How Days of the Week Got Their Names

Paul V. Hartman

You may not have learned it elsewhere:
We have 7 days in the week because the ancients were aware of seven "heavenly bodies": Sun, Moon, and the five (of the 9) planets which they could see. The Romans were the first to name the days after mythological Gods which had planetary connections, such as Jupiter (chief God), Mars (God of War), and Venus (Goddess of Love). Along the way, and much later, the Germans (aka Angles/Saxons/ Nordics/etc) replaced some of them with a few heavyweights from their own pantheon and so the days (in English) became a mix of planetary objects and Norse Gods. In other Romance languages (derived from Latin, not Germanic) the original (Roman) planetary names are often retained. Thus we have: Sunday From Sun's Day. Monday From Moon's Day. (Fr:"Lundi" Ital:"Lundei" Sp:"Lunes"; (all derived from luna/lunar) Tuesday From Tewe's Day, a Norse/Germanic female deity. Was: Mar's Day (Fr: "Mardi" ; Sp: "Martes") (You knew that "Mardi Gras" is Fat Tuesday!) Wednesday From Woden's Day, (aka: Odin's Day), the chief god in Teutonic mythology. Was: Mercury's Day. (Fr:"Mercredi" Ital:"Mercoledi") Thursday From Thor's Day. (He's the one that sends bolts into your surge protector and computer.) Was: Jupiter's Day: "Jove" (Fr: "Jeudi" Sp: "Jeuves") Friday From Frigg's Day, a rotund Germanic female deity. Was: Venus' Day. (Fr: "Vendredi" Ital: "Venerdi") Saturday From Saturn's Day.
You will never forget this, now.



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