Download The Influence of Norse / Germanic Deities

The Influence of
Norse / Germanic Deities
Days of the Week
Days of the Week
Have you ever wondered where our seven day
week comes from?
• Is it just coincidence that four weeks coincides
with the phases of the moon?
• Is it just coincidence that 52 weeks equals a
year?
Days of the Week
Our days of the week were originally Latin (Roman) in
origin. The Romans began using a 7 day week, with
Sunday being the first day, between the 1st and 3rd
centuries A.D.
• 7 days because there were 7 “luminaries” in the sky –
Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn.
• These were the 5 “wanderers”, or planets, that could be
seen with the naked eye, and the Sun and the Moon,
which the ancients believed ordered the cosmos.
• Interestingly, Jews used a 7 day week more than a
thousand years before the Romans, based on their holy
scripture in which God created all that there is in 6 days
and rested on the 7th.
Days of the Week
The Roman days of the week:
• Monday - dies Lūnae [day of the Moon] (lunar, lunatic)
• Tuesday – dies Martis [day of Mars] (martial) in Greek, Ares God of
War
• Wednesday – dies Mercuriī [day of Mercury] (mercurial temper) in
Greek, Hermes Messenger of the Gods
• Thursday – dies Jovis [day of Jupiter] in Greek, Zeus the Sky God and
King of the Gods
• Friday – dies Veneris [day of Venus] in Greek, Aphrodite Goddess of
Love
• Saturday - dies Saturnī [day of Saturn] in Greek, Kronus or Cronus,
the Titan, father of Zeus
(Note how similar most of the Latin days are to modern Romance languages, ie. Lunes,
Martes, Miercoles, Jueves, Viernes.)
Days of the Week
Sometime after the fall of the Roman Empire,
and the rise of the Germanic tribes of Europe,
Germanic/Norse deities replaced some of the
Roman gods.
Sunday
• From the Old English Sunnandæg meaning
“Sun’s day”.
• Germanic/Norse sun deity is the goddess Sol
or Sunna.
• English preserved the original pagan/sun
association, but in most European languages
and all the Romance languages, Sunday was
called the Lord’s Day, such as in Spanish today,
Domingo.
Monday
• From the Old English Mōnandæg meaning
“Moon’s day”.
• Germanic/Norse moon deity is the god Mani,
brother of Sol (the Sun goddess).
The Dire Wolves Hati and Skol
pursuing Sol and Mani
Tuesday
• From the Old English Tīwesdæg meaning
“Tiw’s Day” or “Tyr’s Day”, in honor of the
Norse god Tyr, a one-handed god associated
with justice, oaths, and warriors.
• Tyr was once the chieftain of the Norse gods,
the Aesir, but stepped aside for Odin.
• The Romans believed Tyr was a representation
of their god, Mars. However, although a god
of warriors, he is very different from the
brutal Roman god of war.
Tuesday
Tyr’s Day
• god of Oaths,
Justice, Warriors
Wednesday
• From the Old English Wōdnesdæg meaning
“Wodan’s Day” (Germanic) or “Odin’s Day” (in
Norse).
• Wodan/Odin was the chief of the
Germanic/Norse gods, called the All Father by the
other gods.
• To the Germanic tribes, mid-week, or mittwoch as
they called it, was an important time, the pivotal
day of the week, and thus, associated with their
most powerful god.
Wodan’s Day
• Wodan/Odin rode on a flying,
eight legged horse, often
accompanied by two fierce wolves.
• He was attended by Valkyrie,
warrior maidens who brought the
souls of brave Norsemen who fell
in battle to his golden mead hall –
Valhalla.
Wodan’s Day
• Wodan/Odin was thought to wander
the world dressed as an old beggar
in a floppy hat with a staff,
accompanied only by his two ravens,
Thought and Memory.
• The birds scoured the earth for him,
gathering knowledge.
• Odin was the chieftain of the gods.
Thursday
• From the Old English dūnresdæg , meaning
“Donar’s day” or “Thor’s Day”.
• (Old High German for Thor is Donar. The modern
German word for “thunder” is still Donner.)
• Thor was the Germanic/Norse god of thunder
and a sky God like Jupiter who gave his name
to dies Jovis - Thursday.
• Thor was, in Germanic/Norse mythology, the
son of Odin.
Thor’s Day
• Thor / Donar was the most popular
of the Norse gods, especially with
soldiers.
• Legends depict him as a brave,
adventurous thunder god, the
enemy of evil and the protector of
mankind.
Thor’s Day
• Thor rode through the sky on a
chariot pulled by enchanted goats.
• Only he could lift his mighty
hammer, Mjolnir, with which he
could split mountains as well as the
skulls of giants.
• Giant oak trees were sacred to his
followers and he commanded the
storms.
Friday
• From the Old English Frīgedæg, meaning the
day of the Anglo-Saxon goddess Fríge or Frigg.
• The Norse name for the planet Venus was
Friggjarstjarna, 'Frigg's star'.
• Frige/Frigg was the Germanic/Norse goddess
of love, beauty and fertility and is often
depicted as the spouse of Odin.
Frigg’s Day
•
•
•
•
Frigg is the wife of Odin and Queen of Asgard, the realm of the Aesir.
She was the foremost of the Norse goddesses.
Goddess of marriage and fertililty.
It was said Frigg had the power of prophecy yet she did not reveal her prophetic
knowledge.
Saturday
• The only day of the week to retain its Roman origin.
• Named after the Roman Titan Saturn (associated with the
Greek Titan Cronus, father of Zeus and many Olympians.)
• Its original Anglo-Saxon rendering was Sæturnesdæg,
meaning “day of Saturn”.
• In Scandinavian, this day has no reference to Norse or
Latin gods. It literally means “washing-day”, which
explains why modern English has retained the old
usage.
• In most Romance languages, Saturday means Day of
the Sabbath, such as in Spanish, sabado and Italian
sabato, derived from Latin Sabbata dies.
The Influence of
Norse / Germanic Deities
Days of the Week