Tiwaz is the seventeenth rune of the Elder Futhark, and it opens the final aett with a story about cost. It is the rune of Tyr, the god who put his own hand into the wolf's mouth so the beast could be bound. The binding held. Tyr lost the hand. That is the whole rune: justice, honor, and the willingness to pay what doing right actually costs.
If Tiwaz turned up in your cast, this page will tell you what it is pointing at, what it means reversed, and how to work with it. If you are here because you keep seeing the symbol, or weighing it as a tattoo, everything is below.
What Is the Tiwaz Rune?
Tiwaz (ᛏ) is the seventeenth rune of the Elder Futhark, and the first of the third aett. It is named for the god Tyr, and it represents justice, honor, sacrifice, and keeping your word. It carries the sound T, and it is pronounced TEE-wahz. You will also see it spelled Teiwaz.
The rune is named directly for Tyr (Tiw in Old English), the Norse god of justice, law, war, and the sworn oath. His name survives in our word Tuesday, Tiw's day. Tyr is the god of doing what is right, and above all of the promise kept whatever it costs, and the myth that defines him is the myth of the wolf.
When the gods needed to bind the monstrous wolf Fenrir, whose growing strength threatened them all, they could only do it by trickery, and Fenrir demanded that one god place a hand in his jaws as a pledge of good faith. Only Tyr was willing. The gods bound the wolf; the binding held; and Fenrir, realizing he had been deceived
, bit off Tyr's hand. Tyr knew it would happen and did it anyway, because it had to be done. Tiwaz is that rune: justice that has a price, and gets paid.The Tiwaz Symbol
Tiwaz is drawn as a vertical stave topped by two short strokes angling upward to a point, forming an arrowhead or a spear aimed straight at the sky.
- Sound value: T
- Pronunciation: TEE-wahz
- Position: 17th rune, third aett (Tyr's Aett)
- Literal meaning: The god Tyr
- Also called: Tir or Tiw (Old English), Tyr (Old Norse), Teiwaz (reconstructed)
The upward-pointing arrow is the whole meaning of the rune. It is the spear of the god of justice and war, aimed and unwavering, and it is often read as the North Star, the fixed point that never moves and by which travelers steer. Both images say the same thing: Tiwaz is direction that does not waver, the true course held whatever the cost.
Tiwaz Meaning in a Reading
Upright, Tiwaz points at doing the right thing at a cost: justice, fairness, honor, and keeping your word. A just outcome. A promise kept. The courage to stand up for what is right, or for someone who needs it. A situation that calls for integrity, often the expensive kind.
Tiwaz shows up in disputes, legal matters, contracts, and any situation where someone has to be the honest one, the person who does what is right rather than what is easy. Its core message is that the right action here is also the costly one, and it asks whether you will take it anyway. Like Tyr with his hand in the wolf's mouth, Tiwaz is about sacrifice made willingly in the name of a larger good.
It is also a rune of courage, victory through honor, and steadfast direction. As the warrior's rune and the North Star both, it speaks of holding your course, fighting the right fight in the right way, and winning by integrity rather than by cunning. When Tiwaz appears, it often calls you to be brave, to be just, and to keep faith even when keeping it costs you something real.
When Tiwaz comes up, ask:
- What is the right thing to do here, even if it is the costly thing?
- What promise or principle am I being asked to keep?
- Where do I need courage to stand for what is just?
- Am I holding my true course, or drifting toward what is merely easier?
Tiwaz Reversed
Reversed, Tiwaz points at injustice, broken faith, or self-sacrifice that has curdled into martyrdom. A promise broken. A wrong left unrighted. Courage failing at the crucial moment. Or its opposite, sacrifice given past all reason, until doing for others has become self-destruction rather than honor.
It can also mean a loss of direction, the North Star clouded over, a sense of fighting the wrong battle or fighting the right one dishonestly. Where upright Tiwaz is the true course held whatever the cost, reversed Tiwaz is the course lost, the oath broken, or the sacrifice that has stopped serving anything but your own suffering.
Reversed Tiwaz often asks a hard question about balance and integrity. Are you giving too much, martyring yourself where no sacrifice was actually required? Or are you failing to give where honor genuinely calls for it, breaking faith, avoiding the just and costly thing? The reading points to a place where your integrity or your direction has slipped, and asks you to set it right.
Tiwaz Meaning by Question: Love, Work, and the Rest of It
You did not draw this rune in a vacuum. You drew it holding a question. Here is what Tiwaz is saying depending on what you asked.
Love and Relationships
UprightHonor, commitment, and keeping faith. Tiwaz in a love reading points to loyalty, a promise honored, or a relationship built on integrity and fairness. It favors bonds where both people keep their word and treat each other justly, and it can call for the courage to do right by someone even at a cost to yourself.
ReversedBroken faith or imbalance. Reversed here can mean a promise broken, unfairness in the relationship, or sacrificing yourself far past what love should ask. It flags where honor or balance has slipped.
Work and Money
UprightJustice, fair dealing, and integrity. Tiwaz strongly favors legal matters, contracts, disputes, and any situation resolved by fairness and honesty. It supports doing right by others in business and standing firm for a just outcome, even when it costs you. If you asked about a conflict, it says take the honorable path.
ReversedInjustice or broken agreements. Reversed here can mean an unfair deal, a broken contract, dishonest dealing, or giving far more than you are getting. It warns of a situation where fairness has failed and asks you to restore it.
Inner Life
UprightIntegrity and true direction. Tiwaz asks whether you are living by your principles and holding your course. It is the North Star within: the fixed point of your own values, the willingness to do the hard right thing. It often calls for courage and self-honesty.
ReversedLost direction or self-betrayal. Reversed Tiwaz can mean drifting from your values, breaking faith with yourself, or a martyrdom that has become self-harm. It asks you to find your true north again.
Yes or No
UprightYes, if you act with honor. Tiwaz is favorable, especially for anything involving justice, courage, or keeping faith. The just and honest path leads to the right outcome.
ReversedNo, or not as things stand. Injustice, broken faith, or a lost direction is in the way. Set the integrity of the situation right before you proceed.
The Action to Take
Do the right thing, and be honest about its cost. Whatever you asked about, Tiwaz is pointing at the just and honorable path, and telling you it may not be the easy or free one. Name the right action plainly, count what it will cost, and take it anyway, the way Tyr gave his hand knowing exactly what it would cost. If a reversal, check your balance: either you are failing to give where honor calls for it, or you are sacrificing yourself past all reason. Find your true north and correct toward it.
Tiwaz in Norse Lore
Tiwaz belongs entirely to Tyr, and Tyr's defining story is one of the most striking in all of Norse myth. The wolf Fenrir, child of Loki, grew so vast and strong that the gods feared he would destroy them. They resolved to bind him, but Fenrir was wary, and would only allow himself to be chained if one of the gods placed a hand between his jaws as a pledge that the binding was safe. Every god hesitated, knowing the pledge was a lie, except Tyr. He laid his right hand in the wolf's mouth. The gods bound Fenrir with the unbreakable fetter Gleipnir; the wolf could not escape; and understanding the betrayal, he bit through Tyr's wrist. Tyr gave the hand knowingly, because the safety of the world required it.
That is why Tiwaz is the rune of honorable sacrifice above all others. Tyr is not the strongest god, nor the cleverest; he is the most just, the one who does what is right and pays the price without flinching. He is the god of the lawful assembly, the sworn oath, and the just war, the divine guarantor that promises will be kept and justice done. His rune carries that whole weight: integrity that costs something, and pays it willingly.
The rune poems make Tiwaz the fixed star of the sky. The Old English poem calls Tir a guiding sign that keeps faith well with princes, ever on its course over the mists of night, never failing, a clear allusion to a star, most likely the North Star or a bright fixed point that travelers steer by. The Norse poems name the god directly, the one-handed god, the god of war and justice. Across all of them, Tiwaz is the true north: the fixed point that does not move, the honor that does not bend, the promise that holds though it costs a hand.
How to Use Tiwaz in Your Practice
Tiwaz is a strong rune for work involving justice, courage, honor, victory, and steadfast direction. It is the rune of Tyr, so it is worked wherever right action, integrity, or a just outcome is the goal.
For justice and fair outcomes
When you face a dispute, a legal matter, or any situation that needs to be resolved fairly, Tiwaz is a classic focus for justice. Carve or draw it to support a just outcome and honest dealing, and name the fairness you seek. It favors the righteous cause and the honorable path.
For courage and victory
As the warrior's rune, Tiwaz is worked for courage in the face of a challenge and for victory won honorably. Use it when you need the nerve to stand up for what is right, to fight the right fight in the right way, or to hold firm under pressure. Warriors historically carved Tiwaz on their weapons for exactly this.
In a bind rune
Tiwaz pairs with Sowilo for victory won with honor, with Uruz for the strength to see a hard duty through, and with Ansuz when a hard truth must be spoken with integrity. Keep bind runes to two or three staves so the intention stays legible.
For integrity and direction
Because Tiwaz is the North Star of the futhark, it is a fitting focus for holding your course and living by your principles. Use it when you need to reconnect with your true north, to strengthen your resolve to do the right thing, or to keep faith with a promise that is costing you something.
Tiwaz Rune Tattoos
Tiwaz is one of the more popular runes for tattoos, chosen for courage, justice, honor, and warrior spirit. Its clean arrow shape and strong meaning make it an appealing mark. Two things worth knowing before you commit it to skin.
It is a rune of honor and sacrifice, not just strength. Tiwaz signifies courage and victory, but at its heart it is about doing the right thing at a real cost, the willingness to sacrifice for justice, as Tyr did. That gives it more depth than a simple warrior symbol, and it makes it a meaningful mark for someone who values integrity and standing firm. You will sometimes see it stacked as a double or triple Tiwaz to intensify the meaning.
Check what you are getting. Runes have been co-opted by hate groups, and Tiwaz, with its martial associations, has seen some of that misuse. It remains a legitimate and ancient symbol of justice and honor with a meaning far older than any modern distortion, but it is worth knowing the landscape, choosing your context with care, and being able to speak to the rune's true meaning. Learning the genuine history is the best answer to anyone who has tried to steal these symbols.
Common Questions About Tiwaz
What does the Tiwaz rune mean?
Tiwaz means the god Tyr, and by extension justice, honor, sacrifice, and keeping your word. It is the seventeenth rune of the Elder Futhark and carries the sound T. Its arrow shape, aimed at the sky, represents the North Star and the unwavering course of doing what is right.
Who is Tyr, the god of the Tiwaz rune?
Tyr is the Norse god of justice, law, war, and the sworn oath, whose name gives us Tuesday. His defining myth is placing his own hand in the wolf Fenrir's jaws so the gods could bind the beast, knowing he would lose the hand. Tiwaz carries that meaning of honorable sacrifice made willingly for a greater good.
What does Tiwaz reversed mean?
Injustice, broken faith, failing courage, a lost direction, or self-sacrifice that has become martyrdom. It flags a place where your integrity or your balance has slipped and asks you to set it right.
How do you pronounce Tiwaz?
TEE-wahz. It is also called Tir or Tiw in Old English and Tyr in Old Norse, and you will see it spelled Teiwaz.
What does a double or triple Tiwaz mean?
Stacking the rune as a double or triple Tiwaz is a modern practice meant to intensify its meaning, amplifying courage, justice, or victory. It has no ancient basis but is popular in tattoos and bind runes as a way to strengthen the rune's warrior and honor associations.
Keep Going
Tiwaz is one of twenty-four, and it opens the third and final aett. For the full picture, our complete guide to the Elder Futhark runes lays out every rune, its meaning, and its reversal in one place you can pull up mid-reading.
Before Tiwaz comes Sowilo, the sun that closes the second aett in victory; Tiwaz opens the human aett with the honor that victory should be won by. After it comes Berkano, the birch, growth and new life and the slow work of tending.
The guiding star keeps faith well and never fails on its course, the old poem says. Tiwaz asks what you would keep faith with, even if it cost you a hand.
