Here we
go with Friday again. Seems like only yesterday I was saying the self-same
thing.
Names are
interesting things aren’t they?
Well I
think they are.
The other
day our young receptionist asked why a chap with the fist name of Bill had I written n his file as William.
Do you
know?
I didn’t
And I
still don’t. I couldn’t find any satisfactory reason. Do you know?
Did you
ever wonder why the days of the week were called the names that they are?
Well I
did.
The days of the week were named after Norse gods
and giant objects in the sky.
These names come to us originally from the Greeks
and Romans, who named the days of the week after their gods.
The Anglo-Saxons, who invaded Britain hundreds of
years ago, adopted this idea but substituted their own gods. The English
language has inherited and changed those names a bit, but the ones we use today
resemble those names.
Here's how:
- Sunday: Sun's Day. The Sun gave people light and warmth every day. They decided to name the first (or last) day of the week after the Sun.
- Monday: Moon's Day. The Moon was thought to be very important in the lives of people and their crops.
- Tuesday: Tiw's Day. Tiw, or Tyr, was a Norse god known for his sense of justice.
- Wednesday: Woden's Day. Woden, or Odin, was a Norse god who was one of the most powerful of them all.
- Thursday: Thor's Day. Thor was a Norse god who wielded a giant hammer.
- Friday: Frigg's Day. Frigg was a Norse god equal in power to Odin.
Saturday: Seater's
Day or Saturn's Day. Saturn was a Roman god.
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