There is Mythology in your Calendar | Happy Thorsday
Posted by Shelly R. Watson on Sep 25th 2022
Did you know that the days of the week are named after Roman, Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Norse Gods? As the romans marched across Europe, they brought with them both their religion and calendar. The days of the week were originally named after Roman planets and their associated deities. Starting with Sun, Moon, Mars (Ares), Mercury (Hermes), Jupiter (Zeus), Venus (Aphrodite) and Saturn (Cronos). Even after the conversion to Christianity (~379 AD) these names remained in the Roman Calendar. The Anglo-Saxon, Germanic, and Norse people adopted the Roman calendar sometime after 200 AD, but after the introduction of Christianity during the 6th and 7th centuries. They substituted their deities for the names of the week Sunday (Sunnandæg/Germanic god Sunna/Sól), Monday (Mōnandæg/Germanic god Máni), Tuesday (Tīwesdæg/Norse god Tiw or Týr), Wednesday (Wōdnesdæg/Germanic god Woden also known as Odin in Norse Mythology), Thursday (Þūnresdæg/Norse god Thor), Friday (Frīgedæg/ Norse goddess Fríge), Saturday (Sæturnesdæg/ Roman god Saturn). Even though the calendar changed over time from the Julian to Gregorian (modern-day) calendar, the days of the week have remained. As a result, we have kept our gods, planets, moon, and sun.
Sunday: Old English Sunnandæg (pronounced [ˈsunnɑndæj]), meaning "Sun's day". This is a translation of the Latin phrase diēs Sōlis. English, like most of the Germanic languages, preserves the day's association with the sun. Many other European languages, including all of the Romance languages, have changed its name to the equivalent of "the Lord's day" (based on Ecclesiastical Latin dies Dominica). In both West Germanic and North Germanic mythology, the Sun is personified as Sunna/Sól.
Monday: Old English Mōnandæg (pronounced [ˈmoːnɑndæj]), meaning "Moon's day". This is equivalent to the Latin name diēs Lūnae. In North Germanic mythology, the Moon is personified as Máni.
Tuesday: Old English Tīwesdæg (pronounced [ˈtiːwezdæj]), meaning "Tiw's day". Tiw (Norse Týr) was a one-handed god associated with single combat and pledges in Norse mythology and also attested prominently in wider Germanic paganism. The name of the day is also related to the Latin name diēs Mārtis, "Day of Mars" (the Roman god of war).
Wednesday: Old English Wōdnesdæg (pronounced [ˈwoːdnezdæj]) meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden (known as Óðinn among the North Germanic peoples), and a prominent god of the Anglo-Saxons (and other Germanic peoples) in England until about the seventh century. This corresponds to the Latin counterpart diēs Mercuriī, "Day of Mercury", as both are deities of magic and knowledge. The German Mittwoch, the Low German Middeweek, the miðviku- in Icelandic miðvikudagur and the Finnish keskiviikko all mean "mid-week".
Thursday: Old English Þūnresdæg (pronounced [ˈθuːnrezdæj]), meaning 'Þunor's day'. Þunor means thunder or its personification, the Norse god known in Modern English as Thor. Similarly Dutch donderdag, German Donnerstag ('thunder's day'), Finnish torstai, and Scandinavian torsdag ('Thor's day'). "Thor's day" corresponds to Latin diēs Iovis, "day of Jupiter" (the Roman god of thunder).
Friday: Old English Frīgedæg (pronounced [ˈfriːjedæj]), meaning the day of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Fríge. The Norse name for the planet Venus was Friggjarstjarna, 'Frigg's star'. It is based on the Latin diēs Veneris, "Day of Venus".
Saturday: named after the Roman god Saturn associated with the Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians. Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg (pronounced [ˈsæturnezdæj] ). In Latin, it was diēs Sāturnī, "Day of Saturn". The Nordic laugardagur, leygardagur, laurdag, etc. deviate significantly as they have no reference to either the Norse or the Roman pantheon; they derive from Old Nordic laugardagr, literally "washing-day". The German Sonnabend (mainly used in northern and eastern Germany) and the Low German Sünnavend mean "Sunday Eve"; the German word Samstag derives from the name for Shabbat.
I hope this has helped to answer some of your questions. Please make sure to send your questions about our products or myths, monsters, and magic to info@mythsmonstersandmagic.com.
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Thank you for reading,
Shelly R. Watson
Myths Monsters and Magic Ltd. Co.
Sources
Holford-Strevens, L. (2009). The history of Time: A very short introduction. Oxford University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (2022, August 29). Names of the days of the week. In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved 15:22, September 25, 2022, from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Names_o...
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