Today's blog is a lesson in the origin of the days of the week. It's interesting to me that four of the days of the week are named after Norse gods while the other three are named for planets. Well, technically one of them is named after a Roman god for whom the planet was named.
Anyway, Sunday is named for the sun and means "sun's day" in Latin. Monday is named for the moon and means "moon's day" in Anglo-Saxon. Tuesday is named for the Norse god Tyr, a god of war and justice. He came before Odin in history so he comes before him in the days of the week. Wednesday is named for the Norse god Odin, the father of the gods. Thursday is named for Thor, Odin's son and the god of thunder. Friday is named for Frigg, Odin's wife, patron of marriage and motherhood and goddess of love and fertility. Saturday is named for Saturn, the god of agriculture.
Apparently the Norse people weren't much on weekends. They got along just fine with four days of the week--one day to fight, one day to parent, one day to make noise, and one day for lovin'. The Romans decided that wasn't enough time for play so they added a day to bask in the sun, a day to sleep in, and a day to plant so they'd have an excuse to be outside all day.
Saturn must have been some guy to have had a day of the week and a planet named after him. And now a car company, too! I wonder if many ancient cities had a Saturn street like we have a lot of streets named after Martin Luther King, Jr. or U.S. presidents. Although that would be kind of contradictory, when naming a street after a god of agriculture, to pave over the earth so things couldn't grow where people walked. Maybe they named parks after him instead.
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