Happy Odin’s-Day…err…Wednesday…err Same Thing!

First…HUMP DAY!

Next… The days of the week in English are based mostly on Norse Gods.

Wednesday comes from “Wodan’s Day.”  As mentioned previously, as languages change and morph it is common for letters to drop off due to slight changes in pronunciation, Wodan becoming Odin.

The naming convention of the days of the week is mostly based on Norse, but there are Latin infusions as well.

Some are translations, and some are transliterations.

Monday is the Moon-Day. In Spanish–the Latin based language I am most comfortable with–“lunes” is Monday and “luna” is Moon. The very idea of “Moon Day” changed languages intact, but the new language used their word to create it. The words changed languages but the words meaning and the meaning’s origin (The Moon) remained intact.   (Fun added fact: A “lunatic” was originally someone driven crazy because of the moon!)

Tuesday is named for the Norse God Tye.

Wednesday, again, is for Odin (or “Mr. Wednesday” for everyone who has read Neil Gaiman’s American Gods).

Thursday is Thor’s Day, everyone’s favorite God of Thunder! (Sorry Zeus/Jupiter)

Friday is for the Norse goddess Frigg (Odin’s Wife)

Saturday bucks this trend, and here we get Latin influenced names:

Saturday is named for the Roman god Saturn (The father of Jupiter)

Sunday is another direct translation, meaning the “Day of the Sun.”  In Latin this was “Dies Solis,” (Flip the word order: “Solis-Dies” and one can see “Sunday” in the word.) The day also had a second name is Latin, named “Dominica:” The Day of the God. In modern Spanish, Sunday is “domingo” and that connection is still very clear.

As language evolved, it was very easy for the church to make “Sun-Day” the “Son-Day,” the day to go to church. (Jesus’ resurrection taking place on a Sunday did not hurt that cause either.)

What does this all mean?

It means that our ancestors were heavily influenced by both Norse and Latin forces.  In our language is a history of colonization, invasion and even cooperation.

In a future post I will talk about how we got the 7 days themselves and the names of the months… but for now let’s get through Wednesday.

Sources:

While I knew most of the origins, I wanted to find a source to double check them. The Encyclopedia Mythica as very helpful.

I was actually under the impression that Friday was not named after Frigg, but another Norse Goddess, “Freya,” you learn something new every day! Though in my defense, they may actually be the same goddess…Mythology is quite fun!