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Four English weekdays are named after Germanic gods: Tuesday after Tiw, Wednesday after Woden, Thursday after Thor and Friday after Frigg.

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LanguageHistory

The story behind the card

The pattern copies a Roman habit. Latin named the days after the seven heavenly bodies visible to the naked eye, which were also gods: the Sun, the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. Germanic peoples swapped each Roman god for the local god they saw as closest. Tiw (the Norse Týr), a war god, replaced Mars; Woden (Odin), linked to wisdom and travel, replaced Mercury; Thor, the thunder god, replaced Jupiter; and Frigg, a goddess of marriage and the home, replaced Venus. Saturday kept Saturn, while Sunday and Monday name the Sun and Moon. The same Roman origin shows in French: mardi, mercredi, jeudi and vendredi come from Mars, Mercury, Jupiter and Venus.

Türkçe oku
İngilizcede dört günün adı eski Germen tanrılarından gelir: Tuesday Tiw'den, Wednesday Woden'dan, Thursday Thor'dan, Friday de Frigg'den.

Bu düzen Roma'dan kalma bir alışkanlığı izler. Latincede günler, çıplak gözle görülen ve aynı zamanda tanrı sayılan yedi gök cismine adanmıştı: Güneş, Ay, Mars, Merkür, Jüpiter, Venüs ve Satürn. Germen halkları her Roma tanrısının yerine kendi tanrılarından ona en çok benzettiklerini koydu. Savaş tanrısı Tiw (İskandinavlardaki Týr) Mars'ın, bilgelik ve yolculukla anılan Woden (Odin) Merkür'ün, gök gürültüsü tanrısı Thor Jüpiter'in, evlilik ve ev tanrıçası Frigg de Venüs'ün yerini aldı. Saturday Satürn'ün adını korudu; Sunday ve Monday ise Güneş'i ve Ay'ı anar. Aynı Roma kökeni Fransızcada da görülür: mardi, mercredi, jeudi ve vendredi sırasıyla Mars, Merkür, Jüpiter ve Venüs'ten gelir. Türkçedeki gün adlarının çoğu ise Farsça ve Arapçadan gelir.

Sources and further reading

Background reading: Names of the days of the week
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