Zisa, Tyr's Wife

We first learn of Tyr’s wife in the lore through Lokasenna.

Loki spake:

40. “Be silent, Tyr! | for a son with me

Thy wife once chanced to win;

Not a penny, methinks, | wast thou paid for the wrong,

Nor wast righted an inch, poor wretch.”

In Germany, the goddess Zisa is sacred to the nomadic Suevi in the area of Augsburg, Germany. This warlike tribe (or group of tribes) were a threat to the Roman Empire especially along the Rhine region. Zisa is mentioned in manuscripts from the 12th to 14th centuries which reference a victory against the Roman Empire attributed to the goddess. In the 1st century BCE, Titus Annius laid siege to Augsburg (then called Zizarimin Her honor though another source suggests the original name was Ziusburg, after Ziu) just before Her feast day (September 28). Unfortunately for the Romans, many Swabian warriors were coming to Zizarim for the festival, and on Her day they attacked the Romans and throttled them.

Codex Monac circa 1135, Codex Emmeran circa 1135, and Melchior Goldast's Suevicarum rerum scriptores are based on a first-century BCE record of a Swabian military victory over Roman forces. The record mentions a city where the inhabitants worshipped Zisa "with extreme reverence.”

The connection to Tyr’s wife mentioned in Lokasenna comes from Jacob Grimm’s Teutonic Mythology. He makes an etymological connection between Tyr (called Ziu in Germanic/Urglaawe branches of Heathenry) and Zisa. This connection is not unheard of with couplings like the twin lovers Frey and Freyja and is also used to make connections between Holle (also known as Ulla) and Ullr. If this is the case, one could also suggest that, like Frey and Freyja, Ziu and Zisa could also be twin lovers.

The connections between these two are not mere scholarly conjectures. There is also the connection of Tyr’s day or Tuesday. Zisa was so widely revered among the Suevi that their dialects called Tuesday "Zistag" not after Ziu but after Her. The Diocese of Augsburg banned the name Zistag and called it "Aftermontag" (After-Monday). UPG among those who know of Zisa and Ziu also uphold the connection.

After the colonization of Christianity, Zisa was conflated with the Virgin Mary, but in her veneration was called the Lady Undoer of Knots (Maria Knotenlöserin). This is Zisa’s realm of power - the ability to undo the knots in Wyrd. This is not the only monotheist veil pulled over Our Lady. The church of St. Peter am Perlach stands on the grounds of Her temple at Zisenberg in Augsburg.

Zisa, Goddess of Fertility

Her symbol is the pine cone and appears in Augsburg even in some churches. As the pine cone protects the seeds, so does she protect Her people. The pine cone symbolizes protection, regeneration, and continuity. Her connections with fertility and seeds/agriculture as well as Her name is often cause for conflation with the goddess Ceres. She is also called the Isis of the Suebi by Grimm. This connection may have been made by Roman invaders, searching for a name for this powerful goddess.

Zisa’s name lends itself to another fertility attribute. Cisaeara (Latin for "altar of Cisa"), coming from Zisa’s holy place (now Augsburg) is also translated to "mountain on which siskins (zeisige, a type of finch bird) nest" or "mountain in the form of a breast (zitze)."

She is also said to be connected to the prehistoric find, the "Venus of Hohle Fels" figurine. This feminine body form dates back 35,000-40,000 years ago, made from mammoth ivory and suggesting roots in “Our Lady of the Mammoth.”

Her Symbols:

Pinecone (see the Augsburg coat of arms)

Web of Wyrd

Knots

The rune Teiwaz

Her Holy Days:

Zisatag - Sept. 28

Faschtnacht - Shrove Tuesday, the day before Ash Wednesday