like a spear, like the guiding pole star by which warriors steered), became the rune of justice, honor, courage, and victory — and above all of righteous sacrifice, the willingness to pay a real price for what is right. Warriors carved it on their weapons to invoke victory and honor in battle. The Norse Tiwaz is the rune of the just and the brave — honor, justice, courage, and the sacrifice that keeps faith.

Tiwaz is a strong rune tattoo for justice, honor, courage, and victory, popular for its clean upward-arrow form. As a sacred Norse symbol it is worn with respect for its tradition (and an awareness that runes have been misappropriated; Tiwaz's meaning is justice and honor). In tattoo symbolism it speaks to integrity, courage, righteous struggle, justice, and honorable sacrifice.

Tiwaz Rune across cultures

Related symbols