Tiwaz

Tiwaz was one of the earliest known Germanic gods. Tiwaz was the chief sky god and the god of war. Tiwaz was later identified with the Norse god Tyr, and the Roman god of war, Mars.

Like the later Norse myths, Tiwaz was a one-handed god who lost his hand to the monstrous wolf, Fenrir. The Semnones, a German tribe living around the Havel and the Spree rivers (east of the Elbe), had to enter his woodland sanctuary with their hands and feet bound.

The Hermundurii offered human sacrifices to Tiwaz. The Goths sacrificed their prisoners to the war-god.

Tiwaz was the name of power, because it was believed that a spear become a powerful talisman of protection, when his name was cut into it using runic symbols.

It was believed that Tiwaz was the original sky-god and god of war, until Wodan gained in popularity and inherited many of Tiwaz's roles.