Tyr (Forgotten Realms)

Tyr
Game background
Title(s) The Even-Handed, the Maimed God, the Just God, Grimjaws
Home plane 2E: Asgard (Ysgard) and The Court (Mount Celestia)
3E: The House of the Triad
Power level Greater
Alignment Lawful Good
Portfolio Justice
Design details

Tyr (/ˈtɪər/ TEER)[1] was the Faerûnian deity of Law and Justice in Ed Greenwood's Forgotten Realms campaign setting of the Dungeons & Dragons role-playing game, specifically the fictional world of Abeir-Toril. His dogma is primarily concerned with the punishment of wrong-doers, and the general furthering of Law and Good in the world.

Publication history

Ed Greenwood created Tyr for his home Dungeons & Dragons game, inspired by the Norse deity of the same name, set in Greenwood's Forgotten Realms world. Greenwood used the original Deities & Demigods book's version of Tyr, removing the war aspect from his portfolio.[2]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

Tyr first appeared within Dungeons & Dragons as one of the deities featured in Ed Greenwood's article "Down-to-earth Divinity" in Dragon #54 (October 1981). Tyr is introduced as Grimjaws, Tyr the Even-handed, god of justice, a lawful good greater god of the plane of the Seven Heavens. The article states that "the belief in justice through (benevolent) force, or at least armed vigilance, was the reason for Tyr’s existence." Tyr's allegiances are also defined: "Torm and Ilmater serve Tyr, and worshippers and priests do the will of this Triad willingly." Tyr was commonly worshipped by lawful good paladins, fighters, magic-users, illusionists, thieves, monks, and clerics, as well as characters employed as sages.[2]

Tyr later officially appeared as one of the major deities for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting, in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Set's "Cyclopedia of the Realms" booklet (1987).[1]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

Tyr was described in the hardback Forgotten Realms Adventures (1990),[3] the revised Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (1993) in the "Running the Realms" booklet,[4] and Faiths & Avatars (1996).[5] His clergy was further detailed in Warriors and Priests of the Realms (1996),[6] and Prayers from the Faithful (1997).[7]

His role in the cosmology of the Planescape campaign setting was described in On Hallowed Ground (1996).[8]

His relationships with the nonhuman deities in the Forgotten Realms was covered in Demihuman Deities (1998).[9]

Tyr is described as one of the good deities that celestials can serve in the supplement Warriors of Heaven (1999).[10]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

Tyr appears as one of the major deities of the Forgotten Realms setting again, in Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001),[11] and is further detailed in Faiths and Pantheons (2002).[12]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

According to the 4th edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Guide, Tyr perished defending the plane of Celestia from a massive demonic incursion. He was also described as having joined forced with Lathander and Sune to imprison Cyric for killing Mystra. Torm has taken Tyr's place as the leader of Mount Celestia.

Overview

Tyr holds great prominence in the Faerûnian pantheon due to his position as leader of the Triad, a trio of lawful good gods that are collectively devoted to the concepts of courage, justice, perseverance, relief of suffering, duty, obedience, honor, and to some extent righteous martyrdom. Not coincidentally, these values are ones held by most paladins and any given paladin in Abeir-Toril is more likely to follow the Triad than not. The two gods who serve Tyr as part of the Triad are Ilmater, deity of healing, suffering, and martyrdom; and Torm, god of paladins and personification of courage, dutiful service, and obedience.[13]

Tyr was blind and missing his right hand, for which he bears the title "The Maimed God." Ilmater, true to his ethos, works to teach Tyr to live with these disabilities, though in truth they are not a great hindrance in view of his power as a greater god.[13]

History

Tyr first came to Toril in a campaign to pacify the remnants of the fallen empire of Jhaamdath in -247 Dale Reckoning, the Year of the Striking Lance. This stroke is known as the Procession of Justice, in which the god himself appeared on Toril and personally led a host of archons and angels against the chaotic and evil forces arrayed in the remains of the fallen empire.[14]

Ilmater aligned himself with Tyr in -243 DR (the Year of the Rack). Torm joined them to complete the Triad some years later.

Tyr lost his right hand to Kezef the Chaos Hound, and his eyes were put out by Lord Ao for questioning the Overgod's decision to punish all the deities for Bane's theft of the Tablets of Fate.

In 1384 D.R., according to The Grand History of the Realms, Tyr kills Helm in a duel. The other deities suspect Cyric is somehow behind the situation that led Tyr and Helm to such a confrontation.

Domains

In the latest version of the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Tyr has the domains of Good, Knowledge, Retribution, Law, and War.[13]

Favor

To keep Tyr's favor, one must respect fallen enemies, never make sacrifice of a corpse, and keep one's alignment lawful good. Tyr considers slaying agents of evil to be honorable and worthy of the highest praise.

Orders

Knights of Holy Judgement

The Order of the Knights of Holy Judgement tends to attract the paladins who emphasize the "lawful" part of their dedication to Tyr.

Knights of the Merciful Sword

The Order of the Knights of the Merciful Sword tends to attract the paladins who emphasize the "good" part of their dedication to Tyr.

Hammers of Grimjaws

The very elite of Tyr's paladins, members of the Hammers of Grimjaws are chosen from the best of the Knights of the Merciful Sword and Knights of Holy Judgment. The choosing of the order's members was in part done by Tyr himself; as part of the process of ascending to the order's ranks, a candidate must pray and receive a vision from Tyr. A vision of Tyr's warhammer shows the god's favor and permits immediate acceptance into the order. A vision of Tyr's sword, a traditional sign of the god's disfavor of the viewer, means that the aspiring Hammer has failed in some way and must go on a quest to atone before entering the ranks of the Hammers. (This does not mean that he has lost his powers as a paladin; he simply did not meet the far more stringent requirements to become a Hammer.) A successful atonement quest allows the aspirant to join the Order as though he had seen the vision of the warhammer. Currently, only 13 Hammers are in active service, a testament to the purity and power required to become one of the order.

Trivia

In the Second Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Tyr originally came from Earth (see Tyr). This was omitted from the Third Edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ed Greenwood, Jeff Grubb and Karen S. Martin (1987). Forgotten Realms Campaign Set. Wizard of the Coast. ISBN 0-88038-472-7.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Ed Greenwood, Dragon magazine #54 - "Down-to-earth divinity" (October 1981)
  3. ↑ Grubb, Jeff and Ed Greenwood. Forgotten Realms Adventures (TSR, 1990)
  4. ↑ Ed Greenwood (1993). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. ASIN B000K06S2E.
  5. ↑ Martin, Julia, and Eric L Boyd. Faiths & Avatars (TSR, 1996)
  6. ↑ Terra, John. Warriors and Priests of the Realms (TSR, 1996)
  7. ↑ Greenwood, Ed and Stewart, Doug. Prayers from the Faithful (TSR, 1997)
  8. ↑ McComb, Colin. On Hallowed Ground (TSR, 1996)
  9. ↑ Boyd, Eric L. Demihuman Deities (TSR, 1998)
  10. ↑ Perkins, Christopher. Warriors of Heaven (TSR, 1999)
  11. ↑ Ed Greenwood et al. (2001). Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting. Wizard of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1836-5.
  12. ↑ Boyd, Eric L, and Erik Mona. Faiths and Pantheons (Wizards of the Coast, 2002)
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 Greenwood 2001, p. 253
  14. ↑ A Temporal Chronology of the Primes By Brian R. James

Additional reading