We as people often go about our days waking up and grabbing some coffee (if you drink that sort of thing. Hot tea is better) and bustling about our business. Occasionally, we quip “It’s Monday! Ugh!” or
“TGIF!” Do we consider there is mythology behind these names and meanings to go along with them?

We write a date on a check, (does anyone really write checks anymore?) we use the month and the day of the week’s numerical value and the year. But have we ever given any thought to the meanings behind the words?

Let’s take a look.

First up, the months of the year.

January — Janus’s month

Janus is the Roman god of gates and doorways, depicted with two faces looking in opposite directions. His festival month is January.

I’ve never heard of Janus. Never even considered how January got its name. Does it matter? Maybe not, but it is interesting to me. I love mythology and origins.

March — Mars’ month

March was the original beginning of the year, and the time for the resumption of war.

Mars is the Roman god of war.

I knew this one! I’d read about Mars before. Still, the month of war? Was war such a prominent thing back in antiquity that it needed its own month to let us know when to start it? If so (and this may be a topic for another time) I’m glad it’s just a name now.

Ok one more and we’ll move on, and I’ll link to my sources if you want to read the names to all of them.

May — Maia’s month

Maia (meaning “the great one”) is the Italic goddess of spring, the daughter of Faunus, and wife of Vulcan.

What the heck, the wife of Vulcan? Wasn’t he on Star Trek? Spock was a Vulcan, never mind.

Never knew that one either. I didn’t know there was a Vulcan outside of Star Trek or the Kawasaki motorcycle. Though that should have been a clue!

So, Vulcan is the god of fire in Roman mythology. Interesting.

You can find more here: https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/months.html

(yeah, I cut and paste the meanings.)

Now for some the days of the week.

Tuesday — Tiu’s day

Tiu (Twia) is the English/Germanic god of war and the sky. He is identified with the Norse god Tyr.

Ok so we have a month of that is the start of war and a day named after war. I’m starting to see a pattern here!

Wednesday — Woden’s day

Woden is the chief Anglo-Saxon/Teutonic god. Woden is the leader of the Wild Hunt. Woden is from wod “violently insane” + -en “headship”. He is identified with the Norse Odin.

So, anyone who hasn’t heard of the Wild Hunt hasn’t played Witcher 3 😊 Anyway, violently insane? We have a day of the week named after the violently insane? Good to know!

Friday — Freya’s day

Freya (Fria) is the Teutonic goddess of love, beauty, and fecundity (prolific procreation). She is identified with the Norse god Freya.

It is from the Germanic frijaz meaning “beloved, belonging to the loved ones, not in bondage, free”

It’s easy to see that Friday still holds its meaning of “beloved,” because we working people love Friday’s! TGIF!

All the names we use for months and days had deep-rooted meanings to the people that created/used them back in the day. It is interesting to me to think about why they chose those names. To us it’s just Wednesday. It has no particular meaning other than “Hump Day! Mike Mike Mike, it’s hump day!”

Do you think we should change them so that they have meaning to us?

You can find more here: https://www.crowl.org/Lawrence/time/days.html

What about the planets that are in our solar system?

Yes, I bet most of us know those are mythological in their origins. Jupiter, Mars, Saturn, Uranus, all have Roman or Greek origins. Even Pluto. Pluto was the ruler of the underworld in classic mythology or Mickey Mouse’s best friend.

All these names and origins and why we still use them holds are certain mystique for me. These names don’t have any meaning for us in modern society. There are other calendars with different names for the days of the week and months. I think a lot of people don’t care, and that’s fine too. My curiousness gets to me and thankfully the internet is a thing and I can look this stuff up!

Cheers!

Michael Wigington

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